Midshipmen mystified by yo-yo performances
Navy knows the drill. Beat Notre Dame, then fight the adrenaline crash.
Each of the three times in the last four years the Midshipmen have conquered the Irish, they’ve trailed at halftime of their next game. In 2009, the Mids found themselves behind FCS Delaware. In 2007, they trailed hapless North Texas, the losingest team in the FBS since 2005. The Mids rallied to win both of those games, but weren’t as fortunate after following their familiar script, Saturday against Duke.
A week following their 35-17 destruction of Notre Dame, the Mids trailed the Blue Devils by 24 at the start of the fourth quarter. Navy made an inspired rally that fell short, 34-31, then rued an opportunity lost against the worst team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“It’s a loss of focus. We come off a big win, we have too many people patting themselves on the back,” senior safety Wyatt Middleton said. “We prepare the same way. We work hard. We have a great week of practice. When it comes down to the game, we forget how to play football.”
Navy offensive line coach Ashley Ingram saw the difference on the first series.
“The emotion level just wasn’t there,” Ingram said. “Then again, we only ran 20 [offensive] plays in the first half. The game plan was out the window.”
It’s usually the other way around for the ball-control Mids, who often seize control with their confounding triple-option offense. Navy (5-3) looks to rebound Saturday at East Carolina (5-3) of Conference USA. The winner will become bowl eligible.
Just as Navy has struggled after success, the Mids have thrived after failure. Following their last nine regular-season losses, they’ve bounced back to win. Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo isn’t assuming anything.
“Every week’s a new week, a new challenge,” Niumatalolo said. “Hopefully we’ll play better than we did last week.”
East Carolina runs a spread option, with an emphasis on possession passes, fast tempo and receivers catching the ball on the run. Junior quarterback Dominique Davis is second in the NCAA in completions per game (29.4), seventh in yards per game (291.6) and tied for fourth in the nation in touchdown passes (21).
“They’re similar to Texas Tech, some BYU stuff,” Niumatalolo said. “They’re in the [shotgun], very good offense. They have great athletes — very, very good quarterback he’s athletic. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
