Mids routed on the road, drop to 1-2
AIR FORCE 40, NAVY 7
COLORADO SPRINGS – All preconceived ideas were upended Saturday as Navy visited Air Force for the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series and got blown out, 40-7.
Navy’s offense was supposed to be resurgent following its impressive performance in the second half against Tulane. It was believed the Midshipmen suddenly had a dangerous passing attack with a talented thrower in Dalen Morris and an impressive array of weapons in the wide receiver corps.
Air Force figured to be severely weakened on defense due to the loss of all five returning starters, who elected to accept administrative turnbacks granted due to the coronavirus. The Falcons were without several other defenders and the depth chart
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was loaded with inexperienced sophomores and freshmen.
Those factors were a big reason why the Midshipmen were favored by a touchdown even though they had not won at Falcon Stadium since 2012.
Then the expected narrative completely fell apart.
It was revealed about an hour before kickoff that Morris did not make the road trip due to an undisclosed medical condition. Junior Tyger Goslin made his first career start and struggled mightily.
That was not surprising considering Goslin had made just one career varsity appearance, having seen mop-up duty toward the end of a blowout of Holy Cross last season. Goslin only recently became eligible after being suspended by the NCAA due to an unspecified rules violation.
Another surprise? Air Force listed junior Brice Honaker as the starting place-kicker on its depth chart this week. Tevye Schuettpelz-Rohl wound up beating out his classmate and had himself a day.
Schuettpelz-Rohl went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts and that alone would have been more than enough to lift Air Force past listless Navy in front of 4,000-plus cadets at Falcon Stadium. It was a dismal performance by the Midshipmen, who will not defend their Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy championship.
Navy can only hope to retain the trophy, which would happen if Army beats Air Force then subsequently loses to its archrival.
Fullback Timothy Jackson was the workhorse of a rushing game that amassed 410 yards and steadily wore down the Mids. Jackson powered his way up the middle for 118 yards on 19 carries. Backup fullback Brad Roberts ran for 103 yards behind a powerful offensive line that dominated at the point of attack.
Sophomore Haaziq Daniels earned the starting quarterback job and was impressive in his varsity debut, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder completed three straight passes to set up one of the field goals late in the first half.
While the Air Force offense moved the ball effectively, it could not finish as the Navy defense repeatedly stiffened in the red zone and forced field goals. Thanks to the defense, it was still a two-score game late in the third quarter.