Navy’s option attack provides unique challenge for TU
The numbers are down this season for Navy’s rushing attack, but Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery says it takes just one week for the option game to become “scary” for opponents.
Montgomery’s Golden Hurricane faces the Midshipmen in a road game at Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday, and Navy’s unique running game remains the biggest challenge for TU’s defense.
Through four games, the Midshipmen (1-3, 1-1 AAC) are averaging just 13.3 points per game and have gained 176 yards per contest by running the ball, with four total touchdowns, but the confusing way they run their triple-option offense means the Hurricane defense has to take a different approach to stopping it than usual.
“They’re a very talented football team,” Montgomery said of Navy. “Maybe they haven’t put up the yards and the points that they have in the past, but all it takes is one week. They’re always scary when it comes to that.”
Navy’s offense, administered by 15year head coach Ken Niumatalolo (the only AAC coach with a longer tenure than Montgomery), has runners going in multiple directions through the backfield, giving the quarterback options to hand it off, pitch it or keep it (or even possibly throw it). It is difficult to prepare for once a year, and it’s almost impossible to replicate in order to practice defending it.
“Every time you play them, you come back in and you try to make notes of the things you did well and the things that you did bad, and the things that they did to counteract the things that you were doing, because you only face this once a year,” Montgomery said. “It makes it difficult. And I will tell you, probably the most difficult part of it is trying to do it in practice, trying to simulate it.
“We don’t generally carry those types of guys on our football team that could really put that to a good showing, and you can’t really depict how fast it really happens, until that first series when you get in the game, and how fast the fullback’s going to hit, how fast the read’s going to happen. All of a sudden, the ball gets pitched and it’s out on the edge. That makes it very difficult for you as your scout teams are trying to demonstrate that throughout the week.”
And because Navy has seen just about every possible defensive alignment against its attack, it undoubtedly devised ways to combat them all.
“He’s run this offense himself, he’s coached this offense forever, there’s nothing that you’re going to show him that he hasn’t seen at one particular point in time in his career,” Montgomery said of Niumatalolo. “So you got to continue to keep giving them a few different looks and keep them off-balance as much as you can, but more than anything, you got to do a great job of being disciplined, you’ve got to do a great job of tackling in space, because they are going to create opportunities for you to have to do that, and you got to play really good on early downs.
“If you let them stay in that mode of three yards, four yards, three yards, they’re always working in a four-down mode. If they get to fourth-and-2 or fourth-and-1, they’re going to go for it, and that’s what their offense is built to do.”
Tulsa safety Bryson Powers, who has played Navy several times in his career and was even recruited by the academy, knows how tough it is to play against.
“It’s always difficult playing them,” said Powers, who leads TU (2-3, 0-1) with 47 tackles through five games. “It’s playing assignment-sound football. You’ve got to understand that they’ve got multiple options for whoever’s going to get the ball during the game, and while your position on defense might not be making the tackle on this play, it’s important that you foresee that the quarterback could pitch the ball or take on a block, because if everybody doesn’t do their specific assignments, we’ll have a break in the defense.
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“And then on top of that, being intense and physical as a football team. We know Navy’s going to play all four quarters and they’re a really tough football team, so we have to match that toughness and intensity this week.”
Montgomery pointed out that because Navy’s offense grinds down the clock, it creates challenges for Tulsa’s offense, too.
“You know the amount of snaps you’re going to get is less, you know that your time of possession that you’re going to have it is less,” Montgomery said. “So it makes you feel a little bit more aggressive offensively, too. You get into that fourth down situation, and, ‘Do I really want to punt this back or do I want to go for it?’ So it brings a lot of different variables into it.”
Tulsa hasn’t had much success against the Midshipmen over the years, particularly recently. The Golden Hurricane it just 1-6 against Navy during Montgomery’s tenure, which corresponds to Navy joining the AAC in 2015, with the only TU victory coming in 2020, a 19-6 triumph the last time it visited Annapolis.
Last year was a difficult 20-17 loss for Tulsa at home, a close battle that was tied 10-10 entering the final quarter. Navy scored a touchdown early in the fourth, then connected on a field goal to go up 20-10 with 4:14 left. TU rallied to score a touchdown with 2:21 remaining, but when the Midshipmen recovered the ensuing onside kick, they ran out the clock to end the game.
Powers noted that playing inside Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, which seats 34,000, is usually a fun experience.
“Their stadium’s amazing, with the history and all the different battles and wars of the Navy up around,” Powers said. “It’s a really special place to play in, especially with all the cadets out there. It’s one of my favorite environments to play in. It’s really historical and they always have a great atmosphere out there. I have tremendous respect for those guys.”