Monday Notations

More completely random thoughts and observations from Saturday's thrilling win over Duke.

In an attempt to cover this somewhat chronologically, I'm going to start off by saying what a good job Navy's defense did on the first series of the game. The only question I have is what the hell happened after that?...

...Speaking of "what the hell" kind of moments, have we gotten to the bottom of Duke's first touchdown yet? I've heard a lot about how the coverage was bad all day, but Darius Terry actually had great position on the ball and should have prevented the Duke wide receiver from making the play. Obviously the guy ran two or three yards out of bounce, but the call on the field was that he was forced out. From the replay it looked like he probably started out before Terry's back made contact with him, and even in that situation I don't know how you can say he was forced out when Terry is playing the ball. A dumb call and a fluke play but at least it gives the defense a lesson in never quiting on the play...

...Kaipo-Noa did a very good job throwing the ball around early, largely due to very good pass protection from the O-line. I was for the most part really impressed with Kaipo's accuracy, which we knew coming into the season was much better than it was last season. The interception he threw though was horrible, contrary to the belief of the fan in front of me, who placed the blame on Reggie Campbell. Anytime you stare down a 5'6 receiver who is double covered your asking for trouble, and that interception is definitely on you. Kaipo-Noa struggled with reads early and didn't gain much running the ball, but he did do a good job in the second quarter of making something out of nothing. He didn't have the amazing make ten people miss run Jarod had later in the game, but give Kaipo credit. He's not exactly a dear in the headlights out there...

...I think we're seeing a transition from Ballard to Kettani at the fullback position. That's not to say both won't still get carries, but with Kettani's speed and first step it just makes more sense to have Eric in there. One thing he does need to do better is work on picking his legs up as he hits the hole. I saw him stumble on one to many arm tackles during the game. Other than that the guy is a beast, as is Ballard, who still maintains his status as a legitimate badass...

...I've been telling everyone and their mother about Greg Sudderth's sick nasty athletic ability, and on Saturday we finally saw it as he climbed the latter between two defenders to pull down a long grab at the Duke two yard line. Sudderth has ideal size and body control which make him perfect for the wide receiver position, it's just a shame it took the coaching staff so long to realize he couldn't tackle. On a related note, OJ Washington and Tyree Barnes also made plays in the pass game, only confirming the fact that this is the best group of Navy wideouts in a long time.

...A number of people have been asking what's been going on with Reggie Campbell. I don't think he's in any kind of a "funk" so much much as he's just not getting the ball enough. I say this with a degree of reluctance, because I know how fast Navy fans are quick to jump on the "get the ball to the slots" argument that has become the stuff of "Ask the AD" legend. Still, Reggie has looked good when he has gotten the ball on the outside, and I have to say I was very much surprised to see him not get the ball more against Duke, especially with Shun White out. I know we tell ourselves that we're an offense of interchangeable parts, and as much truth as there is in that we all realize that Campbell's is on another level athletically than much of team. Not to incur the wraith of Paul Johnson, but this only semi-knowledgeable blogger would like to see Reggie get the ball more...

...Defensively we played about 50 people on Saturday. That's probably not an accurate number, but you get what I mean. Anytime you see Ram Vela on the field at nickelback, you know Coach Green is reaching down deep (not a shot at Ram, who should be a starter by the time he's a senior.) This is both a good and bad sign. On the negative side of things, you realize that guys weren't getting the job done. Yet by the same token you have to realize it was a very humid day and Coach Green had to try to keep guys fresh. Our defense is bad, I know, but more specifically we're not getting good play out of our defensive ends and our second cornerback. I use the term second cornerback to denote whoever is opposite Rashawn King, who is money against the run and pass. I know Terry had a great game against Ball State and had some good coverage even against Duke (In which he was burned for a couple of touchdowns), but between him and Greg Thrasher we don't have a lot of vertical speed. This is a concern this year with the simplified defense and the new safety package, which is putting a lot of stress on the corners to keep the wide receiver in front of them. As far as our ends go, we're just not keeping containment, which is honestly all they have to do. We did see some ability from Blake Carter (against the run) and Nate Frazier, who despite being doubled most of the game got good penetration and even recorded a sack on a stunt in which he came all the way around the tackle...

...Irv Spencer had two chances at turnovers, but dropped a second quarter interception and inexplicably lost a fumble recovery. Not getting the fumble recovery maybe almost cost us the game, as Duke would go on to score before the half before Kaipo's interception in which they would go on to score again. Had he recovered that fumble, it's probable that Navy goes into the half with a ten point lead. A similar thing happened last week against Ball. We're just not catching the breaks this year...

...I refuse to talk about the quarterback situation in terms of a controversy. It doesn't matter how much I like Jarod or whether or not I think he could do a better job than Kaipo, it's not my call and I realize that the coaching staff has a much better grasp on this than anyone else. I will say that I hope Jarod can be integrated more into the offense, because as he showed on Saturday, he's a gifted and versatile athlete who can do any number of things for your football team. All for putting him back there with Reggie of kickoffs say "I..."

...From what I'm hearing Shun White just suffering a sprain and should be back and ready to go this week. Speaking of slotbacks, how about Bobby Doyle? Between him, Greg Shinego, and Scott Oswald we are solid as far as the three deep goes...

...September 22nd is hereby Joey Bullen Day. Honestly, if he's not the clutch Navy performer of the decade, I don't know who is. Props to coach Johnson for going with him even though he hasn't been great in practice...

...We need a horse collar rule in college football...

...How big was Navy's win? Well, as Bill Wagner claims today in the Capital, it just may have saved the season.

..I guess the fans in section 30 should not have laughed our collective butts off when Peter Vaas told his guys before the half that "it ain't even close to being over" before a silenced Navy-Marine Corps stadium. I guess he was right...

(Photo courtesy of Paul W. Gillespie of the Annapolis Capital)

I am an Idiot

Dear Fellow Navy Fans,

I am an idiot.

Why, you ask, am I an idiot? Well, to put it bluntly, I just missed the single greatest Navy comeback since the 2005 Air Force game. Let me attempt to explain.

I was one of what I can only presume to be a fair amount of fans who left today's game early. With a paper for my old English literature class due Monday that I have still yet to start and the pressing need to get some exercises for the day, I made, with some four minutes left in the fourth quarter, one of the biggest strategic blunders since Mussolini's invasion of Greece in 1940. I don't ask for sympathy, and I don't reckon I deserve any either, but what transpired within the next hour was the single greatest thing I have ever heard via the radio.

Let's back it up. Duke had us on the ropes late in the third quarter, as Thaddeus Lewis suddenly turned into Donovan McNabb and systematically picked apart our defense en route to a 428 yard day through the air. Duke was well on it's way to another score when Duke running back Re'Quan Boyette seemingly just gave the ball to Navy linebacker Tony Haberer on a bizarre fumble sequence, after which Navy managed to do next to nothing on the ensuring series. It was at this point that I had had it. With my forearms looking like the middle of a poorly cooked steak and the general aura of "we're about to give up 50 to Duke" I made the aforementioned decision to pack it up. Obviously this makes me a horrible fan, so I give you all permission to chastise me for the next week. Nevertheless, as I left the stadium I couldn't help but feel that this was one of, if not the worst game the team has played within the past five years, and as I heard the roar of the Brigade behind me I knew Lewis and the Blue Devils were closing in again. When my father and I got to the car, I didn't even bother to see what Bob and Omar had to say, I just turned it to music.

And so began the usual chatter. You know, the "I can't believe we lost to Duke" chatter, followed of course by the proverbial "we're going to get killed next week" kind of chatter. Then of course comes the awkward silence of presumed defeat, followed by the sinking feeling of knowing that the outlook for you week just got a whole lot bleaker. Then, for no apparent reason, something happened.

My father wanted to check WNAV. I had no idea why, but thinking the game was probably about in the books I offered no resistance. Amazingly, Navy had not been buried beneath a hail of Duke touchdowns, and "only" found themselves down by eleven with most of the fourth quarter left. After Joey Bullen barely knocked in a 35 yard field goal we told ourselves that it was nice, but that there was no way we were coming back. At this point I guess I should mention that whenever my Father and I talk football, we always do it in terms of what should happen if something else happens first. For instance, "if we stop them on this series than Jarod and the offense should go for two if they score a touchdown." Then one of us (usually me) says something along the lines of "but we're not gonna stop them." Once again my friends, I am an idiot. Anyway, the next ten minutes we're incredible, with Omar, Bob, and John (but especially John) basically going crazy in the booth. With cautious optimism I held out hope, in the back of my mind kicking myself for not staying a few more minutes just to see what Duke did with the football. First came Bullen's 35-yarder, then the defense stopping an ultra-conservative Duke attack. Then the fun part. Jarod leads the offense down the field, punching the ball in as he catches a pass from slotback Bobby Doyle. Pandemonium on the airwaves as Bob Socci's voice fluctuates with the intensity of a 13 year old boy jacked up on candy and Nintendo, which in this circumstance was perfectly understandable. Then it happened.

After Navy hit the two point conversion Duke appeared to fumble on the ensuring kickoff. However, after the review, the officials gave the Blue Devils the football, at which point anyone listening to the radio expected John Feinstein to unleash a hail of f-bombs. Amazingly, Mr. Feinstein showed remarkable restraint (unlike myself), and as I was ready to toss myself from a moving vehicle he checked himself. That was it though, we told ourselves, that was the game. Can't help the fact that the officials screwed us, again.

At this point I was tempted to turn from WNAV, perhaps letting some old country music song about some guys girl who up and "rund off" take over the last mile or two of road before home. But, knowing that I needed at least some closure as far as the game was concerned, decided against it, and instead allowed myself to listen to Thaddeus Lewis march the Blue Devils down the field en route to what figured to be an easy score. Then came a key third and eleven which Duke needed to get to even think about a field goal, and just as Ball State did last week, so did the Blue Devils pick it up in a third and long situation. Now sitting in my driveway looking like a schmuck I was finally ready to turn the game off and be done with it, but to my complete and utter befuddlement (as well as Mr. Feinstein's) Duke was called for holding. Breathing a sigh of relief I prepared for the ensuring 3rd and 21, swearing that if the Blue Devils converted I would hurl myself wildly off the three foot embankment on the side of my driveway. Then, it happened. Not a second after Ketric Buffin's interception at the 18 yard line, I let out a bellowing "I AM AN IDIOT" (plus or minus some other words mixed in there) before flashing a a willy grin and parking myself next to the car and preparing myself for overtime.

I have to admit, after last week I still didn't think we would win, and if we were to win I recognized that it would probably have to come with the less than a minute left in regulation Jarod had left. Amazing, I told myself, that he should find himself in the same situation as last week. You of course know the rest better than I do, but as Jarod drove the Midshipmen into field goal range it started to become clear that after last week's heart breaker the junior from Hoover, Alabama was not going to let it happen again. Apparently neither was Paul Johnson, who put in Mr. Cool (aka Joey Bullen) to attempt the 44-yard game winner with four seconds left. Immediately my mind flashed back the the 2005 Air Force game in which Bullen nailed a game winner from 47-yard out on a day in which I had the foresight to actually stick with my team. I expected Duke to try to ice him, but Ted Roof, knowing that Joey Bullen is the uniceable iceman who eats ice for breakfast (with skim milk), figured it was pointless. So as that 44 yard field goal split the uprights and Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium rocked the afternoon sky over Annapolis, I sat flabbergasted in my driveway, ecstatic over the win while incredibly disappointed of my attributes as a Navy fan. I've seen a lot of great finishes over the years, but I'd have to say this one ranks among the top, perhaps even approaching the 2005 Air Force game in drama and late game heroics. And to think that I had to hear it on the damn radio.

Once again, let me concede that I am indeed and idiot.

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What we saw today was not pretty, not by any stretch of the imagination. Navy's defense was systematically sliced, diced, and chopped during the first half, and despite scoring points and moving the football, Navy's offense once again turned the ball over at key times. Yet for all the pain of three quarters of play, what you did see (and I hope, unlike me, that you actually did see it) was a group of young men who never quit and fought to the the very end. We as fans and armchair commentators often throw around words like character and perseverance, and often times use these terms too liberally. But with a much maligned and very young defense, I think it's more than appropriate to say that this entire team showed a lot of character today, and that the efforts of the players and coaching staff proved that this team is not going to role over and play for next year.

Don't get hung up on the fact that it was Duke. This is the mistake I made when I decided to leave the stadium today. This was the mistake I made as I sat roasting in the autumn sun at halftime, somehow trying to find the good in a game that looked like it was going south quickly. If there has been one thing we all have learned from four weeks of the 2007 college football season, it's that competitive parody has reached an all time high, and that style points matter only for those with a championship in mind. Heck, Ball State should have beaten Nebraska today, and put up more yards on their defense than they did on ours. And our pain is nothing compared to the folks in Louisville, who saw their Top 20 team get buried by an 0-3 'Cuse team with a quarterback I was watching carve up my alma mater just two short years ago in Baltimore. I can't tell you whether or not this win will get us back on track, but I can say that it gives us a chance. In the Any Given Saturday environment we find ourselves in, coming out with the win becomes the most important thing, and in that respect we can say that the team did exactly what it needed to today. Strap on your seatbelts guys, because whether your a pessimist or an optimist in your outlook, it certainly looks like we're all in for a wild ride the rest of the way.

All of you who stayed are all great Americans,

Adam