Who’s ready for the pool to close?!
The college football season continues its rolling slow open (AAC/Conference USA/Sun Belt Weekend!) with plenty of thrills and chills (if you’re an SMU fan), plus routs and blowouts (Army can’t be THAT good, can they?).
We’re still one week away from the ACC and Big 12, while Virginia and Virginia Tech won’t suit up until the following Saturday. Meanwhile, our SEC friends are going through serious withdrawals (don’t worry, they’re back Sept. 26) and Big Ten/Pac-12 fans are looking ahead to a fall that won’t happen (as of this time).
It’s always a challenge to get an early take on the season, and that is made triple this fall. In this place this fall, we’ll try to make sense of the locals, recognizing that their number and schedule is somewhat limited. Here’s to 2020 vision …
Navy (0-1) does not do well on Labor Day: The Midshipmen last played on the first Monday of September in 2010, when they lost to Maryland in Baltimore. That day, they were held to a pair of touchdowns on seven trips inside the red zone. That 17-14 loss may have been heartbreaking, but it was much closer than the 55-3 loss to BYU, a game where head coach Ken Niumatalolo blamed himself for not preparing his team well enough. After the program’s worst defeat since 2001, the Midshipmen have 12 days to prepare for their AAC opener. We’ll see how they adjust and adapt.
Midshipman Medals: Diego Fagot led the defense with 13 tackles (five solo stops), while Evan Fochtman tallied a second-quarter interception that gave the offense the ball on the Cougars’ side of the field for the first time all evening. Bijan Nichols drilled a 48-yard field goal to prevent the first shutout at home since 2012.
Midshipman Miscues: The defense allowed touchdowns the first two times BYU had the ball and on six of the Cougars’ first eight possessions, coughing up 301 yards rushing and 580 total yards. The offense was held to 48 yards in the first half (failing to cross midfield even once) and finished 2-12 on third down. The usual flag-free Mids were whistled six times for penalties totaling 54 yards. The first (illegal shift) helped stall their first possession, while the second (personal foul) helped set up BYU’s first score.
Next: Saturday, Sept. 19 at noon on the road against Tulane.
