TEXAS BOWL | Navy vs. Missouri

When: 3:30 p.m.

Where: Reliant Stadium, Houston (71,500).

Forecast: Partly cloudy, low 60s.

TV: ESPN.

Radio: WWFD (820 AM), WZAA (1050 AM), WBAL (1090 AM), WNAV (1430 AM), WFED (1500 AM), WTRI (1520 AM).

Records: Midshipmen 9-4; Tigers 8-4.

Coaches: Ken Niumatalolo (17-10, second year); Gary Pinkel (67-45, ninth year)."

When Navy has the ball

Missouri put some of its best athletes at quarterback this week to simulate Navy junior Ricky Dobbs. "He's a great player, and he makes that whole offense go," Tigers Coach Gary Pinkel said. In each of his past four games, Dobbs has rushed for 100 yards; he's also had a hand in 10 of Navy's 12 touchdowns in that span (eight rushing, two passing). In 11 starts this season, Dobbs has rushed for 24 touchdowns -- an NCAA single-season record for a quarterback. Overall, Navy's offense is averaging 272.5 yards per game on the ground, good for fourth in division I-A. Only one team has gained more than 150 rushing yards this season against Missouri (Nevada -- which led the nation -- had 218 on 45 carries).

When Missouri has the ball

Navy already has faced four players this season who average more than 100 receiving yards per game. Now the Midshipmen face Danario Alexander, who leads division I-A with 137 receiving yards per game. He has 13 touchdown catches -- no Navy player has more than 10 catches, period -- and those scores accounted for a total of 623 yards. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, has completed 59.7 percent of his passes and has thrown just seven interceptions -- none since Oct. 31 at Colorado. Gabbert has thrown 15 passes of longer than 45 yards; 12 have gone for touchdowns. In their past three games, the Tigers have averaged 195.7 yards rushing.

Special Teams

Navy junior place kicker Joe Buckley was named first-team all-East by the ECAC; he has made 10 of 13 field goal attempts -- including all seven from 35 yards or beyond -- and has two game-winners. Missouri sophomore Grant Ressel leads division I-A in field goal accuracy; he's made 24 of 25 kicks (96 percent). In the regular season finale, Ressel kicked a 27-yard field goal with no time on the clock to lift the Tigers to a 41-39 win over rival Kansas.

Coaches

Pinkel has said that this game will be extra emotional for him, since his father, George, is a World War II Navy veteran. He's faced the Midshipmen before; in 2000, he led Toledo to a 35-14 victory in Annapolis. Niumatalolo has won 17 games since taking over for Paul Johnson in December 2007, but he is 0-2 in bowl games.

— Camille Powell