Cougars take command late
Defense helps Houston send Navy to fourth straight loss
There was once a time when the Navy’s triple-option offense got stronger as the game went along and wore down the defense.
It has been the exact opposite too often during this frustrating season. It is the opposing defense that seems to be wearing down the Navy offense over the course of contests.
For the second straight game, the Midshipmen performed well offensively in the first half then fizzled in the second half. An inability to sustain drives on three possessions to start the second half proved costly as Navy once again blew a doubledigit lead and lost at home.
It was almost a repeat of what happened during the previous Saturday’s loss to Temple and means Navy must now win five of its remaining six games in order to salvage a winning season.
Quarterback D’Eriq King completed 25 of 38 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns as Houston defeated Navy, 49-36, on Saturday in Annapolis. King also rushed for 56 yards and a score in a virtuoso performance for the Cougars (6-1, 3-0), who remain alone atop the West Division standings of the American Athletic Conference.
Wide receivers Marquez Stevenson, Keith Corbin and Courtney Lark combined to record 19 catches totaling 311 yards and two touchdowns for Houston, which outscored Navy 28-0 to start the second half and led 49-24 at one point.
“Unfortunately, it was very eerily similar to last week. We started off great offensively then we had some missed assignments that hurt us,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. It was almost a carbon copy of last week. You start off great then all of a sudden the wheels fall off again.
Niumatalolo pointed out that Navy’s offense ground to a halt toward the end of the first half. The Midshipmen went three-and-out on back-to-back possessions toward the end of the second quarter.
Moments after Navy punted for the first time in the game safety Sean Williams forced a fumble with a hard hit on Corbin and cornerback Michael McMorris recovered at the Houston 33-yard line. However, negative yardage plays on first and second down led to another punt as the Mids could not capitalize on the turnover in enemy territory.
“At the end of the first half we had some opportunities to score and had some self-inflicted stuff that hurt us. We were operating really efficiently up until that point,” Niumatalolo said. “It’s inexplicable because it’s not like they changed their defense. It’s like someone unplugged us. It’s like a cell phone battery. We were at 100 percent and by the end of the second quarter we were at three percent.”
Houston head coach Major Applewhite thought his defense deserved some of the credit for short-circuiting Navy. Navy did a decent job of blocking All-American tackle Ed Oliver, who had two tackles for loss, but only five total. However, the Mids had no answer for linebacker Austin Robinson, who racked up 21 tackles with 4 ½ of them going for loss.
“I think the biggest thing is that we got more physical on the perimeter and played from inside-out,” Applewhite said. “We started playing better on first and second down. Hats off to the defense. They finished the game the way they needed to.”
Slotback Malcolm Perry rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown to lead Navy (2-5, 1-3), which is mired in a four-game losing streak for the first time since 2011. Adding to the bad news for the Midshipmen was the fact Perry suffered an apparent leg injury and missed most of the second half.
“It definitely hurt us because (Malcolm) is one of our best players. It was typical Malcolm doing good things and he rushed for almost 100 yards,” Niumatalolo said. “But some of the things we did wrong were not because we lost Malcolm.”
Stevenson made eight catches for 141 yards to spearhead the Houston receiving corps, which found all sorts of soft spots in Navy’s zone pass defense. Lark had 106 yards on five catches while Corbin added 104 yards on six grabs.
“They’re super explosive and we obviously had trouble stopping them. They stretch you out from sideline to sideline,” Niumatalolo said.
King had all day to throw the football as Navy mustered absolutely no pass rush. The Midshipmen did not come close to recording a sack and the two quarterback hurries that were credited were hardly so as the lightning-quick King easily escaped any sort of pressure.