Navy sinks a depleted Bulls lineup
attempt (and miss) a 33-yard field goal on his first possession. Afterward, coach Charlie Strong suggested he might start Rygol next week at East Carolina if McCloud still is ailing.
“We thought about [pulling McCloud earlier], and he kept saying he’s OK,” Strong said. “Then you see one of the passes he threw; we knew he wasn’t OK. Now we’ve got to go with Rygol. Rygol will be OK; we’ve just got to get him enough reps.”
The Bulls’ only score came on a 33-yard Spencer Shrader field goal late in the first half, and even that one came with an asterisk. It occurred after Sails’ apparent 28-yard TD on an interception return was negated by an illegal block by senior defensive end Greg Reaves.
“Just a bone-headed mistake,” Reaves said.
Meantime, Navy was — well — Navy.
Though the Bulls consistently employed three linebackers and often used stacked fronts, Navy 5-foot-9 senior quarterback Malcolm Perry still ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries despite completing no passes.
On his first pass attempt of the day, Perry’s pocket collapsed, but he scrambled straight ahead through a seam and dashed for a 67-yard touchdown.
On Navy’s next possession, sophomore Jamale Carothers — who had five career rushing attempts entering the day — took a handoff on a third-and-1 dive play and burst up the middle for a 58-yard TD as some Bulls defenders kept their eyes locked on Perry.
“We [forced] three turnovers,” middle linebacker Patrick Macon said. “Sometimes they caught us out whack, but at the end of the day, that’s still not our defense, I would say.”
The outcome became academic when receiver OJ Davis scored on a 23-yard slotback pass from CJ Williams with 10:03 to play in the first half, giving the Mids a 21-0 lead.
Self-infliction prevented the romp from being worse. Not counting a kneel-down at the end of the first half, Navy committed its turnovers on three consecutive possessions and was whistled for six penalties, one more than its per-game average.
But on this 61-degree day, sloppy still trumped banged-up and benign.
Not to mention bowl-ineligible, the way things are looking.
“We’ve got to get playmakers,” Strong said. “Our playmakers have got to step up and start playing.”