NAVY SEASON RECAP
Sept. 1: at Hawaii, L, 59-41 Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald passed for 428 yards and six touchdowns. Midshipmen quarterback Malcolm Perry rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries, including a 75-yard touchdown run. Sept. 8: Memphis, W, 22-21 Navy trailed 21-9 early in the fourth quarter before touchdown runs from Perry and Zach Abey pushed the Midshipmen in front for good. Sept. 15: Lehigh, W, 51-21 Perry tallied season-highs with 223 rushing yards and three touchdowns as Navy got its only blowout win of the season. Sept. 22: at SMU, L, 31-30 OT SMU got its first win of the season in walk-off fashion when tight end Hunter Thedford caught a two-point conversion in overtime. Oct. 6: at Air Force, L, 35-7 Navy’s offense struggled, generating just 178 yards of total offense, as Air Force puts itself in the driver’s seat for the Commander In Chief’s Trophy. Oct. 13: Temple, L, 24-17 Temple quarterback Anthony Russo connected on a go-ahead, 62-yard touchdown pass in fourth quarter, and Navy could not respond, failing to convert a first down on its final two possessions. Oct. 20: Houston, L, 49-36 Navy quarterback Garret Lewis had his best passing performance of the year, completing nine of 13 attempts for 135 yards, one touchdown and an interception. But, it was not enough to slow Houston’s potent offense led by quarterback D’Eriq King, who threw for 413 yards and three touchdowns. Oct. 27: Notre Dame, L, 44-22 In San Diego, the Midshipmen scored all of their points in the second half. The Fighting Irish got 142 rushing yards and three touchdowns from running back Dexter Williams to move to 8-0. Nov. 3: at Cincinnati, L, 42-0 A stout Cincinnati defense, which was averaging just under 16 points allowed per game prior to the Nov. 3 matchup, handed Navy its first shutout since
2012, holding the Midshipmen to just
171 total yards. Nov. 10: at Central Florida, L, 35-24 UCF got three total touchdowns from quarterback McKenzie Milton to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 22 games. Navy had five players with over 50 rushing yards. Nov. 17: Tulsa, W, 37-29 The Midshipmen snapped a sevengame losing skid as Abey rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Nov. 24: at Tulane, L, 29-28 Down 21-3 at one point, Navy made a furious second-half charge to take the lead 28-21 with under four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But, Tulane scored a touchdown on the following drive and boldly went for a two-point conversion. The decision paid off as the Green Wave converted the two points and held on to win.