Brian Newberry, who grew up in Norman, Okla. and supported the Oklahoma Sooners, is a native of the area.

Newberry's second season as Navy head coach will come to an end when the Midshipmen face the Sooners at the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth on Friday.

Newberry stated, "It will be surreal to see them on the sideline." "I am excited about it. "I can't wait to see it."

Navy (9-3) aims to become the only program in history to have a 10-win season. The Midshipmen just won 31-13 against Army in Landover.

This is Navy's first bowl against an SEC opponent, since 1955 when the Midshipmen defeated Ole Miss by 21-0 in the Sugar Bowl.

Blake Horvath, Midshipman quarterback, said: "You don't expect to play Oklahoma when you come to Navy." If you had told me this when I signed up here, I would have thought it was pretty cool.

Oklahoma is playing in its first Armed Forces Bowl game and first bowl match against a service academy.

The Sooners have been in a bowl for 26 consecutive seasons, which is the second longest active streak in America behind only Georgia's (28).

Oklahoma needed to win the home finale against then-No. To qualify for the bowl, Alabama had to beat then-No.

The Sooners (6-6), who have not had a losing season since 1999, are hoping to avoid their second in three years.

This game will pit one of FBS's top-ranked rushing teams against another.

Navy was ranked No.7 nationally during the regular season with an average of 249.3 rushing yards per game. The average rushing yardage per game was 249.3 yards.

Horvath is the Midshipmen's leading rusher, with 1,091 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. Horvath has run for 100 yards or more five times in this season. This includes 204 yards with two touchdowns against Army.

The Sooners are 12th in FBS for allowing just 154.9 yards on the ground per game.

Oklahoma is going to be missing several key defensive pieces.

Dasan McCullough, a linebacker/defensive-back and the leading tackler for the Sooners and a consensus All-American in the NFL Draft, entered the transfer portal.

With Stutsman gone, Kip Lewis is likely to have a bigger role in the Bowl game.

Navy's triple option offense places a lot of pressure on linebackers.

Lewis explained, "I'm originally from east Texas and I played Wing-T in high school. I'm used to it." It's been awhile since I played, but it took me back to the roots of playing Wing-T.

Oklahoma is also short-handed offensively, with Jackson Arnold having transferred to Auburn. Freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. makes his first start in mid-October.

After several receivers, who had missed time with injuries due to injury, entered the transfer portal, the Sooners will have a full roster of wide receivers for the Bowl.

Deion Burks is expected to be available for the Bowl Game, despite only playing in one of the last eight games.

This will be the second time the two programs have met. In Norman, Navy defeated the Sooners by a score of 10-0 in 1965.

Field Level Media

(source: Reuters)