No. 18 Army (8-0, 6-0 AAC) at North Texas (5-3, 2-2), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Army by 5 1/2.
Series record: Army leads 5-2.
Army is trying to extend the nation's longest active winning streak of 12 games going back to last season. North Texas wants a replay of its last home game against a ranked opponent. Three years ago, the Mean Green handed UTSA its first loss of the season with a resounding 45-23 victory. The Black Knights haven't trailed during their longest winning streak since 1949-50. UNT remains on the cusp of bowl eligibility, which eluded coach Eric Morris in his 5-7 debut a year ago. The Mean Green have lost their past two games, 52-44 at Memphis and 45-37 at home against Tulane.
North Texas is third nationally in total offense and will face an Army defense that is No. 5 in the country. The Mean Green average 528 yards per game, and the Black Knights give up just 273. North Texas throws for almost 200 yards per game more than Army allows.
Army: QBs Bryson Daily and/or Dewayne Coleman directing the triple option. Daily was leading the nation with 19 touchdowns rushing before missing last week's 20-3 victory over Air Force with an undisclosed injury and illness. Coach Jeff Monken said Daily was “somewhere between questionable and probable.” Coleman ran 16 times for 42 yards against the Falcons while RB Kanye Udoh had a career-high 158 yards rushing and both touchdowns.
North Texas: QB Chandler Morris leads FBS in passing yards per game at 359.1 and is tied for second in passing TDs with 29. He has four games of at least 400 yards this season. No other FBS player has more than two.
The Black Knights have scored on their opening drive in all eight games this season (7 touchdowns before a field goal against Air Force). Army has outscored opponents 162-27 in the first half. ... North Texas' DT Sheffield is third among FBS receivers with 1,056 all-purpose yards and tied for second with 10 receiving TDs. ... Army S Casey Larkin has thrives in his first year as a starter after being projected as the nickel back. He has three interceptions while playing solid run defense. ... North Texas is the only team in the country with six plays of at least 70 yards. ... Army leads the nation in rushing at 340 yards per game. ... This is the fourth time North Texas has played a Top 25 team at home. The Mean Green won two of the previous three.
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Army place kicker Trey Gronotte (96) celebrates their 20-3 win over Air Force following an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ticketed fans in Georgia and Notre Dame gear packed a plaza adjacent to the Superdome, enjoyed music under clear skies — and under the watch of snipers on rooftops — before filtering into the stadium for Thursday afternoon's College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl.
“It was a lot of fun. It felt safe, “said Shannon Horsey, a Georgia fan in her 40s who lives in Austin, Texas. ”Coming in they searched by bag thoroughly. So I felt like, OK, they're really paying attention."
She was in New Orleans with her husband, Joe, a 48-year-old Georgia graduate, and their teenage children, Jack and Zoe.
They extended their stay after the game, originally scheduled for Wednesday night, was postponed because of an attack in which a man drove a pickup truck into crowds in the French Quarter, killing 14 New Year’s revelers before police killed the attacker in a shootout. Dozens more were injured.
“We can see the presence up on the rooftop," Horsey said, pointing at a sniper above Champions Square. "So, I kind of felt like this is probably one of the safest places to be in the city.”
Joe Horsey found the pregame crowd larger than he expected but, also found the "energy lower than a normal football game.”
“You could sense the musicians trying to get people riled up. People are kind of going through the paces, a little bit in shock, but trying to make the best out of the day,” he said.
It also seemed to Horsey that opposing fans were being a little more polite to one another than at a typical game.
“SEC football can get nasty on game day and can get a little raucous," he said. "But there's a little different sense of civility and that there's bigger things than football.”
Flags were at half-staff outside nearby government buildings in memory of those killed in the attack, which has been labeled by authorities an act of terrorism.
The attack occurred on Bourbon Street, which runs through the heart of the French Quarter and is famously lined with bars, restaurants and clubs, near the corner of Canal Street, a main downtown artery.
The crime scene, which was gradually being cleared so it could be reopened to the public on Thursday afternoon, is about a mile’s walk from the Superdome.
Security was ramped up in and around the stadium.
Police blocked regular traffic from passing by the main Superdome entrance on Poydras Street, an eight-lane downtown artery.
A helicopter circled overhead.
Numerous security officers around the 70,000-seat stadium were handling dogs trained to sniff for explosive devices. They encircled cars entering the Superdome parking garage and in some cases sniffed bags and backpacks.
The game, originally scheduled for 7:45 p.m. CST on Wednesday, was pushed back to 3 p.m. Thursday, with the winner advancing to the Jan. 9 Orange Bowl against Fiesta Bowl winner Penn State. It was the first time the Sugar Bowl had been postponed in its 91-year history (although it had been relocated at the end of the 2005 season because of Hurricane Katrina).
Mark Oldani, a 58-year-old Nashville resident and 1988 graduate of Notre Dame, took a group photo for a gathering of Georgia fans in from of the Superdome.
The crowd was “friendly, nobody yelling back and forth at each other,” he said. “I think everybody's coming in hoping for a good game and wanting to make the most of a really difficult situation.”
Before the singing of the national anthem, a moment of silence, lasting close to half a minute, was held.
While many traveling fans extended their stay to attend the game, the postponement meant some would not be able to attend because of travel plans that were deemed too expensive or logistically difficult to change.
Numerous tickets were listed for resale online at prices of $30 or less, some as low as $23.
Postponing the game “was absolutely the right call,” said Lisa Borrelli, a 34-year-old Philadelphia resident who came to New Orleans with her fiancé, a 2011 Notre Dame graduate, but could not stay for the game.
She said they paid more than $250 per ticket and weren't sure if they'd bother listing them for resale because prices were so low.
“Of course we’re disappointed to miss it and to lose so much money on it, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter,” Borrelli said. “We’re fortunate enough that we’ll be fine.”
The Superdome also is scheduled to host the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.
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Street view of Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
A state trooper stands by New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon streets, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
FBI personnel arrive at the Caesars Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Cory Hunter flips a coin on Bourbon Street, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Law enforcement gather in front of the Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tourist walk past temporary barriers on Bourbon Street, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Local SWAT teams patrol outside the Caesars Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Fans pass through security check points as they enter the Superdome fan zone ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Fans pass through security check points as they enter the Caesars Superdome fan zone ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Fans pass through security check points as they enter the Superdome fan zone ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Security with bomb sniffing dogs check vehicles as they enter the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Local SWAT teams patrol outside the Caesars Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
An aerial overall exterior general view of Caesars Superdome, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
Security and bomb sniffing dogs check backpacks before entering the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Security and bomb sniffing dogs check vehicles as they enter the Superdome parking garage ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Security with bomb sniffing dogs patrol the area around the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Security and bomb sniffing dogs check vehicles as they enter the Superdome parking garage ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
