Navy Pitted Against Missouri in Texas Bowl
The Missouri Tigers feel slighted that they were passed up in favor of 6-6 Iowa State for the Insight Bowl.
Now, they’ve got a chance to do something about it against the Navy Midshipmen, as the two 8-4 teams will square off on New Year’s Eve in the Texas Bowl.
In the first meeting between the two schools since the 1961 Orange Bowl, we’ll see a huge contrast of styles. Missouri features one of the most prolific passing attacks in the NCAA, ranking 14th in the country in passing yardage per game, while the Midshipmen boast the NCAA’s 3rd ranked rushing attack.
Navy relies on a triple-spread option for their offensive scheme, which explains why QB Ricky Dobbs has thrown for a total of 840 yards and four touchdowns all season.
Dobbs does most of his damage on the ground, as he’s accounted for 913 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns on the season.
While Missouri ranks 12th best in the country in rushing defense (only allowing opponents an average of 96.4 yards/game rushing), they haven’t faced any offenses like Navy.
On the other side of the ball, Missouri features the ever-dangerous Danario Alexander out wide, who’s always a threat to break off a big play. Alexander has racked up over 1600 yards receiving this season, to go with 13 touchdowns.
If Navy can limit the damage done from Missouri QB Blaine Gabbart to Alexander, they’ve got a solid shot to pull out the victory here.
