The AAC got a bit more challenging in 2023 by adding a handful of new teams. How will that affect the Navy season predictions for this fall?
Navy Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the American Athletic Conference and across the country.
Find Every AAC Season Prediction per team: Charlotte | ECU | FAU | Memphis | Navy | North Texas | Rice | SMU | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UAB | USF | UTSA
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, how do the Navy predictions look for 2023?
Week 0 – Navy vs. Notre Dame: Loss, 11-30
The season opens up with a tough one in Dublin, Ireland. Two historic programs dueling it out in a historic land and stadium seems like a marquee matchup but in reality, this one favors Notre Dame heavily.
The Irish, both local and from Notre Dame, should have a field day in Dublin as Navy must answer a slew of questions on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame should run away with this one, or better yet, throw all over Navy’s secondary in Sam Hartman’s debut at quarterback.
Week 2 – Navy vs. Wagner: Win, 26-9
One if by land, and two if by sea, the Midshipmen are out to prove they’re the top sea-based mascot in this one. After a week off from their travel to Ireland, Navy welcomes in the Seahawks from Wagner in their second non-conference game of the season.
Wagner should be no match even for a depleted Navy offense, and the latter should be able to answer any questions they have about their offensive game plan in this one.
Week 3 – Navy @ Memphis: Loss, 14-26
The Memphis offense is a juggernaut with Seth Henigan at the helm. The ascending quarterback is out to prove he’s one of the top signal-callers in the AAC and a hapless Navy secondary shouldn’t be able to stand in his way.
It’s a tough way to open up AAC play in Week 3 for the Navy defense and their second bye week comes at a good time after this one.
Week 5 – Navy vs. USF: Win, 28-24
Navy utilizes their bye week to its advantage and hosts the USF Bulls a week later. While Navy may seem like a team with few answers, USF has even fewer answers at this stage and even fewer redeeming qualities on their roster.
Navy should be able to run wild on the USF defense that lacks a true edge-setter.
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Week 6 – Navy vs. North Texas: Loss, 18-27
The North Texas team always presents a challenge for any secondary, and yet their rushing attack may be one of the best in the American this season. Navy will have to find any answer defensively for the Mean Green in this one, or they’ll just have to simply try and outscore North Texas in Week 6.
Week 7 – Navy @ Charlotte: Win, 23-21
A second conference win and third overall, the Midshipmen should absolutely have this game against Charlotte circled as a must-win moment. The 49ers are under a new head coach in Biff Poggi and completely rebuilt their roster this offseason.
Can they have the pieces put place to stop the Navy option attack by this point? It’s doubtful.
Week 8 – Navy vs. Air Force: Loss, 25-27
One leg in the battle for the Commander-In-Chief Trophy, both Air Force and Navy enter this season with plenty of questions and a date against their rival smacked in the middle of their conference slate.
Air Force lost QB Haaziq Daniels and RB Brad Roberts this offseason but have shown enough in their roster to warrant the slight edge over Navy here.
Week 10 – Navy @ Temple: Loss, 18-22
Temple should be a high-flying unit in 2023. With E.J. Warner leading the crew and the coaching staff putting together an impressive transfer-portal haul, the Owls should be a pesky team for a lot of AAC foes this year.
Navy is absolutely included in that group as they’ll have to hope to play possession football and keep this potentially potent offense off the field for any chance to win.
Week 11 – Navy vs. UAB: Loss, 17-24
Like a lot of programs on Navy’s schedule, the UAB Blazers are breaking in a new staff and a new-look roster. Trent Dilfer mans the ship as the Blazers’ head coach in 2023 and the feel around the program is already markedly different.
UAB has a stalwart defensive unit in the making and should be able to limit what Navy wants to do at the point of attack.
Week 12 – Navy vs. ECU: Loss, 19-26
The ECU offense will absolutely look different without Holton Ahlers at quarterback and Keaton Mitchell at running back. Still, this ECU team has the horses to outrace just about any offense and Navy doesn’t have the tempo to come from behind.
ECU’s multiple defensive fronts should be able to contain the Navy offense and do just enough to hold on to this one.
Week 13 – Navy @ SMU: Loss: 14-27
The speed on SMU’s entire roster is something to behold. Navy just can’t quite match up with Rhett Lashlee’s unit on both sides of the ball. SMU uses its superior speed and ability to stretch the field to keep the Midshipmen guessing in their AAC finale.
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Week 15 – Navy vs. Army: Win, 14-11
Per our analysts’ predictions, Navy earns a split against their armed forces opponents by narrowly defeating Army. This would, however, give the Commander-In-Chief Trophy to Air Force as our predictions also have Air Force defeating Army, but nonetheless, in the historic Army-Navy Game, it’s about one singular result after all.
In a new year with a new staff and a new program feel, the Navy offense gets the season finished on a high note in front of a national audience.
