12/5/2001 - Football
Navy Football Notes
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Mids Finish 0-10
Army jumped out to a 13-0 lead on its first two possessions and never looked back, defeating Navy, 26-17, in front of a Veterans Stadium record crowd of 69,708. With the loss, Navy finished 0-10, its worst record in school history. The only other Navy teams to go winless were the 1948 squad (0-8-1), the 1883 team (0-1) and the 1879 team (0-0-1).
Army set the tone early, stuffing Navy on its first possession and then scoring five plays later on Ardell Daniels' 60-yard touchdown run. Army made it 13-0 on its next possession as Clyde Clark (Jr./Austin, Texas) let a sure interception, and possible touchdown, go right through his hands into the arms of Army tight end Brian Bruenton who turned and rumbled 42 yards for a touchdown.
The Navy defense settled down after Army's second touchdown, allowing just 197 yards in Army's final 15 possessions after allowing 138 yards on its first two possessions.
Navy, though, was unable to get back into the game as the offense could never get untracked and the special teams made two critical errors that ended any hope of a comeback.
The offense had its worst performance of the year, gaining just 239 yards, with 92 yards of it coming on the final two possessions when the game was all but over.
The special teams gave up a blocked punt at the end of the first half that allowed Army's Derek Jacobs to kick a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the half to give Army a 16-3 lead, then allowed the Black Knights' Omari Thompson to take the opening kickoff of the second half back 96 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Black Knights a 23-3 lead and all but assured an Army victory.
Senior quarterback Brian Madden (Lawton, Okla.) was held to 75 yards and completed just five of his 22 passes for 42 yards. Chandler Sims (Jr./Oklahoma City, Okla.) had four catches for 43 yards.
One bright spot on offense was the kicking of David Hills (Sr./Latham, N.Y.) who made all three of his attempts, including a career-long 47 yarder.
Defensively, Lenter Thomas (Jr./Eagle Lake, Texas) came up with 10 tackles, while freshman Dustin Elliott (New Castle, Pa.) recorded nine. Elliott, Paul Clarkson (So./Oconomowoc, Wis.), Nate Chase (So./Norfolk, Va.) and Matt Brooks (Sr./Laguna Niguel, Calif.) all had interceptions.
Game Notes
Ed Malinowski (Sr./Canonsburg, Pa.) made his first start of the season and fourth of his career ... this was the second-consecutive year that David Hills (Sr./Latham, N.Y.) has kicked three field goals in the Army-Navy game ... the Mids have lost six of the last seven Army-Navy games played in Philly and are 5-11-1 all-time at Veterans Stadium ... Gene Reese's (Jr./Jacksonville, Fla.) 41-yard punt return in the third quarter was the longest by Navy this season ... Steve Mercer's (Jr./Houston, Texas) fourth quarter touchdown catch was the first of his career and the first catch by a Navy tight end this year.
Penalty Free
After going the entire Notre Dame game without a penalty, the Mids were penalized just once for five yards against Army. The penalty came in the third quarter, which means the Mids went six straight quarters without being penalized. Navy committed just 39 penalties all year, compared to 83 by the opposition. Last year Navy was penalized a school record 81 times.
Close Calls
Navy has been unable to win close games, losing 12 of the last 14 games decided by seven points or less. The Mids are 0-3 in nailbiters this year, losing to Air Force, 24-18, Rutgers, 23-17, and Toledo, 21-20. Navy's last win in a game decided by seven points or less was the 2000 Army-Navy game when the Mids won 30-28.
The Madden File
Brian Madden (Sr./Lawton, Okla.) was held below 100 yards for the second straight game as Army held the senior quarterback to 75 yards rushing on 21 carries in Navy's 26-17 loss to the Black Knights. Madden was held to a career-low 70 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries in Navy's 34-16 loss at Notre Dame. The Army game marked just the third time in 13-career starts that Madden did not rush for 100 yards. The only other time was Oct. 13 of this year against Rice when he rushed for 94 yards on 34 carries, snapping a school-record streak of seven-consecutive 100-yard rushing days.
Earlier this year, Madden rushed for a career-high 201 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns in Navy's 42-28 loss to Tulane (Nov. 10). It was just the 12th 200-yard rushing day in Navy history and the first since Chris McCoy rushed for 205 yards in Navy's 39-7 victory over Army in 1997. Madden and McCoy (five times) are the only quarterbacks in school history to rush for 200 or more yards in a game.
Madden's 10 100-yard rushing games are the second most in school history for a quarterback. Only Chris McCoy (1995-97) with 15 has more.
After being held out of the end zone against Rutgers, snapping a streak of eight-consecutive games with a rushing touchdown, Madden came back to score a rushing touchdown against Toledo, three against Tulane and one against Notre Dame. He did not get in the end zone against Army. He has had at least one rushing touchdown in 11 of his 13-career starts.
Madden is 18th in the nation in rushing, averaging 113.1 yards per game, and is the No. 1 rusher in the nation among quarterbacks (Madden led the nation in rushing among quarterbacks in 1999, rushing for 897 yards (99.7 yards per game). Madden is also 40th in the nation in total offense (225.9) and 85th in scoring (6.1 per game).
With 1,802 career rushing yards, Madden ranks seventh on Navy's all-time rushing list despite starting just 13 games in his career.
Madden rushed for 905 yards on the season, which ranks as the 10th best rushing season in Navy history.
Madden threw for more than 100 yards in six of his eight starts this year, after not throwing for 100 yards in any of his five starts in 1999.
Gaddy Top Receiver
Jeff Gaddy (Sr./Davidson, N.C.) led Navy in catches and receiving yards in his first year at wide receiver. The senior played cornerback the first three years. Gaddy ended his senior year with a team-high 24 catches for a team-high 365 yards. He averaged 15.2 yards per catch and two touchdowns.
A Dangerous Lane
Tony Lane (So./Wrens, Ga.) set a school record for kickoff return yardage in Navy's first game of the year against Temple, returning five kicks for 205 yards. The previous record was 170 yards on seven returns set by Michael Jefferson in 1994. Lane proved to be a threat the first time he ever touched the ball in a college game, returning Temple's second kickoff of the game 67 yards, setting up a Navy field goal. Lane's 41.0 average for the game was also a school record. The previous record was 38.5 yards, set by Pat McGrew in 1997. Navy also set a school record for team kickoff return yardage against the Owls, returning eight kicks for 247 yards. The previous record was 198 yards on nine returns against Penn State in 1971.
Lane returned six kicks for 147 yards, including a long of 51 yards, against Georgia Tech and returned three kicks for 73 yards against Boston College. Against Air Force, he returned one kickoff for 25 yards and against Rice he returned two kickoffs for 47 yards. Against Rutgers, Lane returned four kickoffs for 102 yards and against Toledo, Lane returned two kickoffs for 56 yards. He returned two kickoffs for 43 yards against Tulane and had six kickoff returns for 117 yards against Notre Dame. He returned three kicks for 83 yards against Army.
Averaging 26.4 yards per kickoff return, Lane is ranked 19th in the nation in kickoff returns. His 898 kickoff return yards is a school record for kickoff returns and total kick returns (punts and kickoffs combined).
Lane is more than a kickoff returner, scoring a rushing touchdown against Boston College and then catching a 54-yard touchdown pass from Brian Madden (Sr./Lawton, Okla.) against Air Force. Against Toledo, Lane rushed for a career-high 91 yards on 11 carries and also caught two passes for 29 yards and one touchdown. He caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Madden against Tulane and had five carries for 28 yards against Notre Dame.
He averaged 131.5 yards per game of all-purpose yards, which ranks 22nd in the country.
Lane finished third on the team in receptions with 12 and led the team with three touchdown catches. He also finished third on the team in rushing yards with 175.
Skaggs Breaks 60-Year Old Record For Punting
Sophomore punter John Skaggs (Cantonment, Fla.) averaged a career-best 49.3 yards per punt on four punts in Navy's 24-18 loss to Air Force. Impressive all year, he averaged 46 yards per punt on five attempts in his collegiate debut against Temple, 40.8 yards on six kicks against Georgia Tech, 48.8 yards per punt on four punts against Boston College, 45.5 yards on four punts against Rice, 46 yards on five punts against Rutgers, 47.7 yards (including a career-long 72 yarder) on six punts against Tulane, 45.7 yards on six punts against Notre Dame and 41.8 yards on six punts against Army. His only bad night was a 30.5 average on two punts against Toledo.
Skaggs averaged 44.8 yards per punt for the season, which is the fourth-best average in the country and is the school record for punting averaging, breaking the record of Bill Busik, who averaged 43.8 yards per punt in 1941.
Hills Finishes Up Incredible Year By Going 3-3 Against Army
David Hills (Sr./Latham, N.Y.) was almost perfect on field goals this year, making 15 out of 16 attempts. He is 14th in the country in field goals made per game (1.5) and 85th in scoring (6.10)
He made both of his attempts against Temple (24 and 36), Air Force (23 and 37), Rice (40 and 43) and Toledo (42 and 30) and made all three of his attempts against Notre Dame (24, 22 and 20) and Army (44, a career-long 47 and 20 yarder). He made one out of two attempts against Rutgers (made from 27 and missed from 22).
Hills made 24 of his 28-career attempts (.857). He was 0-1 from inside the 20, 9-10 from 20-29 yards out, 7-8 from 30-39 yards and 8-9 from 40-49 yards. His career long was 47 yards, which he made in the final game of his career against Army.
Hills' 15 field goals made this year ties him for fourth most in school history.
Red Zone
Navy scored on .742 percent of its trips inside the 20 (23-31), with just 12 of the 31 trips (.387 percent) resulting in touchdowns.
The defense has given up points 30-of-38 times (.789 percent) when the opposition reaches the end zone. Twenty four of the 38 trips have resulted in touchdowns (.632 percent).
Problems Out Of The Gate
Navy was outscored, 207-89 (20.7-8.9), in the first half of games. The Mids led just one game at the half-10-7 at Toledo. It regrouped and played much better in the second half, being outscored by just a 137-108 count (13.7-10.8). The Mids outscored the opposition, 71-54, in the fourth quarter.
