Navy Football Revisited

Navy Football Revisited

A few weeks ago I did a blog on Navy football and the tough road they seemed to have just to qualify for a bowl. The midshipman started the season beating Towson, then losing to Ball State and Duke. There was a lot of concern about whether this team was going to finish with 6 Division I wins, and some of you probably remember that blog.

But since then Navy has been tough, and turned that 1-2 record to a current 5-3 record. I’d like to revisit those past games and get some of you caught up on how they got to where they are, and what the future holds for them:

Picking up from the 1-2 start, it seemed like the Midshipmen were doomed to not even make it to post season, losing to a Ball State that few knew about, and then to Duke…I mean, losing to Duke is, well… you know…

(we kid because we love)

The problem wasn’t scoring, Navy was actually very good in scoring, but there was questions about the defense. And one of the big questions about running the option was that is it not designed to come back from 14 points or more down late in the 4th quarter. If a team jumped on Navy early and could put distance in the score, it would be hard for Navy to make a comeback without eating the clock up.

But Navy turned it around in their next game, defeating Rugters 23-21. Many still question the strength of the schedule, but all Navy can do is play the teams on their schedule. But then they began to stand out by beating ranked Wake Forest in their own home 24-17.

This was important because Navy needed Division I wins, and some quality ones at that. Beating Rutgers University would have been cool if they were the team of last year, but this year they seem to be the same old Rutgers. But that win vs. Wake Forest begin to bring hope to the team.

There must have been some magic in that old option game they found, for when they…

Hold up, that sounds like a Christmas song!

Anyway, Navy began to show us the true power of that option game by following up their win vs. a ranked team by defeating Air Force. I’ll be honest folks, I didn’t see that coming. I know you can throw out records when it comes to true rivals, and we know that Army, Navy and Air Force are true rivals, but I thought the air attack would ground the Midshipmen. I was wrong. A 33-27 victory suddenly made us pay attention to Navy, with their record swelling to 4-2.

Now, how can Navy qualify for a Division I bowl? They have to win 6 Division I games, or have one quality Division IAA (I know the terms have changed, just go with it for a minute). If the Towson win counts, then Navy needs 2 more wins to qualify for a bowl. If not, they need 3. So every game is still important.

Navy then ran into a brick wall in ranked Pittsburgh, losing 42-21. With 5 games left on the schedule, the Midshipmen needed at least 3 wins to ensure a bowl. This is important folks, because often times we talk only about national championships, but there are more stories of success than just who plays in the BCS Championship. Every game is important, every game is a test of will and some measure of success or failure. Seasons are judged by how you finished, and what you did in post season. Every game has great importance.

So today, Navy plays, and crushes, SMU 34-7, bringing their record to 5-3. With 4 games left on the schedule, they need 1 or two wins, depending on that Towson game. If you look ahead, their next game is against Temple…hmmm, can you say 6-3?

If you can, then this might be the qualifying game for Navy. But they still need another win, the next game will be a tough one…Notre Dame. Now, I know the Irish have not had a tough schedule, but some media will probably give them a top 25 ranking just because they are the Irish. This could be a good thing for Navy, to be able to play another top 25 team. But I think this one will be hard to win.

If they don’t their last two games are against Northern Illinois and Army. I am going to treat the Army/Navy game like a tossup, you just never know who’s gonna win that. So this means that it is possible that Navy’s post season could lie in that game vs. Northern Illinois.

This team is currently 5-3, and almost had a big win over Tennessee this year and a very close game vs. Minnesota. Navy will be playing in their back yard, so this could be a very tough game to win. Remember, if that Towson game does not count as a Division I win, and if they don’t upset Notre Dame, this could be the season making game.

Are the Midshipmen up to it…stay tuned….