With a week gap between conference championships and the College Football Playoff, the college football world will be primarily focused on one game this weekend, the Army Navy game. No, this game doesn’t have any playoff implications or anything like that, but it’s one of the most historic rivalries in the sport. Every year this game gets a stand-alone time slot at 3:00 on CBS. The pageantry will be as strong as ever with military traditions, and raw emotions unlike any other college football game of the year. We will see both teams leave it all on the field, but let’s take a dive into the guys under center to see what props are available for them in this historic game.

Army vs. Navy

Cale Hellums (Army):

  • Props
    • Passing Yards: 64.5 (over -114; under -114)
    • Passing TD’s: 0.5 (over +280; under -420)
    • Rushing Yards: 106.5 (over -114; under -114)

As with any Army team, passing isn’t the strong suit, simply due to the triple option offense they run. The Black Knights have used Cale Hellums very sparingly in the passing game this season, as he has only surpassed the passing yards prop he has twice. On the year he has averaged 45.8 pass yards per game, 0.27 passing touchdowns per game, and 98 rush yards per game. Navy has struggled against the pass this year allowing 261.4 yards per game (122nd in FBS) but have been a little bit better against the run allowing 156 rush yards per game (70th in FBS). Given the Army offense only passes on 13.87% of the time (last in FBS), to 86.13% rush plays (1st in FBS), I anticipate this trend will hold. For that reason, you have to lean towards the under on Hellums pass yards, and if you are going to take an over it would be the rush yards. The pass touchdowns is definitely enticing at that value for the over, so you can place a small bet on that, as Army may pull out all the stops in the redzone in this one.

Blake Horvath (Navy):

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  • Props
    • Passing Yards: 109.5 (over -114; under -114)
    • Passing TD’s: 0.5 (over +104; under -138)
    • Rushing Yards: 109.5 (over -114; under -114)

Navy’s quarterback Blake Horvath has put together an impressive season, and he even leads the team in the rush yards department.  This Navy team certainly has a more dynamic offense than Army, as they aren’t quite as one dimensional. In the 10 games Horvath played in he averaged 139 pass yards per game, along with 0.9 pass touchdowns, and 104 rush yards per game.  The Army defense has been relatively strong against the pass allowing just 215.7 yards per game (54th in FBS), as well as against the run allowing 142.6 yards per game (49th in FBS).  Even though Horvath has had a decent season in the passing department for Navy standards, in this matchup I think they will have to go back to the bread and butter on the run.  For that reason, I would lean towards the under on his pass yards projection, and a slight lean for the over in the rush yards.  The pass touchdowns over is also enticing here, with the plus odds, and he has proven to throw for around a touchdown per game.