Brian Newberry grew up down the road from Norman, Okla., working for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Now, Newberry will wrap up his second season as Navy’s head coach when the Midshipmen meet in the Armed Forces Bowl on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
“It’s going to be hard to see them on the other side,” Newberry said. “I’m excited about it. I can’t wait.”
Navy (9-3) is looking for the sixth 10-win season in program history. The Midshipmen are coming off a 31-13 victory over rival Army in Landover, Md.
The bowl is Navy’s first against an SEC player since the 1955 Sugar Bowl when the Midshipmen beat Ole Miss 21-0.
“When you come to Navy, you don’t expect to be playing Oklahoma,” Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath said. “If you would have told me when I committed here, I would have thought that would have been great.”
At Oklahoma, it is the program’s first appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl and its first bowl game against a service school rival.
The Sooners are in a bowl game for the 26th consecutive season, which is the second-longest in the nation behind only Georgia (28).
Oklahoma had to sweat this one out, needing an upset win then-No. 7 Alabama in its home finale to reach bowl eligibility.
The Sooners (6-6) are looking to avoid a second losing season in the past three years after going from 1999-2021 without a sub-.500 campaign.
This game will feature one of the fastest offenses in the country against one of the top teams in the FBS.
Navy was No. 7 nationally in the regular season with an average of 249.3 rushing yards per game.
The Midshipmen’s ground game is led by Horvath, who has rushed for 1,091 yards and 15 touchdowns. Horvath has rushed for 100 yards or more five times this season, including 204 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Army.
The Sooners allowed just 154.9 yards per game on the ground, 12th in the FBS during the regular season.
Oklahoma will be without a few key pieces of that defense, though.
Linebacker Danny Stutsman, the Sooners’ leading rusher and consensus All-American, and safety Billy Bowman Jr. both are expected to miss the game as they prepare for the NFL Draft, while linebacker/defensive back Dasan McCullough enters the transfer portal.
Linebacker Kip Lewis figures to play a big role in a bowl game with Stutsman out.
Navy’s triple-option offense puts a lot of pressure on the linebackers.
“I’m from east Texas, so I’ve played Wing-T like in high school, so I’m a little bit used to it,” Lewis said. “It’s been a minute since I played it, but it brought me back to my roots playing Wing-T.”
Oklahoma will also be short-handed on the offensive end, as freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. who will make his first start since mid-October after Jackson Arnold transferred to Auburn.
The Sooners have been thin at wide receiver all season and will be in the bowl again after several of their receivers who missed significant time with injuries entered the transfer portal.
They hope that Deion Burks, who has played in one of the last eight games, will be there for the bowl game.
The matchup will be just the second between the programs. In 1965, Navy beat the Sooners 10-0 in Norman.
–Field Level Media
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