Sept. 23, 2005

•Box Score
•Season Stats

ITHACA, N.Y. - Navy senior wide receiver Theo Williams (Artesia, N.M.) caught three touchdowns in the first half as Navy rolled to a 41-0 victory over Cornell in sprint football action Friday night at Schoellkopf Field. With the win, the Midshipmen improve to 2-0, while the host Big Red fell to 0-2.

Williams finished the day with 65 yards on four receptions with the three touchdowns. The senior's three touchdown grabs in one game tie him with two other former Mids for the second-most touchdowns receiving in one game. Eugene Bojarski accomplished the feat against Penn on Nov. 14, 1975, while Garry Devinger copied the act versus Cornell back on Nov. 2, 1991. Adam Matthews holds the record for most touchdown receptions in one game with four against Pennsylvania on Nov. 1, 2002.

This is the first time since 1981 that the Midshipmen have opened the season with back-to-back shutouts. Last week, Navy blanked VMI 35-0 in its season opener in Lexington, Va. The last time Navy shutout back-to-back opponents was back in 1999, when the Mids shutout Cornell 39-0 then followed it up with a 37-0 decision over Penn two weeks later. Each of Navy's last four shutouts has come away from Annapolis, a 31-0 win at Penn and a 14-0 victory over Army in Pride Bowl XXV back in 2003.

For the second consecutive game, Navy scored a touchdown on its game-opening possession. With 11:57 showing on the clock in the opening quarter, sophomore Richard Engel (Medford, N.J.) ran in from three yards out to cap off an eight-play, 61-yard drive to put Navy up 7-0.

After the Mids forced the Big Red to punt deep from their own territory on their opening possession, Navy wasted little time building its lead. Senior Jonathan Chunn (Pulaski, Tenn.) returned the punt 28 yards to Cornell's 18-yard line, where two plays later, senior quarterback James Olsen (Germantown, Tenn.) connected with Williams from 18 yards to put the guests up 14-0.

Navy bolstered its lead to 21-0 with 8:24 remaining in the first half on a halfback pass. On a second-and-ten from its own 32-yad line, Navy senior Jontavious Singleton (Cordele, Ga.) received a pitch to his right from Olsen, squared up and delivered a pass to senior wide receiver Kurt Laughary (Morris, Ill.), who went 68 yards for the score.

The visiting Midshipmen were able to score two more times within the final 2:20 of the opening half. Olsen found Williams for the second time in the game, this one from eight yards out that gave Navy a 28-0 advantage. Junior Daniel Davis (Phoenix, Ariz.) picked off an Alec Macauley (Oneonta, N.Y.) and returned it to the Big Red 15-yard line with 1:43 left in the quarter. Three plays later, Olsen and Williams hooked up for a third time in the opening half, this time from 11 yards out with 42 seconds left in the opening stanza to give the Midshipmen a 35-0 cushion going into halftime.

Navy added another touchdown with less than six minutes to go in the final period to push the score to the eventual final 41-0. Junior backup quarterback Chris Marsh (New Alexandria, Pa.) rushed for his second touchdown on the year, a 33-yard scamper on a third-and-11 situation.

The Midshipmen out-gained Cornell 457-137 with five fewer offensive plays (72-67). The Big Red were limited to 15 yards on 47 carries (0.3 ypc), while completing less than half of its pass attempts with Navy picking off two attempts. The Mids defense sacked the quarterback five times on the night, in addition to another 15 tackles made behind the line of scrimmage.

On the evening, Navy's defense was spearheaded by a pair of juniors. Defensive lineman David Novotney (Chesterton, Ind.) made nine tackles, five and a half behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 28 yards and two sacks. Linebacker Ryan Engle (Reed City, Mich.) also made nine stops in the victory, three in the backfield for a loss of eight yards.

On the offensive end, Olsen completed 11-of-21 passes for 230 yards and three scoring strikes with no interceptions. For the second straight week, Marsh led the team in rushing with 39 yards on four carries with the late touchdown. Kurt Laughary corralled two balls for a career-high 134 yards and the touchdown reception on the halfback pass. In addition to returning four punts for 56 yards, Chunn collected three passes for 50 yards.

The Midshipmen have out-gained its opposition 770-173 in their first two games this season. Navy's defense is holding opposing rushers to under a yard per carry (51 yards on 73 carries) on the year and only 1.6 yards per offensive play, whereas the Mids offense is averaging over seven yards per play.

Navy's next contest is Sunday, Oct. 2, when the Mids travel up to Kean University to take on Army in Pride Bowl XXVII at 2 p.m. It will be the first of two meetings between the two squads, with the Star Game coming on Friday, Nov. 4, at Army's Michie Stadium in front of a national audience on ESPNU. Navy has won each of the past three times and six of the past seven gridiron contests. Last year, Navy swept the Cadets 31-15 in the Pride Bowl and 27-10 in the Star Game.