Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said sophomore quarterback Ricky Dobbs looked almost too confident during the Midshipmen’s win at Northern Illinois.
“I thought he was getting a little too comfortable,” he told reporters. “He was trying to be like Tom Brady at one time, look around at the crowd, look at the clock. I think he was trying to play poised and relaxed, but it kind of got a little overboard there. Hey, you got to get out of the huddle and snap the ball before the 40-second clock runs out.”
Dobbs and the Midshipmen got in enough of a rhythm to cruise to a 16-0 win over the Huskies (6-6) for their first shutout since 2004. Navy (7-4) amassed 294 yards of offense, including 262 rushing, on a frigid night in Huskie Stadium in Dekalb, Ill.
“I couldn’t feel my feet,” said Dobbs, a native of Douglasville, Ga. “Other than that, it was everything we’ve been working on in practice.”
Navy has 10 days to prepare for their final game of the season — its annual rivalry against Army (3-8) on Dec. 6 at noon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on CBS. The Midshipmen have won the past six meetings — a school record — against the Black Knights by an average of more than four touchdowns. Navy, which leads the all-time series, 52-49-7, won last year at M&T Bank Stadium, 38-3.
And regardless of what happens next week, Navy retains the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy — awarded annually to the winner of the round-robin football competition among Navy, Air Force and Army — for a school-record sixth consecutive year.
“Winning the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy is our number one goal every year,” Niumatalolo said.
And as the offense continues to evolve with Dobbs, who took over for the ineffective senior Jarod Bryant and his injured classmate Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, the defense remains consistent.
Both of Navy’s touchdowns against Northern Illinois came from drives after interceptions by cornerback Rashawn King and safety Emmett Merchant. The Midshipmen have forced 27 turnovers — 15 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries — in 11 games after forcing just 16 in 13 games last fall.
The shutout was Navy’s first since a 29-0 win over Tulsa on Sept. 18, 2004.
“It definitely encouraged us to see how hard the defense was playing and to get those turnovers,” Dobbs, who rushed for 124 yards and a score on 25 carries, said. “They were stopping them on third down, and they were going for it and they’d stop them on fourth. They just gave us the same audacity to come out there and keep fighting. We fed off their momentum.”
