The Navy offense?
So unimaginative.
Miss you, Corwin Brown.
Author: Mike
Postgame Haiku, Vol. 37
That was a great win.
SMU is a good team.
Fantastic comeback.
NAVY 28, WAKE FOREST 27
I finally joined the new millenium this summer and got a DVR; apparently DirecTV passes them out like candy if you threaten to switch. I thought it would be a great thing for the blog; I would be able to record all of Navy’s opponents’ games and really add some substance to my game previews (not that anybody ever read them). Unfortunately, I’ve pretty much abandoned game previews since I just don’t have the time to write them like I used to. I still record all of Navy’s opponent’s games, though, and try to watch as much as I can the week they face the Mids. After watching Wake Forest all of last week and comparing what I saw to what happened on Saturday, I’m really glad I’m not a coach. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to game plan for something all week only to see a completely different look come game time.
Postgame Haiku, Vol. 36
That was a great win.
Neither side was perfect, but
Both sides did enough.
AIR FORCE 14, NAVY 6
I had a wrestling coach in high school that absolutely hated the phrase, “You can’t win them all.” At the end of practice, usually while he was running us into the ground, he’d yell out something along the lines of, “What do you mean you can’t win them all? If you always work harder than the other guy and always wrestle smarter than the other guy, then why can’t you win them all?” It was probably the most important thing that I was taught in high school, and pretty much changed my approach to life. The lesson has served me well, but it makes it hard for me to look on the Air Force game with that c’est la vie attitude when my blood pressure would probably benefit from it.
Postgame Haiku, Vol. 35
UPS shipping
One hundred seventy pounds
Two hundred dollars
GAME WEEK: AIR FORCE
Navy’s winning streak over Air Force started back in 2003. The upstart 2-2 Mids came out of Landover with a 28-25 win over a Falcons team that had come into the game 5-0, fresh off a win over conference nemesis BYU, and ranked in the top 25. With another convincing win over Army two months later, Navy had earned its first Commander in Chief’s Trophy in two decades. It had been so long that USNA officials had no interest in waiting for Air Force to ship it to them. The day after the game, deputy athletic director CAPT Greg Cooper was dispatched to Colorado Springs with orders to claim Navy’s prize. He flew to Colorado, rented a U-Haul, loaded it up, and after a few days driving toward the sunrise on I-70, brought the trophy to its new caretakers. One of my favorite images in Navy history came from Craig Candeto and Eddie Carthan bringing the fruit of the team’s hard work to the locker room for the first time:
The trophy has remained in Annapolis ever since. Keeping it there is the football program’s top priority, but not because of rivalries or bragging rights or any other chest-thumping hoopla. The reason is much more matter-of-fact: it is important because the other service academies are Navy’s primary competition in just about everything. These are the schools that are most like USNA. They are who the coaches recruit against. The competition between them is the only apples-to-apples gauge for how the program is doing. After holding on to the trophy for seven years, it’s safe to say that the Navy program is doing pretty well. The road to making it eight years begins Saturday when Navy goes to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force once again.
Not much else to say
“Brendan was a strong, steady presence for everyone. Whatever needed to be done you could always count on him to make it happen. He led by example and he inspired others to make a difference. When Travis returned from his first tour to Iraq he spoke with Brendan, who shared his frustration with not being more engaged with our efforts. Shortly thereafter, Travis informed me that Brendan was accepted into the Navy SEAL training program and he knew immediately that Navy SEALs had just gotten an incredible leader. I could tell how proud Travis was of Brendan when he shared this story with me.
“Unfortunately, Travis didn’t return home from his second tour to Iraq, but I know he was looking down proudly as Brendan went on to become BUD/S Class 265 Honorman during his SEAL training course and complete several successful tours defending our freedoms.
“Our country has lost a great leader but we’ve gained an incredible example of courage and commitment for future generations to come. Brendan and Travis are back together again, true patriots who believed in this country. They are of the same cloth: Warriors for Freedom, Brothers Forever.”
–– Col. Tom Manion, USMCR (Ret.) (father of Travis Manion)
http://www.navysports.com/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/092510aai.html
Postgame Haiku, Vol. 34
Ricky Dobbs’ passing
Helped keep Navy in the game
‘Til the team woke up.
GAME WEEK: LOUISIANA TECH
You aren’t supposed to be looking forward to bye weeks after only two games, but there’s no doubt that Navy could use the time off. To put it mildly, the Mids are banged up. Ricky Dobbs was already coming off of offseason knee surgery; now he can add ankle and groin injuries to his list of maladies. He’ll play tomorrow, but Kriss Proctor is taking snaps with the first team in practice just in case. Other players aren’t so fortunate. Wide receiver Mike Schupp suffered an ACL tear against Maryland when his knee apparently took issue with playing on FieldTurf; he won’t be back until the Army game, if at all. Matt Molloy took a knee to the head in the same game and left with a concussion. It isn’t the first time he’s had his bell rung, and there’s a good chance that we may have seen the last of him. Emmett Merchant also sustained a concussion against Georgia Southern, and will most likely sit out this week. At this pace I fully expect Max Blue to be carted off the field on Saturday to have his “spare ribs” and “bread basket” removed, hopefully without lighting up his nose.
Unfortunately, the Mids have one more game to play before they can limp into their off week. The walking wounded head off to Ruston, LA to face Louisiana Tech in their home opener. It’ll be a different Bulldog team than the one they faced a year ago in Annapolis, as Derek Dooley left Louisiana Tech to become the head coach at Tennessee. His replacement is Sonny Dykes. Dykes come to Louisiana Tech from Arizona, where he worked under Mike Stoops as offensive coordinator. Prior to that he coached under Mike Leach at Texas Tech and Hal Mumme at Kentucky where he was heavily influenced by their “Air Raid” spread offense. Joining Dykes on the Louisiana Tech staff is offensive coodinator Tony Franklin, who coached with Dykes at Kentucky. Franklin is known as a bit of a spread offense guru after his offense put Troy on the map in 2007 with a 41-23 upset of Oklahoma State. Troy would average 453 yards and 35 points per game that season, including an average of 30 points in the three games the Trojans played against SEC competition. Franklin’s success against SEC defenses with Troy’s talent made him an attractive hire for Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, who hired him to install that offense in all of 8 days prior to the Tigers’ Chick-Fil-A Bowl matchup with Clemson. Auburn won that game, and racked up 423 yards of offense in the process. It was all downhill from there for Franklin, though, and Auburn’s failure to move the ball the following season led to Franklin’s firing in less than a year. He rebounded in 2009, with his offense leading Middle Tennessee State to a 10-3 record and a win in the New Orleans Bowl.
Franklin and Dykes are both known for their dynamic offenses, but they’ve had a hard time recreating their past success through two games this season. Grambling held Louisiana Tech to 196 passing yards in week 1, while Texas A&M outgained them 565-269 last week. Part of the problem for the Bulldogs is that they can’t seem to settle on a quarterback. Steven Ensminger was named the starter a week into fall practice, but struggled after that and came down with the stomach flu before the Grambling game. He was replaced by last year’s starter, Ross Jenkins. Jenkins went 15-for-19 passing, but couldn’t get the ball downfield, throwing for only 101 yards. He was replaced by freshman Colby Cameron in the second half, and Cameron started last week against Texas A&M as well. He split time with junior college transfer Tarik Hakmi, who wasn’t even on the depth chart at the beginning of the season; Cameron was the “passer,” while Hakmi was the “runner.” Cameron was named the starter again earlier this week, but it’s a virtual certainty that we’ll see more than one QB from Louisiana Tech tomorrow.
No matter who plays quarterback, his job is going to be to get the ball to wide receover Phillip Livas. Navy fans will remember Livas from his 85-yard punt return for a touchdown in last year’s game. He was second team all-WAC as a kick returner last season, and had a 100-yard return for a touchdown against Utah State. Livas is a force on special teams, but the challenge for Louisiana Tech has always been to find ways to get the ball to him on offense. He was hobbled by turf toe for a large portion of 2009, and at 5-8, 180, he isn’t exactly the biggest downfield target. To offset this, Tech likes to find other ways to get him the ball. Specifically, they will use Livas in the Wildcat and employ him on end-arounds and reverses in the running game. This presents a challenge to a Navy defense that wasn’t the most disciplined against Maryland. Louisiana Tech won’t be able to base their entire offense off of these plays, but if the Mids are out of position like they were against Maryland, the Bulldogs will get enough big gains to generate some points.
On defense, Louisiana Tech is coached by Tommy Spangler, who spent 10 years as an assistant at Georgia Southern and has seen plenty of spread option football. Spangler is a holdover from last year’s staff– for a recap on his defensive game plan against Navy and what Coach Jasper did to adjust, click here. Personnel-wise, Spangler uses sort of a hybrid 4-3 or 4-2-5, with an extra defensive back that can double as a weakside linebacker depending on the situation.
After a lackluster offensive performance against Georgia Southern, the Mids will be anxious to redeem themselves. Hopefully they won’t be so anxious that they try to do too much and make mistakes. The bye week will be a welcome relief for a hobbled Navy team no matter what, but there’s a huge difference between coming in at 2-1 and coming in at 1-2. Navy is the better team, but they were supposed to be the better team the last two weeks, too. It’s time to start playing like it.
The Birddog 