Army vs Navy: Three Prop Bets and Our Best Bet

Army vs Navy Three Prop Bets and Our Best Bet

For only the third time in this rivalry’s history, the Army Black Knights (5-6) and the Navy Midshipmen (5-6) will face off somewhere outside the mid-Atlantic as the two rivals meet Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts inside Gillette Stadium.

Army enters the game as the hotter team, having won their last three games. Of the Black Knights’ six losses this season, four have come to teams that qualified for a bowl contest. For the second straight season, Army will finish its season against Navy as the Black Knights did not accept a bowl invitation in 2023.

Win or lose, Navy will finish the 2023 campaign with its best regular-season record in five years. The Midshipmen’s only loss to a non-bowl eligible team was against Temple, a game in which Navy played their fourth-string QB the majority of the contest due to injuries. All other Navy losses came to opponents that will finish their season with a bowl game.

After Navy started the century by winning 14 straight games in this series, Army has now won five of the past seven matchups against the Midshipmen. Will the Black Knights continue to dominate this rivalry, or will Navy start their own winning streak? We reveal our top prop bets for this game as well as our best bet as Army and Navy renew their historic series on Saturday.

Bryson Daily Anytime TD Scorer (+165)

The Black Knights rely on junior QB Bryson Daily to power their offense. In 10 games this season, Daily passed for 859 yards and six TDs while also running for 817 yards and seven TDs in 2023.

Daily has scored the majority of his TDs on the ground over the team’s last four contests. In leading his team to three wins, the Abernathy, Texas, native has scored five rushing TDs and gained 405 rushing yards over the four-game span.

Expect Daily to continue his torrid run Saturday against Navy.

Navy Midshipmen UNDER 6.5 Points First Quarter

This season, Navy has scored at least seven points or more in the first quarter of five of the team’s 11 games. Those games were against teams during the middle of the year, a time when most opponents are susceptible to the dated offense the Midshipmen run.

Army, however, is well-versed in Navy’s methodical offense. The Black Knights have allowed Navy to score seven or more points during the first quarter only once in the past seven matchups.

Expect the Black Knights to keep this streak intact on Saturday.

Tai Lavatai Anytime TD Scorer (+650)

Navy’s QB struggles this season have been well-documented. Prior to his injury, senior Tai Lavatai managed the Midshipmen’s offense with a balanced attack.

Lavatai completed more than 53 percent of his passes for 522 yards and four scores while also rushing 56 times for 171 yards and two TDs. Lavatai enters his final Army-Navy game healed from multiple injuries this season, looking to win this rivalry contest for only the second time in his four-year career.

In the past two years, Lavatai had at least five rushing TDs each season. Expect Lavatai to score at least once against Army to cap off his final football game on Saturday.

Best Bet: OVER 27.5 Points

Oddsmakers have gifted fans with an extremely low over/under point total for this game. The two teams combined have scored over 38 points on average this season.

Further, both Army and Navy have had three of their past four games during the 2023 regular season exceed the 27.5-point mark. In three of their past four meetings, this rivalry game has exceeded the 27.5-point mark.

Last year’s 20-17 double overtime thriller finished regulation as a 10-10 tie, but overtime heroics allowed the Black Knights to pull off the victory. Expect this contest to finish as a 17-14 score either way, covering this prop bet.

Ernie Horn


Sports Betting Contributor

Ernie is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He spent those early years working as a sports reporter and editor, but made the move back to the digital world in 2022. Ernie covers college football and NFL betting for Hello Rookie.