I once had a conversation with a football player the week after the team played Colgate during my firstie year. Navy won, but it wasn’t exactly their magnum opus. The player was candid about how it’s hard sometimes for the team to get pumped up about playing a 1-AA opponent.

I certainly hope that’s not the case for the Mids this week. When you’ve started the season 0-2 while being out-scored 84-17 in the process, you’d better get up to play any team, especially in your home opener. I’m sure that Navy is anxious to make something positive happen, so I don’t think that there will be any lack of effort on their part. Then again, effort hasn’t really been the problem for Navy. The Mids have played plenty hard. It’s the mental mistakes on offense coupled with a lack of discipline on defense that has the Navy team still looking for its first win of 2012.

And let’s not kid ourselves– they’re going to get it this week. I know that no game should be taken for granted– hell, I preach that more than anyone– and I know that VMI gave Army a pretty good scare back in Rich Ellerson’s first season. That Keydet team ran the option and was able to control the tempo of the game to keep the score close. Today, VMI runs more of a pro-style offense and is a less-than-mediocre 94th in FCS total offense. While VMI’s defense has given up a respectable 334 yards per game, it completely fell apart last week against Richmond, as the Spiders out-gained VMI 487-197 en route to a 47-6 win. This is a VMI team that was trailing going into the 4th quarter against Division II Chowan (3-7 last year and 1-2 so far this year) before finally scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 8:29 left to play. There are lots of games where Navy can play the “we don’t win any recruiting battles against these guys” card, but this game is not one of them. VMI has 16 freshmen or sophomores listed on their two-deep defense. They have two seniors. Navy is going to win. How they win, though, is the big question. You’d hope to see a penalty-free and turnover-free game.

That is particularly true for the offense. Whatever experience VMI’s defense lacks on the field, they make up for it on the sideline. VMI’s coaching staff has extensive ties to the Southern Conference and has seen the spread option many, many times. Head coach Sparky Woods is more offense-oriented, but he was the head coach at Appalachian State during Georgia Southern’s rise to prominence from 1984-1988. He also led VMI in the aforementioned game at West Point in 2009. Defensive coordinator Jeff Farrington faced Georgia Southern as an assistant at both East Tennessee State and Furman. And of course, VMI plays The Citadel every year. You can’t tell how VMI defended The Citadel’s spread option last year just from pictures other than to say that they used an odd front. They’ll be the first odd front that Navy sees this season, and I’m sure that the VMI staff has a few wrinkles that they can’t wait to throw at Trey Miller. He’ll be challenged mentally in this game even if the team won’t be challenged too much physically.

While a win is a win (especially if you’re 0-2), it won’t feel like one if we see a repeat of the same blunders that plagued the Mids in their first two games. I wrote earlier this week that these mistakes will be corrected and won’t be a theme for the whole season, but I have nothing more than faith backing up those words until the Mids prove it on the field. VMI may or may not be able to make the Mids pay for their mistakes, but there is no such doubt when it comes to San Jose State next week. Navy must show that it is capable of playing smart football.

Navy’s coaches make little tweaks to the offense every year. Most of the time, they’re too subtle for any of us to really notice. Over the last two years, though, we’ve seen some changes that even those of us in the oblivious masses were able to pick out.

The first is the introduction of a lot more zone plays. The zone dive has always been a staple of the offense, but over the last few years we’ve seen a lot more zone blocking in the option game as well. Coach Jasper started using it a lot in goalline situations in 2010, and last year we saw it extensively against both Air Force and Army. It was effective in both games, and I’m sure we’ll see more of it as this season rolls on.

The other obvious thing that we’ve started seeing more and more is the shotgun. Last year we saw it once or twice in hail mary situations. Against Notre Dame the Mids used it mostly in the passing game, with one or two runs mixed in for good measure. Last week it was featured much more extensively, with triple option plays being run out of the gun as well. It’s clear that this is becoming a bigger part of what Navy does, so let’s take a closer look at it.

Continue reading “Let’s Talk About the Shotgun” →

Paul Johnson’s first season at Navy was not a pretty one, as the Mids sandwiched a 10-game losing streak between a pair of wins back in 2002. The following season was a completely different story; Navy finished the regular season 8-4 and earned a berth in the Houston Bowl, where they fell to Texas Tech. It was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in college football history, and the formula for achieving that success was surprisingly simple. The biggest difference between the frustration of 2002 and the success of 2003 was giving up fewer turnovers on offense and fewer big plays on defense.

Given that Navy is playing like they did in 2002– they’ve given up 8 turnovers and 4 plays of 30+ yards already– it’s no surprise that they’re getting 2002-like results. Navy followed up its season-opening trouncing at the hands of Notre Dame with another afternoon of misery, this time courtesy of Penn State. The loss was Navy’s 9th in their last 12 games going back to last year, and dropped Navy to 0-2 for the first time since 2005.

That’s what happens when you open the year with your two toughest games, I guess, although you’d hope to do a little better than 50-10 and 34-7.  I expected the worst when I popped in the DVD of the game. Strangely, the worst isn’t quite what I got. Not that Navy played well, or anything close to it; but the problems in this game were a lot different from the problems we saw against Notre Dame.  I actually feel a little more confident in the rest of the season after watching it.

Continue reading “PENN STATE 34, NAVY 7” →

Hot tub? Don’t have one.
Yet somehow I find myself
In 2002.

For this weekend’s game, all Navy fans are encouraged to do the following when the announcers say or do the following:

1.  Penn State players overcoming adversity. ==>  Drink two sips of beer and eat a Tostito chip. Say hi to your child or wife or whoever.

2.  “They have so much pride in their school (Navy or Penn State).”  ==> Drain your drink, eat Tostitos and use the head.  Soothingly sing “Troy Calhounnnnnnnn protects his players from the media swoonnnnnnnnn” while using the head.

3.  “There’s no quit in these Midshipmen! They play all 60 minutes.”  ==> Slap yourself, call your Grandma, and do a shot of Jack Daniels.

4.  “Navy’s defensive line is outweighed by an average of 30 lbs!”  ==> Do 10 pushups, drink half a beer, make grunting sound.

5.  Mentions Joe Paterno’s legacy. ==> Roll eyes, sigh, say “whatever!” really loud, and of course – take a drink.

6.  Mispronounces Ken Niumatalolo’s name.  ==> Shake head with an attitude, drunk text your neighbor and drink.

7.  Mentions that the student body was really hard on the PSU kicker last week.  ==> One “waaa”, two “deal with its”, and three gulps buddy.

Before the season opener against Notre Dame, I felt that there was no way that Navy could play any worse against the Irish than they did last year. They didn’t, but saying that they didn’t play any worse just means that “every bit as bad” is still on the table. Maybe the game didn’t go exactly as it did in 2011, but 50-10 is 50-10. I doubt anyone really wants to split hairs.

Ha! Who am I kidding? Splitting hairs is all I do here!

Continue reading “NOTRE DAME 50, NAVY 10” →