Niumatalolo calls meeting to refocus Mids
Navy made no secret that its top priority was its pursuit of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. With that goal unattainable after Saturday’s crushing 35-34 overtime loss to Air Force, coach Ken Niumatalolo took steps on Tuesday to let the Midshipmen know that they have plenty left to play for.
Taking the unusual step of calling a post-practice meeting, Niumatalolo aired it out in a media room in the Mids’ team house for 15 minutes.
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“I just want to get our minds right, just understand we’re all on the same page,” Niumatalolo said. “None of us can be selfish. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about us.”
When Niumatalolo talked to reporters after the meeting, he appeared emotionally spent. He refused to divulge specifics about what was said.
“Coach was pumped up,” senior quarterback Kriss Proctor said. “This is a very important part of our season. We can fall off the deep end, or we can take this uphill and elevate ourselves.”
Proctor has had a trying few days. After leading a stirring comeback from 18 points down in the fourth quarter, he was called for taunting an Air Force player after scoring the go-ahead touchdown in overtime. The penalty likely helped the Falcons block the ensuing extra-point try, which came from 35 yards out instead of the usual 20.
“I looked myself in the mirror as a man and said what I could have done,” Proctor said. “I could have done a lot of things in that game. The thing is, it’s a team loss. We need to take it like that. We can’t have any excuses. There’s a lot of things that could have changed that outcome, not just one thing. But I do look at that one thing and I do take it hard.”
The hard part now for Navy (2-2), is the schedule. Only one of its next six opponents has a losing record. Perennial Conference USA power Southern Mississippi (4-1) comes to Navy on Saturday.
These are the same Golden Eagles who arrived in Charlottesville two weeks ago and upended Virginia for the second time in three years, 30-24. Southern Miss has a streak of 17 straight winning seasons, fourth longest in the FBS.
“This is a huge, huge game for our season,” Niumatalolo said. “And I’m not playing around. This is the real deal.”
After Southern Miss, the Mids play Rutgers (3-1), East Carolina (1-3), Notre Dame (3-2), Troy (2-2) and resurgent Southern Methodist (4-1), which made a splash on Saturday toppling No. 20 TCU. ECU and Troy will be the lone home games.
“We’ve got the toughest stretch that I can ever remember at the Academy,” Niumatalolo said. “We better be rank and file. We better start facing the right direction.”
