It took Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo just six games to do something his very successful predecessor, Paul Johnson, couldn’t do in six years: beat a ranked team.
Johnson led Navy to five straight bowl games, five straight Commander-In-Chief’s Trophies and broke a 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame, but the Midshipmen’s upset of then-No. 16 Wake Forest, 24-17, on Saturday might trump them all.
“We’ve got to take our hats off to the kids, they did a phenomenal job of fighting, scratching and clawing,” Niumatalolo told reporters. “This is a big win for the program and I couldn’t be more happy for the players.”
The last time Navy (3-2) upset a ranked team was a 17-13 win over No. 20 Virginia in 1985 — the same year “Back to the Future” ruled the box office, Ronald Reagan was president and a gallon of gas cost about $1.20.
The Midshipmen upset the Demon Deacons (3-1) by forcing Wake Forest into uncharacteristic turnovers. The Demon Deacons entered the game with a national-best, plus-10 turnover ratio, but turned the ball over a staggering six times. Defensive backs Ketric Buffin, Wyatt Middleton and Emmett Merchant and linebacker Ross Pospisil each record an interception and defensive lineman Billy Yarborough and linebacker Ram Vela each recovered a fumble.
The defense’s next challenge will be to stop Air Force (3-1) on Saturday afternoon at 2 at Falcon Stadium. Air Force is averaging 29.5 points and 338.8 yards per game. The Midshipmen have beaten the Falcons in each of the past five seasons by an average of 5.4 points.
If the Midshipmen are to win, however, they likely must do it without senior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who reaggravated a partially torn left hamstring on Saturday. Jarod Bryant likely will replace Kaheaku-Enhada.
“This win really means a lot,” Merchant told reporters. “We were the underdogs and nobody picked us to win. We came out here today with something to prove.”
