The Navy football team can clinch the West Division of the American Athletic Conference with a victory against East Carolina Nov. 19.
The Midshipmen (7-2 overall, 5-1 AAC) will be able to firmly set their sights on hosting the AAC championship Dec. 3 by closing out the season with a road victory against SMU Nov. 26. Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, however, is not looking past the Pirates, who have lost their past two games and are 1-5 in the conference.
"It's always a tough matchup," Niumatalolo said of East Carolina. "Very athletic and will spread you out. Big offensive line and can run the football. A lot of the teams we've played here recently do similar things with the spread offense. Conceptually, ECU has their own twist to it -- always a challenge."
