Sept. 10, 2010
By Bob Socci
The opener brought us The Crab Bowl. Saturday gives us the Paul Johnson Classic.
Two games in six days. Essentially, just two practices to recover from Monday's blues and brace yourselves for a team that should be better prepared for your offense than any other opponent.
Who said anything about a softer schedule for the Navy Midshipmen in 2010?
Coming off 10 wins a year ago, and with Maryland and Georgia Southern replacing Ohio State and Pittsburgh - joining Louisiana Tech - among the first three opponents this season, it was widely believed that Navy could enjoy a historically magical ride this fall.
Yes, that's still possible. But preseason perceptions aside, the state of reality for these Mids is no less challenging than when they overcame a 1-2 start to win nine of their last 11 games in 2009.
A spate of uncharacteristic missteps prevented them from crossing the finish line - and, too often, the goal line - with a victory over the Terrapins.
No question, Maryland defenders deserve tremendous credit, especially for the last stand they mounted in Monday's final minute. They were already on the field for more than 20 of the 29 minutes that elapsed off the second-half game clock when they stopped Ricky Dobbs inside their 1-yard line, one last time.
As you know, that doesn't ease the angst for the Mids or their fans, who for the last seven years could define Navy football with words like efficient, precise and disciplined.
This week, terms like "finishing" and "ball security" have echoed outside Ricketts Hall to the practice fields along The Severn.
"When we get the opportunity to score, we need to do it," third-year offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper said on Thursday.
"That's normally been our formula," says head coach Ken Niumatalolo, "run the ball, chew up the clock and wear people out...we just couldn't finish."
Incredibly, Niumatalolo had seen five of seven drives into the Maryland "red zone" end in utter frustration. In all, the Mids ran 23 plays originating inside the Terps' 20-yard line on those five scoreless series - resulting in a missed field goal, two lost fumbles, the end of the first half and a fourth-down failure.
During a roughly 18-minute swath of the second and third quarters, Navy ran 38 plays (compared to Maryland's three), gained 188 yards and possessed the football for more than 16 minutes. The sum of all those snaps was net zero, nada, not a single point.
It's still almost unbelievable, considering that 82 percent of the Mids' red-zone drives last season produced points. Especially, given much of what took place, as Navy was outgaining the Terps - on the ground AND air - while amassing 485 total yards, totaling 15 more first downs and enjoying a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession.
Ranked 15th nationally in turnover margin - guilty of just 14 giveaways in 14 games - last season, the Mids lost those two fumbles on the doorstep of the Maryland end zone. They fumbled three other times (retaining possession), mishandled a punt and even bobbled the ball while recording a couple of big gains.
Penalized a national-best average of just 3.4 times per game in 2009, Navy was flagged for THREE false starts (from three different positions) - all in the same series. The last series, as it turned out.
And while it's logical to begin with the ending of Monday's game, when Maryland held on, it's important to recall how the Terrapins regained the lead for good. They had just fumbled away a golden opportunity of their own, following Tony Logan's 57-yard punt return to the Navy 16, in a 14-14 tie.
On the first play of the Mids' ensuing series, an eight-yard rush set up 2nd-and-2. On the next snap, for the second time, miscommunication led the fullback to go the wrong way. Dobbs spun away from center, expecting to mesh with his fullback. No one was home, and Dobbs wound up in no man's land.
A loss of four yards suppressed momentum and cast the Mids in a typical passing situation. The Terps then got a sack, forced a punt and - accorded outstanding field position - kicked a field goal to make it 17-14.
There were other times when Navy was less than its usual self - as in the last series of the first half - and those certainly left much to lament.
NO REGRETS
What I don't regret or question, contrary to what Niumatalolo himself expressed immediately after Monday's game, were two decisions on that one final play.
I don't fault him for trying to score a touchdown, instead of opting for a field goal - choosing to play for, in all probability, the win rather than the tie. And I refuse to criticize riding Dobbs one more time, instead of running to the outside on 4th-and-goal.
I remember something Joe Torre - a baseball manager, I believe, with Cooperstown credentials - once said. When you reach a late-inning pressure point, you have only seconds to sort through relevant information, consider your options and either heed or refute what gut instinct tells you.
Then you make your decision. Sometimes, you make the right decision but get the wrong result.
You can elect to bring the infield in, only to see the legendary Mariano Rivera allow a bloop single that loses the World Series.
Or, if you're a football coach, you can ask your best player to do what he does best.
You do it because of those 36 career touchdowns - most of which were scored even when everyone in the house knew what was coming - and because you remember how he closed out SMU and Missouri in 2009. Early mistakes in both were all but forgotten, thanks to postgame celebrations.
In the end, at the end, Dobbs was stopped short. If either of two Terrapins gets blocked, just a bit, Dobbs gets his 37th score. And Niumatalolo gets a little more sleep Monday night.
Unfortunately, the next few nights were just as restless.
Before Monday, Niumatalolo was already worried about the residual affects of a very physical matchup with a BCS-conference member. That's why, despite a quick turnaround before hosting GSU, the Mids didn't practice on Tuesday.
"I figured Maryland was going to line up and try to mash us," Niumatalolo said. "I didn't know how we could practice, physically, the day after."
When they did practice again on Wednesday, the Mids were without right tackle Matt Molloy and wide receiver Mike Schupp.
Making his 21st career start, Molloy suffered his second concussion in four games (he was also injured at Hawaii last November). What was shaping up as one of Molloy's best career performances, playing against the favorite team of his youth, might have been his last.
In Schupp, the Mids lose a very good blocker, critical to their success running the option, to an ACL tear in his right knee. As with Molloy, a return, at this point, seems uncertain at best.
Meanwhile, as untimely as the schedule may seem, concerning Navy's physical wellbeing, the short week might be exactly what's needed for the Mids' mentality.
"From a psychological standpoint, it will be good to get on the field so quickly," Niumatalolo says.
One thing that should help Navy also makes Saturday's game against the Eagles so challenging. And so intriguing.
"PAUL'S OPTION TREE"
The Mids haven't schemed to stop someone else as much as they've readied to face a mirror image of themselves.
The triple-option engine that's powered Navy's unprecedented success the last seven years - including four straight national rushing titles from 2005-08 - was designed in Statesboro, Ga. That's where a former defensive line coach for Georgia Southern, convinced his boss, Erk Russell, to wed the wishbone and run-and-shoot offenses.
Paul Johnson's brainchild, thanks in great part to quarterback Tracy Ham, helped the Eagles win back-to-back Division I-AA championships in 1985-86. By then, Johnson was offensive coordinator at GSU.
A decade later, after a successful eight years at Hawaii, he introduced his option machinations to Annapolis as an assistant to Charlie Weatherbie. Johnson left after the win over California in the 1996 Aloha Bowl and returned to GSU, where he went 62-10 (.861) and led the Eagles to two more national titles in 1999 and 2000.
Hired again by the Academy, as head coach in December 2001, Johnson assembled an offensive staff that included Niumatalolo (offensive line) and Jeff Monken (slot backs). Three years ago, when Georgia Tech lured Johnson away, Monken joined him in Atlanta.
Last fall GSU, which had abandoned the triple-option for a more passing (and less winning) friendly approach the last four seasons (21-23), hired the 43-year-old Monken as head coach. He debuted last Saturday by leading the Eagles to a 48-3 rout of Savannah State.
"Jeff knows this offense as well as Ivin and me," Niumatalolo said on Thursday. "All of us are part of Paul's option tree."
Presumably, that also means that all of them know the best way to defend it, underscoring the importance of executing on Saturday in a way consistent with the Mids' usual M.O.
One thing we should expect, as always, is all-out effort. Monken certainly does. And if there's one thing he knows better than the Navy offense, it's the Navy attitude.
"Those kids play with a sense of pride unlike any place I've ever been," Monken recently said on the Georgia Southern Radio Network. "The tremendous sense of loyalty that they have for each other makes it unique when you play a football game there. I can't describe it. There's just no way to explain it, other than to experience it."
Monday's behind us. It's time to think about Saturday. And, for the Mids, delivering a performance they can be proud of.
