Lebanon, Tennessee – North Texas (4-2, 2-0) and Navy (2-4, 1-3) both surprise us thus far entering Week Eight for our first of our second 750 game ahead of us. Navy was favored to win this year’s American Athletic Conference based on the return of key defenders. North Texas State was expected to wallow and rebuild after the departure of HC Eric Morris who absconded with one of the best offenses in the country last year to revive Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1).
Navy offense performing, but defense needs to tighten up in Week Eight
Of 14 teams in the American Athletic, Navy sits only above Rice in the standings. In the second game of the season against Florida Atlantic, the Midshipmen lost senior QB Braxton Woodson to a leg injury. They trailed in that game in the third, 31-7, when he left. Junior Jackson Guittierez entered the game and came up short in a 38-30 comeback. Since then, with Guitterez still calling signals, we saw the Midshipman fall at UAB, 24-20. A week later, archrival Air Force beat them in Colorado Springs, 14-9. The Mids defeated Tulsa, 38-26, at home before losing another tight one at Texas-San Antonio, 38-34.
Seems like the Mids offense has performed well with Guitierrez replacing Woosdon, but the defense has struggled to play up to its expectations. The Mids have forced only four turnovers in six games. In the American and against only conference foes, Navy’s defense stands tied for 11th allowing 31.5 point per game in Week Eight.
NTSU on the mend offensively
North Texas under new HC Neal Brown went to the portal to replace heavy personnel losses among the offense. Brown recruited QB Tayven Jackson from Central Florida, RB Jaheim White from Brown’s former team West Virginia and WR Justin Stevenson who we saw in action two years ago for Wyoming (1 catch for 5 yards vs BYU). This trio took over for a completely depleted Mean Green roster and performed adequately well so far.
Jackson has completed 72.2%of his passes for 1,868 yards and 15 TDs and four INTs. White averages 7.2 yards per carry and nine TDs. He’s also a receiving threat with 23 receptions for 192 yards and two TDs. Stevenson leads the receiving corps with 33 grabs for 453 yards and five TDs. Of course, we take the early competition into consideration. Expectedly, they were no match for Indiana in their opener. They clobbered UNLV (4-2), 44-6, in their home opener. The Mean Green Beat up on FCS Houston Christian, 63-14, and lowly Charlotte last week, 50-10. In high-scoring games, they fell to Texas State, 49-35, and defeated Tulsa, 45-44.
Look for a high-scoring finale
The Mean Green definitely possesses offensive fire power again. They will should score often against Navy in Week Eight. The Navy secondary generally lags behind teams with great speed among their receivers. On the other hand, the Midshipmen offense can give the Mean Green defense fits with the offense they’ve displayed. The NTSU defense has given up points to good passing attacks. Navy offers that with Guitierez under center. He has run the ball (644 yards, 9 TDs) as well as thrown it (559 yards and six TDs). USNA will have to establish an effective running game early to score points and need to keep the NTSU offense on the sideline to offset the passing game.
North Texas over Navy in a close one
The big question for Navy is how well it minimize the North Texas passing game? Is Navy HC Brian Newberry making any adjustments to stop the Mean Green passing prowess? Navy needs more pressure up front with only 14 sacks on the season. We expect a high-scoring game. Will a Navy homecoming crowd bring some emotion to get Navy back on a winning track? This one gets decided late, but look for the NTSU passing attack to make some big plays when it needs to win.
Conference USA action during Week Eight next Tuesday and Wednesday
We stay close to home in Week Eight with two CUSA games within driving distance next week. On Tuesday, Western Kentucky (3-4, 2-1) hosts Delaware (3-4, 1-2). On Wednesday, Kennesaw State (1-5, 0-2) visits Middle Tennessee (4-3, 2-1). Among the ten conference teams, the championship game is up for grabs with the top team Jacksonville State at 3-0 and last place teams Kennesaw and Sam Houston both at 0-2.
Things have been interesting as mid-week conference contests got started last week against comparable competition. Among all FBS conferences, ConferenceUSA is low man on the totem pole when it comes to financing football. We enjoy keeping them in the mix though because we see them play competitively against one another.
Western Kentucky and Delaware ready to go in separate directions
After losing combined scores of 157-34 to Nevada, Indiana, and Georgia to start the season (Nevada?), the Hilltoppers stepped into CUSA play falling to New Mexico State. Then, they took it out on Missouri State (2-5, 1-2), 34-13, and Sam Houston State (1-5, 0-2), 16-3. HC Ty Helton has a turnover problem at WKU. No offensive coordinator has lasted under over two years during his eight-year tenure with the Toppers.
Basically, they all left because success provided them better career opportunities. In at least two consecutive seasons (2021-22), WKU led the FBS in passing yardage. Helton’s latest OC, Bodie Reeder, came over from Middle Tennessee who had Nick Vittatio at QB for several years. We admired him as tough runner and leader for the Blue Raiders, but MTSU did not exactly tear up Conference USA.
UD ready to rise starting in Week Eight
Delaware (3-4. 1-2) appears on our slate a second time. We saw them fall to Vanderbilt in Week Two, 35-26. Early in Week Four at Virginia in the second period, starting QB Nick Minicucci suffered a leg injury never to come back in a 42-3 drubbing. He missed the next two games. The Hens lost at Liberty, 30-14, and against MTSU, 33-30.
Last week, Minicucci returned, and UD clobbered Mizzou State, 61-38. He threw five TD passes and ran for another score. With Minicucci’s return, the Blue Hens look ready to get back into a run for the CUSA title. Their final game of the season sees Jacksonville State (5-2, 3-0) visit Delaware Stadium. We look for the Hens to start rolling at WKU in Week Eight to run the table to get at the Gamecocks.
Middle Tennessee improves, but look out for Kennesaw
MTSU has started to see some success with Soph QB Roman Gagliano. Last season, he saw action in the last five Blue Raider games. They defeated Sam Houston and New Mexico State in the last two. After two three-win seasons, HC Derek Mason started on the “hot seat.” At 4-3, 2-1, he put UD behind him with Minicucci out. His Raiders also got by Florida International by three, 26-23.
Last Season, Jerry Mack stepped in as HC at Kennesaw State. He flipped the Owls around from last place in CUSA in 2024 to 10-4 and the conference title in 2026. Then of course, the transfer portal came through and took many including two top QBs. Rickie Collins transferred in from Syracuse. He leads the Owls in passing yards with 1,302 yards and rushing with 271. On the positive side, though no consolation prizes after a 42-9 loss to Tennessee, the Owls have lost three games by a total of only seven points in disappointingly close finishes. Consider Jerry Mack’s team a work-in-progress looking to come up with some finishing touches starting in Week Eight.
So close and yet so far
Against Arkansas State, they entered the final period tied 14-14. With 8:29 left in the fourth, the ASU Red Wolves made good on a 33-yard FG. Driving to the Arkansas State 14, the Owls missed a 32-yard attempt with 2:59 to play. ASU ran out the clock to win, 17-14. A week later, Jacksonville State converted a 33-yard FG to go up 27-26 with 51 seconds left. They intercepted an Owl pass to stop their threat to win. And last Wednesday, Missouri State kicked a 20-yard FG as time expired to defeat KSU, 24-21. Seems like Kennesaw is due to turn things around. However, with Gagliano, this seems like another one down to the wire. A heart-breaker for who this time? Should be another close CUSA game between teams that are pretty evenly matched. Should be fun. This is the way we like them!
Read more fun history of many games attended our first 42 Seasons!
If you haven’t already, please click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 750 college games attended to date now, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person. In 2026, in case you aren’t aware, North Dakota State and Sacramento State join the FBS this season. “Fifty Years” tells our story of how we got to attend our first 652 games!
Read the reviews on the book page and order your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023. Hopefully, you’ll understand how much we love this sport and what we propose for it to survive successfully. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales.
Capture some memories
Please buy your copy today and read about the many great memories captured. Maybe some will bring back some of the same memories you encountered when we did. And to us this isn’t a job. It’s our lifelong adventure!