UConn Football vs. Navy Midshipmen: How to watch, by the numbers, what to watch for

KICKOFF: 8:00 P.M. ET

TV: ESPN 2

ANNOUNCERS: Dave Lamont (play-by-play), Jim Mora, Jr. (color analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline)

RADIO: UConn IMG Radio Network; TuneIn; 97.9 ESPN Hartford, WINE 940 AM, WGCH 1490 AM, WICC 600 AM, WAVZ 1300 AM, WATR 1320 AM WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM

ANNOUNCERS: Mike Crispino (play-by-play), Wayne Norman (color analyst), Adam Giardino (sideline), Bob Joyce (pregame host)

RECORDS: UConn (2-6, 0-4 American); Navy (6-1, 4-1 American)

POINT SPREAD: Navy - 27

OVER/UNDER: 54.5

SERIES HISTORY: The UConn Huskies and Navy Midshipmen have met nine times on the gridiron with Navy holding an 8-1 to advantage. The two teams last faced each other in 2016 when the Midshipmen beat the Huskies, 28-24.

Fun With Numbers

742 - Number of days (as of game day) since UConn has beat an FBS team at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Their last FBS win at PAWSARF was on October 21, 2017 when they beat Tulsa, 20-14.

2299 - Career rushing yards by Kevin Mensah, which places him 8th on the all-time list at UConn.

350.7 - After a few down seasons by their standards, Navy once again features one of the best running games in the country. This season, they lead the nation with an average of 350.7 yards on the ground per game.

33 - UConn ranks No. 17 in the country in time of possession per game, averaging 33 minutes.

What to watch for

Running wild

UConn’s defense has certainly improved, but it still isn’t great by any standard, ranking No. 118 out of 130 according to SP+. They’ll face arguably their toughest test of the season against a dominant Navy triple-option offense. The Midshipmen run the football better than any team in the country, and while they don’t pass often, completions usually lead to big gains. If the Huskies want to have a chance, they’ll need to make stops and control the ball on offense to remain competitive.

If it ain’t broke...

Against UMass, UConn ran the ball early and often, racking up a season-high 43 attempts and 326 yards. While that came against an awful Minutemen defense, the focus on the run took some pressure off freshman Jack Zergiotis and allowed freshman wide receiver to put together his best performance yet. If UConn continues to emphasize the ground game behind Kevin Mensah and Art Thompkins like last game, it may be enough to keep competitive with a Navy team that is simply more talented on both sides of the ball.

Back to back

The Huskies haven’t won back-to-back games since 2017, when they took down Temple and Tulsa. A win against Navy would be unlikely, but would break that streak up and give UConn fans their first home win in 742 days. It would also statistically keep their chances at bowl eligibility alive — they still have a .01% chance of going undefeated per SP+.