1/6/2005 - Football
2005: A Class To Remember

Having waded through the water accumulating on the field's fringes, the Navy seniors turned toward the bleachers that had been brought in to help SBC Park look the part of a football stadium.?

Surrounded by younger teammates while facing more than 1,500 members of the Brigade, the 36 players from the Class of 2005 clutched their helmets against their muddied uniforms for one last rendition of "Blue and Gold" as football brothers.?

On another night, in a different season, the soggy plot of turf they occupied would have put them in the path of a fly ball to straight away center.? ?


As they were, the Midshipmen stood just a couple hundred feet from the brick wall separating land from sea, while spelling out a corporate connection to this exclusively-San Francisco setting.? ?

"OLD NAVY SPLASH LANDING," its white letters read in an obvious reference to the home runs that occasionally plunge into McCovey Cove.?

Remembering where those Mids had been and how they got here - a 34-19 victory over New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl, the season's 10th win - it was the perfect place, at the perfect time.?

Literally, figuratively, they had delivered a long drive of their own to make another splash landing on the national scene as the "NEW NAVY" of college football.

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We were first introduced to a bunch of mostly anonymous sophomores on a late-August evening in 2002 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.?

In its third year, the home of the SMU Mustangs was dressed up for a season opener that also happened to be Navy's debut under Coach Paul Johnson.?

Amid the pre-game pomp, as a reminder of the teams' proud legacies, was an appearance by a couple of all-time alumni, Don Meredith and Roger Staubach.? ?


So too was a circumstance that seemed to sum up the recent state of two struggling programs - an end zone hill in flames, ignited by pre-game fireworks.?


By the time the smoke cleared from the thick, humid air, the Mids were already distancing themselves from the ignominy of a winless 2001.? ?

It had marked the first time Navy experienced an entire season without victory since an 0-8-1 finish to 1948.? What's more, in just one of 10 games had the Mids owned so much as a second-half lead.?

But after falling behind SMU, Navy took its first, short stride on the long journey back to prominence when a kid named Eric Roberts reached the end zone with the second carry of his career.?

A half-minute later, a couple of his classmates who'd been junior varsity teammates a year earlier, Bobby McClarin and Josh Smith, forced and recovered a fumble to set up the next of Navy's five unanswered touchdowns.?


They were on their way.? Though the next few months consisted of steps forward and backward.?


There were glimpses of what could be and what might be.? Like against Notre Dame.? And at Wake Forest.? ?

Eventually, there was a long leap in the right direction, a rout of Army.? More than anything, it appeared to inspire both confidence and greed.? With a sampling of success came a hunger for much more. ?

Hours upon hours in the offseason began to pay off.? By late October 2003 something special was in the making with a win over Air Force.? Then came a postseason reservation in Houston, a Commander-In-Chief's title and an invitation to the White House.?

But when it was time to look ahead to the coming year, the eight wins of '03 were no longer enough.? To sustain what they helped start as sophomores, the Navy seniors had to repeat past success and achieve something unprecedented in their lifetimes.?

Understated, some led mainly by example, like captains Aaron Polanco and Josh Smith.? Others appeared more animated, like Kyle Eckel and Vaughn Kelley,?


Whatever the style, the Mids supported with substance. ?

They won their first five games - a first since 1979 - including another triumph over the Falcons, this time on a last-second field goal in Colorado Springs.?


At Tulsa they recorded their first shutout victory in a decade, a week before Polanco combined his legs, arm and imagination to help defeat Vanderbilt.?


When there was a misstep, against Notre Dame and at Tulane - each, perhaps coincidentally, at the end of an Academy exam week - Navy quickly regained its footing.?


The same group who once sought to end a 14-game home losing streak exited Annapolis unbeaten in their final season at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.? ?


After impressing a handful of bowl representatives by rolling over Rutgers in the home finale, the Mids returned to Philadelphia for a third straight rout of the Black Knights and a fifth consecutive win in the CIC series.?


It also gave them nine regular-season victories, something no Navy team had experienced since Staubach captured the Heisman Trophy in 1963.?

In San Francisco, New Mexico presented a defense ranked among the nation's best at stopping what the Midshipmen did best - run the football.? ?


But this time, at SBC Park, good pitching couldn't stop good hitting.?

The Lobos had not allowed a rushing touchdown in their previous five games.? Polanco alone ran for three.?

Only twice all year had New Mexico yielded as much as 200 yards on the ground.? Polanco and Eckel combined for 221.?

On defense, the Mids forced three turnovers - two of which they quickly cashed in for touchdowns.?


When they were backed up to their own six late in the third quarter, the Midshipmen limited three running plays to five yards.? And on the fourth, Kelley and McClarin completed the stand with tackle for no gain.?

Then came the surreal journey into Navy lore.?

Sure, an earlier scoring drive - two plays, 72 yards - might seem to symbolize the Mids remarkable rise from the depths of 0-10, covering so much ground in such a short span of three seasons.?

But all things considered - from those summer-morning seven-on-seven drills to the windy, chilly nights this winter along The Severn - the true metaphor for Navy's resurgence was the series that started with Polanco's 2-yard rush.?


Twenty-six plays covering 94 yards.? Nearly an entire quarter consumed.? For the record, it took 14 minutes, 26 seconds.? ?

In the rain, through the mud, the Mids nibbled on small chunks of yardage, each play devouring time off the clock as a helpless New Mexico offense looked on from the sideline.?

Kept alive by six third- or fourth-down conversions, the Navy march from its own one to the Lobos' four fed off the very perseverance that had become the program's trademark.?


The offensive line - shuffled and reshuffled early in the fall - paving the way. ?


Polanco, the quiet leader who awaited his turn under center, pitching to and catching from Frank Divis, the high school safety who became a runner and passer as a senior slot back.?

Eckel, the bruising fullback once thought to be linebacker material and later sidetracked by a knee injury, diving up the middle.? His status solidified as Brigade icon.?

And so on, and so on, snap after snap.? Until Geoff Blumenfeld continued his California homecoming with a field goal to expand the Mids' lead and delivered a saving tackle to secure it.?

Each repetition was a reminder of the effort invested along the passage from sophomores to seniors - from Akingemi and Adusei to Vanak and Wesley.?

With their drive concluded, one last time as football players they uttered the words, "Now colleges from sea to sea*"?

Singing in the rain, each had yet again shown his heart in San Francisco.?