NAVY DC NEWBERRY LAMENTS MISTAKES VS. MARSHALL
Navy defensive coordinator laments coaching, playing mistakes vs. Marshall
Hindsight is always 20-20. If Brian Newberry could have a do-over, he would take a different approach to defending Marshall in the college football season opener for both schools. Quarterback Grant Wells led the charge as the Thundering Herd amassed 464 total yards on the way to whipping Navy, 49-7. Wells completed 20 of 30 passes for 333 yards before leaving the game.
“Really disappointed. I thought we were ready. There are no excuses from our end to perform the way we did,” Newberry said. “It just didn’t look like a Navy defense. I thought we were hesitant and played on our heels most of the game.”
Marshall has a first-year head coach in Charles Huff, and Newberry did not know exactly what type of offense he would employ. Navy’s third-year defensive coordinator made the decision to drop seven or eight defenders into coverage early and the result was that Wells had all day to stand in the pocket and survey the field.
Wells connected with speedy slot receiver Talik Keaton for a 47-yard gain on the game’s first play from scrimmage. He added several other long completions as the Thundering Herd scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions.
“I went back-and-forth about my approach coming out. In hindsight, I would have done a little more in coverage to make them earn everything they got,” Newberry said during his weekly media availability on Tuesday.
Wells and Keaton hooked up for a 28-yard gain that set up Marshall’s second touchdown, while tall, rangy wide receiver Corey Gammage (6-4, 220) also made several long catches early as the visitors built a 21-0 lead.
“The thing we talk about around here is stopping the run, making teams one-dimensional, and then controlling the pass,” Newberry said. “You’re not going to stop the pass, but you can certainly control giving up big plays by understanding what parts of the field you are giving up and what parts you are taking away.”
In all, Marshall had eight pass plays of 20 yards or more. One of those was a 30-yard touchdown toss by backup quarterback Luke Zban that came when the Thundering Herd already led 42-7.
“That just doesn’t get it done,” Newberry said. “In retrospect, I would have played coverage, kept everything in front of us, made them get into third-and-long situations then gotten into some of the pressure stuff.”
Newberry made sure to give credit to Marshall, which came to Annapolis with a solid offensive game plan and executed it. Wells was sharp, while the skill position players such as Gammage, Keaton and the two tailbacks were impressive.
However, the Thundering Herd did not do anything offensively that the Navy defensive coaching staff did not anticipate, and that was disturbing to Newberry.
“What we showed them in practice was right on point with the exception of a couple route concepts. We were prepared, I just don’t feel like we went out and executed,” he said. “There were some mistakes we made in the game that we didn’t make in practice.”
Newberry thought the Midshipmen were not all there mentally on Saturday. He was surprised by the way the unit as a whole reacted in the opener, especially after getting hit in the mouth early.
“We talk to our guys about playing with emotion and not letting emotion play with us. I thought the moment got us a little bit,” he said.
From the moment Newberry arrived in Annapolis after being hired away from Kennesaw State, he has preached playing with energy and effort, drive and determination. For the most part, the Midshipmen have responded to that mandate.
“The elite and fanatical effort we talk about, I didn’t see that on Saturday,” Newberry said. “That kind of effort is what we need to win games around here. That kind of effort can overshadow a mistake here or there.
“I didn’t think our effort far outweighed theirs to compensate for not executing and making mistakes. That’s on me to get that corrected and remedied, and I will do so moving forward. We have to play with more passion and energy,” Newberry added.
Navy defenders looked a step slow on Saturday, and Newberry blamed that on being hesitant as opposed to overmatched athletically. He’s confident the Midshipmen can tighten things up and once again resemble the unit that performed so well throughout the 2019 season and held three straight opponents to less than 300 yards to close out last season.
“What’s encouraging to me is that everything that happened Saturday is correctable,” Newberry said. “It wasn’t an issue where we had major deficiencies or got pushed around. We had a lot of coverage breakdowns. Whatever they got in the run game we gave it to them by just not fitting things right.”
Throughout his tenure, Newberry has challenged the defense to “get six” in every game. That goal is accomplished by recording any combination of three-and-outs, turnovers and fourth down stops that equals six. Navy is now 10-2 whenever it “gets six” because the final total of seven did not produce a win on Saturday.
However, it was somewhat misleading because one of Marshall’s three-and-outs — along with an interception by Navy freshman cornerback Mbiti Williams — came late in the fourth quarter after the game had long been decided.
Navy came up with three turnovers on two interceptions and a fumble recovery. However, the Midshipmen forced four fumbles, and the Thundering Herd were able to recover three. Cornerback Michael McMorris jarred the ball loose after hitting Wells on a cornerback blitz, and the home team missed an opportunity to come up with a turnover deep in enemy territory.
“That was one of the encouraging things. You saw us getting our hands on a lot of footballs. We had opportunities and the ball didn’t bounce our way,” Newberry said. “We’re going to get a lot of those takeaways over the course of the season because it’s been a major emphasis and our guys are dialed into it.”
Newberry reluctantly cited some other bright spots when asked to do so. He highlighted McMoris along with senior safeties Mitch West and Kevin Brennan. The former led Navy with eight tackles, while the latter had an interception and fumble recovery.
“A guy like Mitch West plays with that fanatical effort we talk about, and he flew all over the place. Mikey McMorris had been nursing a hamstring and wasn’t in great shape going into the game. I thought he competed and made some plays. Kevin Brennan is always solid as can be,” Newberry said.
A pair of sophomore defensive linemen — nose guard Clay Cromwell and end Jacob Busic (Westminster High) — also earned some praise.
“Jake Busic, in his first career start, did some really nice things. His future here is extremely bright,” Newberry said. “Clay Cromwell played his first meaningful snaps and pressured the quarterback three times from the nose position. He’s a big, strong, powerful kid.”
Newberry stewed about the blowout loss and the defense’s responsibility for it a full day before turning his full attention to service academy rival Air Force. He does not believe Marshall is 42 points better than Navy and believes the result would be different a second time around.
“I take full responsibility. The plan I had and the adjustments I made during the game were probably not the best thing for us to do,” Newberry lamented. “I wish I could do it over, but I can’t so I’ve got to eat that. There’s plenty to learn from and a lot to build off.”