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Most Important College Football Game for Each Top 25 Team During 2016 Season

By Zach Bigalke

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 8, 2016; Annapolis, MD, USA; Navy Midshipmen quarterback Will Worth (15) runs during the first quarter against the Houston Cougars at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; Annapolis, MD, USA; Navy Midshipmen quarterback Will Worth (15) runs during the first quarter against the Houston Cougars at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

25. Navy Upsets Top-10 Houston 46-40 (Oct. 8)

This year the AAC West was once again supposed to belong to Houston. The Cougars were coming off a Peach Bowl victory over Florida State and were 5-0 after opening the season with a big win over eventual Big 12 champ Oklahoma. They came to Annapolis as a 14.5-point favorite, but the Midshipmen managed to hold off a Houston comeback bid to seal their spot atop the division. The win was Navy’s first over a top-10 team since 1984, and it propelled the Midshipmen into the AP Top 25 for the first time in 2016.

Throughout the first half, the two division rivals traded points. Houston scored first on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Greg Ward Jr. to Steven Dunbar. After a long kickoff return, Navy needed just one play to reply on a 12-yard Chris High run into the endzone. Houston took a 20-17 lead midway through the second quarter, but the hosts kicked a 38-yard field goal on the last play of the half to knot things up at the intermission. Despite giving up nearly 500 yards of offense, the Midshipmen made some key stops and forced three turnovers to stifle the Cougars. Those turnovers resulted in 17 Navy points, including a Josiah Powell pick-six.

Had the Cougars won this contest, Houston would have hosted Temple in the AAC championship game after winning the tiebreaker against Navy and Tulsa. Instead, this upset launched the Midshipmen into the Top 25 and set them up to challenge Western Michigan for the Group of Five’s automatic bid into the Cotton Bowl for the second half of the regular season.

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