10/31/2004 - Football
All Three Phases Contribute To Navy's Seventh Win
(ANNAPOLIS)- Ask any coach, and they will quote you
the old cliche. We have to block well, tackle well and
make plays in the kicking game. Don't laugh, it's
true.
????Formally a laughing stock at one time, Navy's defense
is as solid as it has ever been. Saturday, the Navy D
did a good job against Delaware's dink and dunk
offense, as Navy improved to 7-1 with a 34-20 win over
the Blue Hens in front of 34,416 at Navy-Marine Corps
Memorial Stadium.
????Last year, Navy watched as Delaware came from behind
to upset the Mids. This year, the second half was much
different. Navy got big plays from all of its units to
suppress the 1-AA champions who entertained thoughts
of winning for a second consecutive season.
????Navy used zone blitzing and solid open field tackling
against Delaware's David Boler, who despite 16 catches
(a new stadium record), really never broke one to put
any pressure on Navy's defense.
????
????"We're still missing a few tackles. When you have a
chance to get a guy in the backfield and you let him
get away thats unacceptable. Overall though, we're
flying to the ball really well and doing a pretty good
job,'' Navy defensive captain Josh Smith said. "We
made some adjustments in the second half and did a
good job of putting them away. I don't really care for
them much so it was nice to beat them after losing
last year,'' Smith added.
????The other most impressive improvement was the play of
the offensive line. Sam Brown had a great block in the
open field to spring Jason Tomlinson on a 32-yard
reverse. James Rossi improved greatly over a week ago
and showed why the coaches gave him a shot at center.
Offensive line play takes time to build chemistry. In
Navy's offense it's vital that they get the job done
to allow Navy to use Kyle Eckel the way they did
today. Eckel picked up his third 100-yard game of the
season and eleventh of his career.
????
"The guys up front played great. They've been working
hard in practice and today they did a great job giving
me room to run,'' Eckel said. Eckel had a season best
143-yards and one score.
????
????Navy's offense picked up a 300-yard rushing game,
putting up a season high 346 yards rushing, and an
impressive 99-yard drive.
????
????"We played with a lot of emotion. Plus you always
want to get revenge on a team that beats you. That
drive was really huge,'' Eckel said.
????
????To be a good team you must excel in the kicking game
as well. Navy's Geoff Blumenfeld missed an extra point
and yes Navy allowed a late punt return, but man how
good has the move of Lord Cole been to gunner on the
punt team? He has been in the grill of punt returners
for weeks now and his hustle after missing the tackle
on a punt initially, caused a game-changing fumble.
What was also notable was the fact that it was a high,
deep kick by punter Eric Shuey who has solidified what
was a chaotic portion of the kicking game for Navy.
????
????"I really didn't know what happened. I was on top of
the guy, but he didn't have the ball anymore and I
heard the crowd gettting really loud, I knew something
good must have happened. I'm just happy to have the
chance to contribute and since the coaches have given
me the chance to be the gunner, I've just tried to
work hard get down the field and make tackles,'' Cole
said.
????Mid mentions:
??Navy has now won 16 of its last 22 games.
Quarterback Aaron Polanco accounted for four scores on
the day with three rushing and one passing. The TD
pass to Eric Roberts gave the senior from Miami his
eighth TD reception of his career to move him into a
tie for third on Navy's all-time list. Tomlinson had a
career best four catches. John McGlaughlin debuted as
the 12th Mid and did have some contact on his opening
kickoff coverage assignment but did not make the
tackle. It was the first time a Navy player wore the
#12 since 1964 after Roger Staubach graduated. Navy
heads to Tulane who got drilled by an average Houston
team 24-3 on Saturday, a week after the Green Wave
(2-4) upset then #24 UAB, 59-55.
????
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