Navy Maryland Betting – Midshipmen Look To Continue Winning Ways
The Navy Midshipmen have enjoyed a remarkable run of success over the past seven seasons. If you want to have a roundtable discussion of the best non-automatic-qualifying teams in college football, the best of the schools from non-BCS conferences, Navy has to be part of the mix. No, the Midshipmen have not played in a BCS bowl game, but they’ve done just about everything else over the past seven seasons.
Bowl appearances? Check. Bowl wins? Check. Ten-win seasons including bowl victories? Check. Commander-in-Chief’s Trophies? Seven-for-seven since 2003.
Ending the not-since-John F. Kennedy losing streak to Notre Dame? Check. Winning two straight games in South Bend (and under different head coaches, too)? Check.
Beating Army? Check. Not since 2001 have the Black Knights raised their helmets in exultation against Navy after one of college football’s most celebrated rivalries. Navy will try to reduplicate its successes once again this year. The journey begins near its Annapolis (Maryland) campus against the University of Maryland Terrapins. NCAA football betting: Navy Midshipmen vs. Maryland Terrapins Online Betting Odds: Navy -6.5
Why To Bet On Navy
The Midshipmen are simply winners. They regularly go to bowl games despite being outsized up front in many of their Saturday encounters. Offensively, almost everyone is back. The success or failure of Navy begins and ends with quarterback Ricky Dobbs. The sensational signal caller accounted for 2,200 yards of total offense last year, and no, that is not a typo. One national college football writer noted this about Dobbs a few days ago: “Dobbs played the last five games of the season, games in which he averaged 29 carries for 122 yards and two rushing touchdowns, with a cracked kneecap.” It’s no wonder that Navy’s fun-to-watch triple-option offense was a machine last season, including a rollicking season-opener that became immensely entertaining in the fourth quarter at Ohio State. Maryland is going to have a hard time stopping Navy. Even if a young Midshipmen defense struggles, the Naval Academy is in good position to win a high-scoring game.
Why To Bet On Maryland
The Terps went 2-10 last year and beat only one Football Bowl Subdivision opponent (Clemson; they also beat James Madison of the Football Championship Subdivision). Maryland’s defense is young, but then again, a 2-10 team should actually welcome fresh faces.
Maryland’s best hope going into this game is the fact that the program no longer has the services of graduated quarterback Chris Turner, a Jekyll-and-Hyde quarterback who could never develop any consistency. Coach Ralph Friedgen – who is on the hot seat this year in College Park – has turned to Jamarr Robinson, a redshirt junior with a great deal of athleticism. If Robinson is anything close to what the advance billing suggests he is, the Terrapins will finally have a legitimately good offense and stand a decent chance of being a .500 team in 2010. If Maryland is indeed a break-even team, that puts the Terps in Navy’s league. Without question.
How The Game Will Play Out
The Terps will score, but Navy will score a lot more. Maryland should crack the twenties, which is a good outing compared to last year, but Navy should hit 30 with its vaunted triple-option. Ricky Dobbs is simply a maestro at the controls of the Midshipmen’s aggressive ground game.
Navy Maryland Betting Pick: Navy -6.5
