In previous years I have referred to September as “Show Me Month” — not to be confused with “Moving Month” and “Closing Month.”
Well, after three weeks — and no, I’m not counting “week zero” as a separate entity because there was only one game played — we’ve seen mostly blowouts with a handful of surprises.
Navy has been a part of both thus far, while Virginia and Virginia Tech have yet to show us anything as both of their first two scheduled games were either postponed or canceled.
Maryland won’t be showing us anything until late October at the earliest. It’s a good thing we’ve got the SEC steamrolling into town next weekend.
Meanwhile, Austin Peay State University closes its fall season at 0-3; the FCS school’s conference (Ohio Valley) had voted to postpone the league season until the spring, but that didn’t stop the Governors from playing payout games with Cincinnati and Pitt.
With multiple schools forced to cancel or postpone games (Houston has lost matchups with Memphis and Baylor), one wonders if Austin Peay — pronounced “pea” like the legume — will squeeze out a few more checks and merit a pronunciation change to “Austin Pay.”
Navy (1-1) played two different games in its 27-24 triumph over Tulane.
At first, it looked as if the Midshipmen were suffering a hangover from their 52-point Labor Day loss to BYU.
The 24-point deficit could have been worse, but somehow they scraped their way back behind an offense that suddenly moved the chains.
The key to any comeback is getting stops, and the defense that was gashed for 79 points over three halves didn’t just hold the Green Wave scoreless the rest of the way, they limited Tulane to 16 yards on five possessions to begin the second half.
Midshipman Medals: Dalen Morris completed 6 of 11 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown while Jamale Crothers tallied 127 yards rushing. Nelson Smith scored a pair of touchdowns.
Tama Tuitele tallied 11 tackles while the defense got off of the field on 10 of 12 third downs. Cameron Kinley’s interception late in the second quarter prevented a 27 or 31 point halftime crater. Bijan Nichols drilled the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Midshipman Miscues: How bad was that first half? The Mids coughed up 291 yards while gaining just 59 yards on 25 plays from scrimmage over the first two quarters.
Next: Saturday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. on the road against Air Force. The Falcons are playing just two games this fall — against Navy and Army.
Perhaps Austin Peay can make the trek to Colorado Springs to give them a tuneup?
