My friends who saw yesterday's Navy-Notre Dame game on TV all talked about the exciting, nearly come-from-behind finish by Navy, which was down 27-7 with only 150 seconds left in the game. Sitting through it, however, was a completely different experience, one that left a lot of Navy fans frustrated.
The good: The Navy defense came to play. They shut down Notre Dame on their first two drives with an interception and a fumble recovery, and held ND to a single field goal in the first half.
The uneven: Special teams allowed a blocked punt in the first quarter that was run in for a TD, and couldn't generate kick returns. Recovering back-to-back onsides kicks, however, was pretty amazing.
The abysmal: Navy's offense just couldn't get going. The D intercepted. Navy went 3 and out. The D recovered a fumble. Navy went 3 and out, and had the punt blocked for a Notre Dame TD return. Navy made its first 1st down in the 2nd quarter -- and then went 3 and out. The D forced ND to punt. And finally Navy put together a 5-play, 58-yard drive for a TD. The D rose to the occasion and intercepted yet again. And then Kettani fumbled, and ND ended the first half with a field goal.
The second half started with Navy going 3 and out on all three possession in the 3rd quarter. Meanwhile, the D, which spent way too much time on the field, was getting worn down and allowed ND to mount nice drives that resulted in 2 more Irish TDs in the 3rd quarter, and a field goal early in the 4th. At that point a squall was ripping through the stadium, and with the score 27-7, fans on both sides (including the two nuns from a few rows behind us) figured that the game was over and headed for the exits in droves.
I remarked to Craig that this was exactly where we were two weeks ago -- down 27-7 early in the 4th. His comment: "That was Temple. This is Notre Dame."
The majority of the fans in the stands had jumped ship, but the Brigade was still there. They seemed to gain energy from the energy of the squall, and were down there in the endzone making a lot of noise. Their energy was infectious.
The D didn't give up, even when Navy (under Dobbs since 4:03 left in the 3rd) went 3 and out again after the ND field goal. The D proceeded to recover another fumble. And Navy went 3 and out yet again. And still the D didn't give up, and forced ND to turn the ball over on downs.
There are 2 minutes and 30 seconds left on the clock. The rain has mostly ended. The stands are three-quarters empty -- except the endzone section where the mids are generating as much excitement as they can. The Brigade still believed.
And Dobbs finally got into gear, putting together a drive of 4 plays for 57 yards and a TD. Navy picked up three first downs, plus a first down on penalty, on that drive, too.
Now it's 27-14. I muttered, "We only need two more TDs."
And Navy recovered the onsides kick, which everybody knew was coming. And Dobbs struck again, covering 41 yards in 3 plays for a TD/extra point which made it 27-20.
At this point a bunch of ND fans, who had headed for cover about a half-hour earlier, started to re-emerge and stood there in near disbelief and Navy made and recovered yet another onsides kick.
The clock read 1:21.
Navy picked up a first down and made it to the ND 34. Then, instead of trying to make another first down on short passes to the sideline (no timeouts left), or rushing and then spiking the ball, Navy tried to go for broke on long passes -- and they all fell incomplete.
Notre Dame took over on downs, and didn't obligingly fumble for a Navy runback. And that was all she wrote.
Final score -- Notre Dame 27 -- Navy 21.
Here's the big question from the upper deck. Coach Ken said at the Coach's Lunch on Tuesday that he wouldn't hesitate to put Dobbs in if the offense needed a spark, but he wouldn't change quarterbacks if there was a good flow. Despite the one drive in the 2nd quarter, it was apparent by halftime that the offense needed a spark, and there wasn't much the the way of flow to interrupt.
Knowing that it took Dobbs a couple of series to find the groove against Temple, we couldn't help but wonder what took Coach so long to make the change. If Dobbs had started the second half, would he have turned it into a real ballgame?
Navy managed to beat Temple with about 13 minutes of great football. Two-and-a-half minutes of great offense (and a boost from King Neptune, who generated the squall) just wasn't enough against Notre Dame.
FOR THE RECORD
Navy earned 121 of its total 242 yards of offense after Dobbs entered the game late in the 3rd quarter. They also picked up 5 of their 9 earned first downs and one of the 2 penalty first downs in that same time frame.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Lunch with Coach Ken in Annapolis
This being a holiday from work, Craig and I went to Annapolis for the Coach's Lunch at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. It was a nice place to visit on Veterans' Day, and it was an opportunity to hear what Coach Niumatalolo is thinking about how this season is going, and the Notre Dame game coming up this weekend. By the luck of the draw, we ended up sitting with Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk and Annapolis Capital sports writer Bill Wagner.
Coach Ken is a neat guy -- smart, polite, and kind of quiet, but you can sense that he's not someone to mess with. He wasn't giving away anything about Saturday's game -- "One game is just like any other game. . ." He did say that Jarod Bryant will start, and everyone is hoping that Kaipo will be back in form for Army.
He did talk a little bit about Ricky Dobbs, who apparently has really bad practices, but then goes out on the field in a game and blows everyone away. He mentioned that during the one day between Paul Johnson leaving and the announcement that Niumatalolo would be head coach, Dobbs made a point of phoning and talking to every one of the kids at the Naval Academy Prep School, and not one of them jumped ship.
When we were watching the game film, Bill Wagner remarked about how Dobbs unleashes passes with hardly more than a flick of the wrist. Coach Ken also commented on that -- that Dobbs has a very short windup, from about as far back as the ear. He can throw long, but he also has the gift of touch, so that he can thrown over the line, but drop the ball in front of the secondary.
With Navy's win over Temple 10 days ago, the team became eligible to play an ACC opponent, to be determined, in the EagleBank Bowl in DC on Dec. 20. When asked, Coach Ken admitted that he's thought about playing Georgia Tech, coached by Paul Johnson. That would be an interesting match-up, for sure.
I had an opportunity to ask Chet Gladchuk if Navy is going to stick with ACC officials. (Since Navy isn't in a conference, they contract for officials to work home games.) He said yes, that he has to respect their integrity. Those of us in the upper deck, though, have found the crews this year to be frustrating in a lot of ways. It seemed that in the Temple game, almost every other play was reviewed from upstairs. It makes it seem that the guys on the field don't quite know what they're doing, and it makes for a very long game if you're sitting in the stands. Oh, well...
So, this Saturday is Notre Dame in Baltimore. I just hope that Navy comes out on the field playing as well as they did in the fourth quarter against Temple, and that they sustain that level for the duration.
GO NAVY!
Coach Ken is a neat guy -- smart, polite, and kind of quiet, but you can sense that he's not someone to mess with. He wasn't giving away anything about Saturday's game -- "One game is just like any other game. . ." He did say that Jarod Bryant will start, and everyone is hoping that Kaipo will be back in form for Army.
He did talk a little bit about Ricky Dobbs, who apparently has really bad practices, but then goes out on the field in a game and blows everyone away. He mentioned that during the one day between Paul Johnson leaving and the announcement that Niumatalolo would be head coach, Dobbs made a point of phoning and talking to every one of the kids at the Naval Academy Prep School, and not one of them jumped ship.
When we were watching the game film, Bill Wagner remarked about how Dobbs unleashes passes with hardly more than a flick of the wrist. Coach Ken also commented on that -- that Dobbs has a very short windup, from about as far back as the ear. He can throw long, but he also has the gift of touch, so that he can thrown over the line, but drop the ball in front of the secondary.
With Navy's win over Temple 10 days ago, the team became eligible to play an ACC opponent, to be determined, in the EagleBank Bowl in DC on Dec. 20. When asked, Coach Ken admitted that he's thought about playing Georgia Tech, coached by Paul Johnson. That would be an interesting match-up, for sure.
I had an opportunity to ask Chet Gladchuk if Navy is going to stick with ACC officials. (Since Navy isn't in a conference, they contract for officials to work home games.) He said yes, that he has to respect their integrity. Those of us in the upper deck, though, have found the crews this year to be frustrating in a lot of ways. It seemed that in the Temple game, almost every other play was reviewed from upstairs. It makes it seem that the guys on the field don't quite know what they're doing, and it makes for a very long game if you're sitting in the stands. Oh, well...
So, this Saturday is Notre Dame in Baltimore. I just hope that Navy comes out on the field playing as well as they did in the fourth quarter against Temple, and that they sustain that level for the duration.
GO NAVY!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Navy 2009 Football Schedule
2009 Navy Football Schedule
Sept. 5: at Ohio StateSept. 12: Louisiana Tech (First meeting)
Sept. 19: at Pittsburgh
Sept. 26: Western Kentucky (First meeting)
Oct. 3: Air Force
Oct. 10: at Rice
Oct. 17: at SMU
Oct. 24: Wake Forest
Oct. 31: Temple
Nov. 7: at Notre Dame
Nov. 14: Delaware
Nov. 21: at Hawaii
Dec. 12: vs. Army in Philadelphia
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Navy 33 -- Temple 27
Last year a couple of friends thought I was writing too much about football -- so I stopped. And I discovered I couldn't get excited about writing, if I couldn't write about football. So...
This has been an interesting season for Navy. We started the year with Kaipo as the starting QB, and coach Ken thinking he'd use Jarod Bryant at slotback because Jarod is too good to keep on the bench. And there was a promising young backup in sophomore Ricky Dobbs.
Well, the best-laid plans gang aft agley, and they sure did for Coach Ken. Kaipo has been nursing an injured hamstring all season, and has missed more than he's played. Bryant did yeoman's duty as the new starter, but it seemed that the offense was struggling, and every week we waited to see if Kaipo was going to be back in harness.
Then, two weeks ago Ricky Dobbs came in at the end of an ugly loss to Pitt and breathed some life into the team, leading to a late score on a beautiful TD pass that didn't affect the outcome of the game (final was 42-21), but left us all thinking that there was hope on the horizon.
Last week Bryant hurt his shoulder early on against SMU, and Dobbs got the call. Navy won 34-7, albeit against a team with a lot of problems. Still, Dobbs got good game experience and showed that he's a shifty runner. BTW -- the game was played in steady rain and gusty wind, and Navy didn't even attempt a pass for the first time in a lot of years. They didn't need to.
The only concern was that Dobbs was doing most of the carrying. Kettani and Shun White weren't producing as they had been, and the explanation was that Dobbs still wasn't able to read the defenses well enough to take advantage of all the options.
Yesterday was senior day. Knowing that Bryant was ailing, Kaipo worked hard to be ready to start against Temple, and he did. Navy's first possession went for a TD. Temple answered. That took up a little more than half of the first quarter. The rest of the first half was just frustrating. Navy struggled to move the ball. The D would hold Temple or back them up on first and second down, but third down almost always turned into first down. Still, nobody scored. Navy tried a field goal as time was about to run out, but it was blocked. Halftime score: 7-7.
The third quarter was more of the same for Navy. Kaipo went out with 5 minutes left in the quarter. Dobbs came in, and still struggled. Meanwhile, Temple figured out how to score, and with only 13+ minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Temple led 27-7. It looked bad.
Then it seemed that Navy realized it was now or never. The senior parents and friends were in the stands. Navy could clinch a spot in the Eagle Bank Bowl in DC with a win, but with Notre Dame and Army coming up fast, the sixth win was looking less and less like a certainty, given the way things had been going. And they probably had seen the final that Air Force beat Army, meaning that the Commander-in-Chief's trophy will stay in Annapolis at least by default -- and default is never enough. Pride was on the line.
So, Dobbs rallied the offense, and the team scored on a nice drive capped by a pass to Thiel. It was 27-14, and there was at least a glimmer of hope.
Then the defense rose to the occasion, and started making the tackles they'd been missing for most of the game. Navy got the ball back -- and Kettani scored. But the extra point was blocked. It was 27-20 and the clock was ticking away.
Temple got the ball with a minute and something left. They made a first down. It was nail-biting time. Everybody was making noise (and as my husband, my mother, many folks who have sat near me over the years will gladly attest, I can make more than my share of it). Temple snapped the ball again. I had been yelling "DEEEFENSE" along with everyone else, but changed the yell to "FUMMMMBLE" (inspired by a man who sat behind us at Colts games years ago and whose signature yell was "Fee-fi-fo-fumble") -- and all of a sudden one of the Navy guys (Sovie, as it turned out) had the ball and ran it into the end zone. The extra point was good, and the game was tied.
Navy won the overtime toss and elected to give the ball to Temple, so that they'd have the last up, as it were. Temple elected to play in the south end of the stadium, away from the Brigade. But the Brigade rallied to the challenge and at least a battalion of mids proceeded in an orderly fashion to the south end where they could make some noise. We sit just above the Brigade, and it was an amazing sight. Their shipmates needed them, and they came through.
So Temple got the ball. They made a first down and made their way to the one, and then elected to pass (maybe thinking about that fumble?). Their receiver had it in the endzone -- and dropped the ball.
Navy got the ball, worked their way towards the goal line (the ball was practically ON the goal line for the last play), and then Dobbs took it in for the score.
Then the mids in the south end made their way back to their seats, and the Temple team, which had to be hurting, fell in behind the Navy team for the singing of "Navy Blue and Gold." That was pretty amazing to see, too.
I've watched a lot of games in my life, including some astounding comebacks by John Unitas and the Colts (including the game where Jimmy Orr went to the hospital and came back to catch the winning pass), but this one probably tops them all.
So, Navy has a week off, and plays Notre Dame at Ravens Stadium in Baltimore on 11/15. Then they play away at Northern Illinois, and have another week off before playing Army in Philadelphia. And THEN -- they'll play an as-yet-to-be-determined team from the ACC in the Eagle Bank Bowl in DC on December 20. And, yes, I ordered our tickets online about an hour after yesterday's game ended.
BTW -- Notre Dame lost to Pitt in OT yesterday, and plays BC next week before coming to B'more.
And Army lost to Air Force.
GO NAVY!
This has been an interesting season for Navy. We started the year with Kaipo as the starting QB, and coach Ken thinking he'd use Jarod Bryant at slotback because Jarod is too good to keep on the bench. And there was a promising young backup in sophomore Ricky Dobbs.
Well, the best-laid plans gang aft agley, and they sure did for Coach Ken. Kaipo has been nursing an injured hamstring all season, and has missed more than he's played. Bryant did yeoman's duty as the new starter, but it seemed that the offense was struggling, and every week we waited to see if Kaipo was going to be back in harness.
Then, two weeks ago Ricky Dobbs came in at the end of an ugly loss to Pitt and breathed some life into the team, leading to a late score on a beautiful TD pass that didn't affect the outcome of the game (final was 42-21), but left us all thinking that there was hope on the horizon.
Last week Bryant hurt his shoulder early on against SMU, and Dobbs got the call. Navy won 34-7, albeit against a team with a lot of problems. Still, Dobbs got good game experience and showed that he's a shifty runner. BTW -- the game was played in steady rain and gusty wind, and Navy didn't even attempt a pass for the first time in a lot of years. They didn't need to.
The only concern was that Dobbs was doing most of the carrying. Kettani and Shun White weren't producing as they had been, and the explanation was that Dobbs still wasn't able to read the defenses well enough to take advantage of all the options.
Yesterday was senior day. Knowing that Bryant was ailing, Kaipo worked hard to be ready to start against Temple, and he did. Navy's first possession went for a TD. Temple answered. That took up a little more than half of the first quarter. The rest of the first half was just frustrating. Navy struggled to move the ball. The D would hold Temple or back them up on first and second down, but third down almost always turned into first down. Still, nobody scored. Navy tried a field goal as time was about to run out, but it was blocked. Halftime score: 7-7.
The third quarter was more of the same for Navy. Kaipo went out with 5 minutes left in the quarter. Dobbs came in, and still struggled. Meanwhile, Temple figured out how to score, and with only 13+ minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Temple led 27-7. It looked bad.
Then it seemed that Navy realized it was now or never. The senior parents and friends were in the stands. Navy could clinch a spot in the Eagle Bank Bowl in DC with a win, but with Notre Dame and Army coming up fast, the sixth win was looking less and less like a certainty, given the way things had been going. And they probably had seen the final that Air Force beat Army, meaning that the Commander-in-Chief's trophy will stay in Annapolis at least by default -- and default is never enough. Pride was on the line.
So, Dobbs rallied the offense, and the team scored on a nice drive capped by a pass to Thiel. It was 27-14, and there was at least a glimmer of hope.
Then the defense rose to the occasion, and started making the tackles they'd been missing for most of the game. Navy got the ball back -- and Kettani scored. But the extra point was blocked. It was 27-20 and the clock was ticking away.
Temple got the ball with a minute and something left. They made a first down. It was nail-biting time. Everybody was making noise (and as my husband, my mother, many folks who have sat near me over the years will gladly attest, I can make more than my share of it). Temple snapped the ball again. I had been yelling "DEEEFENSE" along with everyone else, but changed the yell to "FUMMMMBLE" (inspired by a man who sat behind us at Colts games years ago and whose signature yell was "Fee-fi-fo-fumble") -- and all of a sudden one of the Navy guys (Sovie, as it turned out) had the ball and ran it into the end zone. The extra point was good, and the game was tied.
Navy won the overtime toss and elected to give the ball to Temple, so that they'd have the last up, as it were. Temple elected to play in the south end of the stadium, away from the Brigade. But the Brigade rallied to the challenge and at least a battalion of mids proceeded in an orderly fashion to the south end where they could make some noise. We sit just above the Brigade, and it was an amazing sight. Their shipmates needed them, and they came through.
So Temple got the ball. They made a first down and made their way to the one, and then elected to pass (maybe thinking about that fumble?). Their receiver had it in the endzone -- and dropped the ball.
Navy got the ball, worked their way towards the goal line (the ball was practically ON the goal line for the last play), and then Dobbs took it in for the score.
Then the mids in the south end made their way back to their seats, and the Temple team, which had to be hurting, fell in behind the Navy team for the singing of "Navy Blue and Gold." That was pretty amazing to see, too.
I've watched a lot of games in my life, including some astounding comebacks by John Unitas and the Colts (including the game where Jimmy Orr went to the hospital and came back to catch the winning pass), but this one probably tops them all.
So, Navy has a week off, and plays Notre Dame at Ravens Stadium in Baltimore on 11/15. Then they play away at Northern Illinois, and have another week off before playing Army in Philadelphia. And THEN -- they'll play an as-yet-to-be-determined team from the ACC in the Eagle Bank Bowl in DC on December 20. And, yes, I ordered our tickets online about an hour after yesterday's game ended.
BTW -- Notre Dame lost to Pitt in OT yesterday, and plays BC next week before coming to B'more.
And Army lost to Air Force.
GO NAVY!
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