Midway through the 2015-16 NCAA Football Bowl Game Season we find on Monday the 28th of December we come upon the 2015 Northrop Grumman Military Bowl with the 8-4 Pittsburgh Panthers (ACC-Coastal) playing the 10-2 Navy Midshipmen (AAC) with the bowl game being played at the Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland with the kick-off scheduled for 7:35 PM ET and seen on ESPN TV.
The Vegas odds for those that Bet on College football have the Navy Midshipmen at -3 with the Over/under at 53 and -155 on the Money Line, while the Pittsburgh Panthers are at +3 and +135 on the ML. Both of these teams did better than most expected, but Pittsburgh seeking a 9th win, will find the going tough as they play a road game against Navy on their home field, plus Navy has a record-breaking senior QB.
If you’re a fan of the 8-4 Pittsburgh Panthers your team had a good season and ended their season with a unexpected loss to the Hurricanes of Miami, and that loss and their 3 other losses to Iowa, North Carolina and Notre Dame all of which were in the AP Top Ten for the 2015 season.
The Panthers this 2015 season have been known for their defense, particularly against the running games of opponents. This season they allowed opponents a mere 125 yard rushing each game, and that ranked 3rd in the ACC. That defense will get a test in this upcoming game as the Navy runs a triple option offense this season. They ran into that same type of offense in their game with the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech who rushed for 376 yards and 3 touchdowns but still lost the game to Pitt 31-28.
In this game the Pittsburgh offense will try and pound the Navy defense since the Panthers this year are averaging nearly 187 yards rushing each game, which ranked 5th in the ACC. Their QB N. Peterman also has been solid passing the ball as this season he has passed for 16 touchdowns with only 5 interceptions.
If you’re a fan of the 10-2 Navy Midshipmen the team had a good 1st year in the American Athletic Conference, and because of their loss to Houston they were eliminated from the conference championship and also had a shot at playing in 1 of the 6 New Years Bowl games. Now they play a Bowl game on their home field.
Their success for this season, as well as the last 3 season can be attributed to their QB K. Reynolds excellence in orchestrating their triple option offensive attach that has averaged some 36.3 points in 2015 and that ranks 22nd in the FBS.
QB Reynolds a senior, had 21 rushing touchdowns and 1,230 yards rushing and set a Division l TD record with 85 career touchdowns. He only needs some 81 yards to set the all time QB career rushing record held by D. Robinson. This is Reynolds last game so he still has the motivation to break that record and win this Military Bowl game.
Also the Navy defense has been responsible in it part for the success this season and will be of utmost importance in this Military Bowl Game. This season Navy’s defense ranked 26 in the FBS for scoring defense allowing 21.4 points each game this season. And 32nd for rushing yards allowed at 138.3 each game. If Navy slows down the Pitt offense that will stop their scoring somewhat and allow Navy to stay in the game.
The online sportsbook prediction for this Military Bowl is that the Navy defense holds the Pitt offense and the Navy triple option QB does his usual and Navy beat the Pittsburgh Panthers 28-21.