Watch: Navy Star Brent Self Talk About Oklahoma, Armed Forces Bowl

Before the Navy Midshipmen headed to Texas to face the Oklahoma Sooners in the Armed Forces Bowl, Brent Self talked about the game.

Nov 12, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; A general view of a Navy Midshipmen helmet during the game with the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The Midshipmen defeated the Mustangs 24-17. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

For Navy center Brent Self, the Armed Forces Bowl is a homecoming game.

Self, who is a graduate of Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, which is north of Fort Worth, makes him one of 30 Texas players that will take the field for the Midshipmen later this week.

Navy (9-3) is preparing to face Oklahoma (6-6) in the Armed Forces Bowl on Friday, the Midshipmen’s first appearance in a bowl game under second-year head coach Brian Newberry. Kickoff is set for noon eastern.

Self talked about the game and about going home to play his final contest with Navy Sports Magazine recently.

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Self is part of an offensive line that helped the Midshipmen turn things around after failing to make a bowl game last season.

Navy is averaging 249.3 rushing yards per game, the seventh-best average in FBS and the program's best since 2019 when it averaged a school-record 360.5 rushing yards per game. He and the offensive line and provided impressive protection for junior quarterback Blake Horvath.

He has had the most productive season for a Navy quarterback since Malcolm Perry in 2019. With 1,091 yards rushing and 1,261 passing yards, he is the first Midshipmen quarterback since Perry to have more than 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season. His 13 passing scores have tied Ricky Dobbs for the single-season record.

Self has started each of the past two seasons and was a significant contributor to the offense in 2022. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Justin, who is a 2021 graduate of the Naval Academy and was a starting offensive lineman.

He also gets to finish his college career against one of the most historic programs in college football, but one Navy has rarely played.

This is the Midshipmen’s first bowl game against OU, and just the second meeting all-time. Navy leads the all-time series 1-0, a 10-0 victory in Norman, Okla., in 1965.

If Navy can beat Oklahoma, it would make this year’s edition just the sixth team in Midshipmen history to win at least 10 games in a season, joining the teams from 1905 (10-1-1), 2004 (10-2), 2009 (10-4), 2015 (11-2) and 2019 (11-2).

It would also be the first 10-win season under Newberry, who guided Navy to just five wins last season. This is a full-circle moment for Newberry, who grew up in Oklahoma and said his first college football game as a fan was a Sooners game during the program’s 1985 national championship season.