Be sure to cherish Army-Navy game
We’vereached Week15ofthecollege football season, and while someofourmostcherished traditions have been lost, there’s still much to look forward to. Here’s what to watch this weekend:
Anannual tradition to cherish (Navy at Army, Saturday, 3 p.m., CBS)
The 2020 season is as much about the games that were lost as it is about the ones we actually got to see.
Thanks to the pandemic, there won’t be annual rivalry games such as “The Game” (Ohio State vs. Michigan), the Palmetto Bowl (Clemson vs. South Carolina), the Apple Cup (Washington vs. Washington State), “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” (Georgia vs. Georgia Tech) or even the Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket (Indiana vs. Purdue), just to name a few.
That’s why Saturday’s Army-Navy game is such a welcome sight, even if circumstances are much different.
It will be played at West Point for the first time since World War II and it won’t have its usual weekend all to its own, but it’s still going to have all the pageantry we’ve become accustomed to and the traditional late-afternoon slot on broadcast television. In 2020, that has to count for something.
As any fan of college football knows, it won’t matter how good these teams are when they meet. Both programs prepare all season to beat its archrival, and in Navy’s case this year, a victory over Army would turn a disappointing 3-6 season into an unquestioned success.
For the Black Knights, this could be their third winin the past four meetings after enduring a 14-game losing streak, the longest in the history of the 116-game series. Following a 5-8 season in 2019, Jeff Monken’s team has rebounded to go 7-2, albeit against weak competition.
Still, Army has a deep crop of ball-carriers and a defense that ranks 44th in the country in efficiency. The Black Knights are seven-point favorites for a reason.
Something to prove in the ACC(No. 17 North Carolina at No. 10 Miami, Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ABC)
There aren’t any conference championship implications here, with ClemsonandNotreDamehavingalreadysecured a rematch in the ACCtitle gamenextweek. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to play for.
Both programs have enjoyed resurgent seasons, with North Carolina (7-3) climbing to as high as No. 5 in Associated Press Top 25 poll and Miami (8-1) hovering around the top 10 all season.
The play of the quarterbacks is a big reason why. UNC’s Sam Howell ranks fifth in Pro Football Focus grading this season — onespot above likely No. 1 overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence of Clemson — while Miami’s D’Eriq King is 11th.
Given both programs’ recent history, that level of play shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Former Texas coach Mack Brown has proven to be a stabilizing force for North Carolina, which has gone 14-9 since hetook over after finishing a combined5-18 in the final twoseasons under Larry Fedora. Evenmorepromising has beenBrown’srecruiting, as UNC’sincomingclass ranks 13th nationally for the second year in a row. It never rose above 20 under Fedora.
MannyDiazhasbeenequallysuccessful for Miami, delivering a bowlgameappearanceinhis first season in 2019 and leading the Canes to an 8-1 season this year that could end with a spot in a NewYear’s Six bowl game— a place they’ve been just once since 2005. Miami’s 2021 recruiting class ranks 12th nationally after finishing 16th in 2020.
These teams have their eyes on dethroning Clemson in the ACC, and while it won’t happen this season, they’re clearly improving. We’ll see Saturday who’s a step ahead.
Is Clay Helton going to stick around? (No. 15 USCat UCLA, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., ABC)
Entering the season, it appeared all but certain that USC coach Clay Helton was going to be fired after two straight disappointing years. It was just a matter of when.
Nowthat the Trojans are 4-0, Helton might be staying in Southern California a lot longer. So much for those Urban Meyer rumors.
Sure, USC was fortunate to escape its first two games against Arizona State andArizona with wins by a combined five points, but since then, the Trojans have looked dominant.
In last week’s 38-13 win over Washington State — played onaSunday, noless — quarterback KedonSlovis threw five touchdown passes in the first half, including four in the first quarter to Amon-Ra St. Brown. USC is sure to meet a tougher challenge against the Bruins (3-2), who have won two straight and have lost two games (against Colorado and Oregon) by a combined nine points. After going 7-11 in conference play in his first two seasons, coach Chip Kelly has a chance to end2020with a winning record against the Pac-12. For a program that has been mostly irrelevant since 2015, that’s an encouraging sign of progress.