Fog was perfect atmosphere for a year gone bad
The thick fog that hovered over Michie Stadium at West Point on Saturday afternoon did every Navy fan a favor.: It hid the giant mess that epitomized Midshipmen football and everything else in 2020.
In a season chock-full of low points, it’s hard to imagine anything worse than the 15-0 loss to Army that, unless the Mids attend a bowl game, capped a dreadful year on and off the gridiron.
The stats alone are eyepopping. Navy’s offense has scored 13 points — total — in its last three games. On Saturday, the Mids got four first downs and gained just 117 yards of total offense. They converted one third down in 11 tries and failed on both fourth-down tries, including one at the goal line that sunk them.
After finishing with 109 rushing yards on 17 carries, Xavier Arline, just the fifth plebe to start at quarterback against Army, compared the game towar.
This Navy football season simply never got on track or found a rhythm. It started in training camp, when 13th-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo understandably erred on the side of caution amid the pandemic and had only non-contact practices. But it didn’t take more than two days after being blown out 55-3 by BYU on Labor Day to revert to normal and resume hitting. This is football, after all.
In hindsight, perhaps losing that month in August sealed Navy’s fate. But I’d argue that excuse has gone out the window when you see the three-game stretch the defensive unit put together and how defensive coordinator Brian Newberry suddenly turned everything he touched into gold.
If itweren’t for the defense, whichfrankly played another outstanding game in holding Army to 134 rushing yards and162 total, this result could’ve been historically bad— even worse than the 27-0 shutout in 1969, the last time the Black Knights achieved such a feat.
This nightmare falls on the shoulders of the offense and the quarterback carousel. Magnifying the issue is that “he who shall not be named”— offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper grew tired of mentioning Malcolm Perry this week — just a year ago lit the world on fire and set an NCAA record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season with 2,017.
The encore for his successors? 287. Total. Rushing. Yards. This. SEASON! That includes Arline’s 109 on Saturday. As a millennial, I’m shakin’my damn head.
Big picture, this wasn’t a stunning result. Therewere signs thismay be coming earlier in the season against Air Force, which was another demolition (40-7 loss) at the hands of a service academy.
That at least came two weeks after the greatest comeback in Navy history against Tulane. Doesn’t that feel like a lifetime ago?
No, it may not be historically bad. After all, Navy also beatTemplein a thrillinggame in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen and then East Carolina the following week. The Midswere 3-2!
Then came Houston and SMU. Then came the virus— that damned virus.
Two players tested positive forCOVID-19 after the SMU game in early November, resulting in the postponement of games against Tulsa and Memphis (which were both eventually rescheduled). The contest with South Florida neverwas.
Itwas those two games against American Athletic Conference opponents where the offense vanished while the defense collectively turned into a shiny new toy.
The Mids managed just a single touchdown in a 10-7 loss toMemphis. They never found the end zone against Tulsa in a 19-6 defeat, snapping a 17-game winning streak on SeniorDay.
When asked what he learned from this experience, Arline, whofailed to win agame as a starter, said, “Coach Niumat says every singleweekit is hardtowin. It is hardtowin. It’s hard towin.” Indeed, it is. It’s far too early to proclaim Navy can’t win games with Arline under center. He showed flashes.
This experience and a full offseason will do wonders for him. Niumatalolo and his staff are too good at what they do repeat this catastrophe in 2021.
For now, however, it’s time to flush everything about the 2020 season down the toilet and never hear fromit again.