ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Sixth-ranked Houston lost to Navy on a rain-soaked field Saturday, 46-40, all but certainly eliminating the chance for a team from outside the so-called Power Five conferences to qualify for the College Football Playoff this season.
Appropriately, the Midshipmen thrived amid all the water at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Their option-based attack controlled the game with 306 yards on the ground. Quarterback Will Worth rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown, and threw for two more and 76 yards on just five attempts.
Navy (4-1, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) took a lead in the second half, which began tied at 20-20, with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Bonner, and followed that with Josiah Powell’s 34-yard interception for a touchdown, one of two thrown by Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr.