Welcome to one of the most interesting Fridays of the college football season.
May I interest you in happy hour college football? The five-game Friday slate starts with an American Conference double-header on ESPN, featuring both service academies in conference matchups.
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At 4 p.m. ET — yes, 4 p.m. ET — Temple travels north to face Army in the earliest regular season Friday kickoff time since Dec. 2, 2022 when Buffalo and Akron scheduled a postponed game for 1 p.m. ET. Typically, television networks give 3.5 hours before the next game, but ESPN is banking on Army’s option offense to reduce the game to three hours, because at 7 p.m. ET, UAB hosts Navy on the flagship network.
ESPN rounds out its Friday schedule with a 10:30 p.m. ET ACC matchup between Clemson and California on the West Coast. Other Friday matchups include Rutgers hosting FCS Howard at 7 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network and a clash between Big Ten undefeateds Indiana and Northwestern at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Let’s break down the American double-header:
Friday, Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN
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Spread: Army (-3)
Over/under: 48.5
A Friday afternoon hasn’t felt this good since Bowl Season. Army and Temple kick off at 4 p.m. from West Point, with this one counting for the conference standings. The Black Knights have dominated the series in the past decade, winning all four matchups since 2016, sliding past the Owls 14-13 last November.
Army (1-1, 0-1 American) is coming off an early bye week, and this won’t be the Black Knights’ first exposure to conference play in 2026. They dropped a Week 2 heartbreaker to South Florida at home despite holding a 10-point lead with five minutes remaining. The Bulls won on a 38-yard deep shot on fourth down with 19 seconds remaining, continuing Army’s trend of losing close games. Last year, the Black Knights finished 7-6, yet five of the losses were by one score — and all realistically winnable in the final two minutes. This season, the team enjoys more continuity with eight offensive starters back, including quarterback Cale Hellums.
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Hellums, who led all FBS quarterbacks in rushing last season, has already shown a better aerial presence this season, while acting as one of three 140+ yard rushers in the option offense. The other two are tailback Godspower Nwawuihe and slotback Zach Mundell, who lead Army’s No. 1 ranked rushing offense at 394.0 yards per game. But as shown in the South Florida loss, there’s plenty to clean up on a defense which lost all but three starters from 2025. The Black Knights struggled to get off the field on third and fourth downs, and they’ll need to do a better job containing quarterback mobility after the bye week.
Temple (1-2, 0-0 American) suffered a top-three gut-wrenching loss of this young season, along with NC State’s unthinkable fumble against Vanderbilt and Western Michigan’s stolen win at Michigan on the Bail Mary. The Owls led by 14 with under 70 seconds remaining at Toledo, but in a 12-second span, they allowed a touchdown, an onside kick recovery, and another touchdown to force overtime. Temple elected to go for the winning two-point try in overtime but failed, dropping a second-straight game in September.
The Owls settled their ongoing quarterback battle, at least for now, in their best offensive showing of the season. Ajani Sheppard completed three touchdown passes and ran for 66 yards in the 49-48 defeat, and he’ll earn his first start of the season Saturday. Temple also features capable skill position players such as running back Keveun Mason (283 rushing yards, 2 TD), wide receiver Colin Chase (120 receiving yards, 20.0 yards per catch), and tight end Peter Clarke (2025 Second Team All-American Conference). The Owls’ passing defense ranks sixth-to-last in the FBS, but the run defense will be more essential in this matchup. The linebacking duo of Curly Ordonez and Eric Stuart will be tasked with limiting Army’s litany of dangerous ball carriers on the road.
Prediction: Army 35, Temple 21
Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
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Spread: Navy (-6.5)
Over/under: 51.5
This is the fourth meeting in four years between Navy and UAB. It’s been a one-sided series between the American opponents, as Navy has won all three matchups by at least 14 points, scoring more than 30 on the Blazers each time.
UAB (1-2, 0-0 American) makes its conference debut in the first full season of the Alex Mortensen era. Mortensen landed the head coaching job after spearheading an upset over a ranked Memphis team in his first game as the interim. Now in a full-fledged role, his Blazers have shown competitiveness — going toe-to-toe with Illinois for a half — but is demanded of the offense, which currently ranks 117th in scoring and 111th in production.
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Quarterback Ryder Burton is tasked with elevating the Blazers to the next level. He started the season strong at Illinois with 219 passing yards, 38 rushing yards, and two total touchdowns. However, he didn’t replicate those numbers in the follow-up outings against ULM and Louisiana, which UAB split. The Blazers overcame a 20-10 second half deficit to ULM largely due to its run game. The 6’1″, 235-pound Georgia transfer Rod Robinson II has taken charge of the backfield with 225 yards through three games. UAB also receives offensive support from a reliable kicker in Jonah Delange, who is a perfect 7-of-7 on field goals with three makes above 30 yards. However, UAB’s kryptonite isn’t exactly its struggling offense. It’s a run defense which ranks 124th nationally, which is slated to face a perennial rushing power in Navy.
Navy (1-1, 0-1 American) won’t start 6-0 for the first time since 2023. The Midshipmen dropped their conference opener 38-30 at Florida Atlantic and trailed by as many as 31 points before a late rally. Like their archrival, they received an early bye, getting a week to mull over the loss and focus their efforts on qualifying for a first American Conference Championship Game since 2016.
Starter Braxton Woodson, who leads all FBS quarterbacks with 148 rushing yards per game, suffered an ankle injury in the loss to Florida Atlantic. Woodson remains day-to-day per head coach Brian Newberry’s press conference. If he is unable to go, Jackson Gutierrez — the architect of the late 23-0 run at Florida Atlantic — will step into his place. Gutierrez recorded 100 passing and two touchdowns on 12 attempts, while running for 75 yards and a touchdown in Week 2. Navy is still in the process of unearthing new offensive stars, and right now, Vic Listori has been the most effective non-quarterback with 116 rushing yards on a 7.7 average. The Midshipmen’s passing defense ranks 132nd in the country after surrendering 386 yards and five touchdowns to FAU. That is the number one area the team must shore up to overcome its 0-1 conference record and contend for the American title.
Prediction: Navy 31, UAB 13
