Houston Football: Preseason game-by-game predictions for 2017 season
By Zach Bigalke
Last year the showdown with Navy precipitated Houston’s fall from contention. The Midshipmen, though, must travel to Texas this season to face their budding rivals. The Navy team that will be making the trip this season is not nearly as loaded as the team that took down the Cougars last season.
More than two-thirds of Navy’s offensive production from 2016 is no longer playing college football. The Midshipmen fought through injury issues to win the division last season. But while they are still good enough to be a bowl team in 2017, Navy will have no shot at the West by the time this game rolls around.
The most that Navy will probably be able to hope for at this point is to still be alive in the hunt for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Zach Abey will likely be the team’s quarterback, after getting his first career start in last year’s Army-Navy Game. While Houston’s defense had trouble with the Navy option last year, this year’s squad should be less befuddled by the novelty.
That isn’t to say that this will be an easy win for Houston. The Cougars could give up an early lead to their visitors, but ultimately they are going to claw back into the game. With the win, Houston will get to 10 wins for the third time in seven seasons.