Coach Brian Newberry could not hide a slight sense of frustration at the start of his post-game news conference following Navy’s 21-13 victory over Rice.
Newberry was thrilled to get another win and obviously happy to see Navy improve its record to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the American Conference. However, he could not ignore numerous flaws in the performance and the fact the Midshipmen still have not played up to their full potential.
Newberry reiterated a statement he has made after almost every game this season about meeting the standard expected of the Navy football program. He has been admittedly disappointed the Midshipmen have fallen short of that standard in all four games to date.
“It’s not just about winning, it’s how we win,” he said Saturday. “Are we playing up to our standard? Are we a disciplined football team? Do we have 11 guys on the field doing their job at the same time? I don’t think we did all that as well as I would like tonight. We can be so much better.”
Against Alabama-Birmingham, it was the slow start on defense that had the coaching staff concerned. In a road win at Tulsa, it was the nightmare start of the offense, committing turnovers on three straight possessions to start the game.
This past Saturday, a rash of penalties and an inability for the offense to finish multiple drives into enemy territory upset Newberry. The Midshipmen committed 10 penalties totaling 85 yards, which the third-year head coach deemed “unacceptable.”
“I’m proud of our players and I’m happy about where we’re at, but we’re still a work in progress,” Newberry said after Saturday’s game. “We talked on Friday night about things starting to click. It’s got to be like a symphony and it’s not there yet. Our ceiling is really, really high and I don’t think we’re anywhere close to it yet.”
There is no better time for Navy football to put it all together than this Saturday against service academy rival Air Force. The Midshipmen are in possession of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and winning this game is imperative to keeping it.
In fact, Newberry would love to see a repeat of the performance the Midshipmen put forth last season against the Falcons. Navy rolled up 463 yards of offense and limited Air Force to 273 in a 34-7 victory.
Players and coaches talk about putting together a complete effort, about playing sound football for all 60 minutes of a game. Of course, that is never easy to do and there are always going to be some mistakes or issues to address. However, how Navy played against Air Force last season is as close to a complete effort as the coaching staff can ask.
Newberry was asked during his Monday news conference if five games into the season it was reasonable to expect the “symphony” he referenced.
“I think it’s critical. This is the time of the year when you hope that everything starts to click, starts to come together. That doesn’t mean you play perfect,” Newberry said. “It’s always about the standard and our guys know exactly what that is. I want our guys to have that piece of mind that they’ve played to our standard from a fixation to detail standpoint and an effort, attitude and toughness standpoint.”
Newberry has been particularly disappointed with the number of penalties the Mids have been committing. Navy normally ranks among the national leaders in fewest penalties and fewest penalty yards. That is certainly not the case so far this season.
Presently, the Mids rank 104th out of 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in penalty yards per game (64) and 78th in penalties (6.5). Against Rice, Navy committed seven offensive penalties — four false starts and three holds.
“If we’re the disciplined football team we say we are, those things don’t happen. The pre-snap penalties and late hits — we have to eliminate those entirely,” Newberry said.
Newberry noted that Navy had 45 missed leverage opportunities on offense against Rice. That means players did not properly execute blocks due to either being out of position, not taking a good angle or simply poor technique.
In summary, Newberry said the goal this Saturday against Air Force is to have “less missed assignments, less losses of leverage, less missed tackles, less penalties.”
Newberry made it clear there are numerous traits he loves about this Navy football team and emphasized that effort has never been a problem. He has seen improvement in various areas from week to week and has been impressed by the intangibles the Mids have displayed.
“I think it’s a very resilient team. I think it’s a team that plays extremely hard and a team that believes in themselves and what we’re doing. I like the personality of this team and the consistency of this team,” he said. “I think they also understand how much better we can be and that’s evident by the way they come to practice and work on a consistent basis.”
I believe this will be the game that Navy puts it all together and plays the symphony Newberry wants to hear. Most oddsmakers seem to agree as the Midshipmen are favored by as much as 11 ½ points.
Navy’s offense has been rolling all season, averaging 38-3 points and 483.8 yards per game. Last Saturday marked the first time the Midshipmen faltered a bit on that side of the ball but they could have easily scored 35 points or more.
Air Force has struggled mightily on defense so far this season, giving up an average of 38.8 points and 466.5 yards to rank at the bottom of FBS in both categories. I don’t see that trend changing in this game.
In my mind, it will come down to the Navy defense being able to stop an Air Force attack that is just as prolific and explosive. Sophomore quarterback Liam Szarka has taken charge of a revamped offense that features numerous new elements.
The Falcons have been extremely balanced through four games, putting up 254.3 rushing yards and 215.5 passing yards per game. Nose guard Landon Robinson and inside linebacker MarcAnthony Parker must spearhead a defense that prioritizes stopping the run, while at the same time always being prepared for the play-action pass.
Navy defenders did a superb job of being assignment sound due to having their eyes in the right place against the Rice version of option football. Air Force does an outstanding job of running a wide variety of plays out of similar formations and personnel groups. Szarka and the Falcons have hit a bunch of big plays in the passing game with receivers routinely running wide open due to defenders incorrectly reading run.
Navy has a talented but inexperienced secondary with four first-year starters, and it will be critical for that unit in particular to maintain eye discipline and not get caught of position by biting on play-action.
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath said this is the point in the season when Navy should start playing a high quality brand of football.
“There are some games you win and have a sour taste in your mouth because you didn’t execute your best. There are other games you lose when you feel like you did the best you could,” Horvath said. “There is still an expectation here that we know we can do better. By the middle of the season you want to be in top form; There is definitely a desire to put it all together and eliminate those little mistakes that have cost us the last two games.”
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.
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