Tigers set to host Midshipmen in a crucial AAC West battle

The Memphis Tigers return home for a little Thursday night lights action when the Navy Midshipmen come to the Liberty Bowl, for a battle of the unbeaten. Last season the Tigers went to Navy and lost by a point and will look to avenge that loss on Thursday night.

Both the Tigers and Midshipmen are heading into the Thursday night matchup following a bye week after both teams started fast.

The Tigers are coming off massive wins over Ole Miss, Southern University, and South Alabama to start 3-0. Navy has wins over Holy Cross and a 42-10 beat down of East Carolina. Both the Tigers and Midshipmen are looking to stay unbeaten and hopes for an AAC crown alive.

Thursday night will be a massive game within the American Athletic Western division with the winner joining Tulane at the top.

This matchup will see two of the best defensives in the country squaring off to set up an all-out slugfest, Thursday night at the Liberty Bowl. These two teams on average are both giving up only 226 yards of total defense through week four. The Tigers sit at number three in the country for total defense, while Navy sits at number four with only a .2 yardage difference in the two teams.

In scoring defense, the Midshipmen are second in the country with an average of 8.5, while the Tigers sit at 14th with an average of 13.3.

Heading into the matchup with the Midshipmen the Tigers look to prove themselves against the difficult to stop Navy Triple option.

In previous years the Tigers have struggled to contain the triple option but this year could be different with this brand new Tiger Defense under new defensive coordinator, Coach Fuller. Since the hiring of Coach Fuller, this Tigers defense has already reached heights never thought possible.

Head Coach Mike Norvell had this to say about containing the Navy Triple Option.

" Scout teams have really worked hard to give us the best look possible,” Tiger coach Mike Norvell said. “But the speed of the game is going to be something that is extremely different. Guys that have played (against Navy), they know that and so I would say if there's anything that we can take from the past is that experience of knowing that just how fast this is about to be.”

On the other side of the ball, Tiger fans hope to see a more confident Brady White heading into the week five matchup with Navy. White is 52-72 on the season for 718 yards and five touchdowns.

The Tigers will turn to Kenny Gainwell to lead the rushing attack with Patrick Taylor out for yet another week with an ankle injury. Gainwell had himself a monster game against South Alabama rushing for 145 yards with 9.1 yards per rush attempt.

Memphis and Navy will kick off Thursday night at the Liberty Bowl at 7:00 on ESPN. With the tailgating lots opening at noon and Tiger Walk at 4:30.