Everyone who didn’t think, “Here we go again,” when Navy took their opening possession of the game and marched it right down on Pitt for a quick score, was either a delusional optimist or really, really drunk. At that first score, I literally live-paused the game on the DVR, and stalked outside to curse for a few minutes before coming back in to watch with my now very confused daughter.
That 63-yard opening drive took less than 3 minutes and suddenly all those concerns from the coaching staff regarding how Navy would kill the clock on long drives, from earlier in the week seemed to be the most ridiculous thing. Whether it was just an opening drive slow response from being off. Or pride kicking in. The coaches getting in the players faces. That drive would constitute 1/4 of the total yards Navy would produce the rest of the game. The other 24+ minutes Navy had the ball, they could only get 188 yards. It was their lowest output in yardage in 2 years.
Navy was held to 251 total yards and 12 first downs, its fewest since an Oct. 14, 2006 loss to Rutgers. Nose tackle Rashaad Duncan (seven tackles) led the way as the Panthers dominated the line of scrimmage and middle linebacker Scott McKillop was very disruptive as the Midshipmen were limited to a season-low 194 yards rushing.
“We had some trouble doing some things out there. We couldn’t sustain anything,” Bryant said. “We were so close on so many plays of busting a long gain.”
McKillop was largely responsible for bottling up fullback Eric Kettani, who managed a mere 13 yards on eight carries. Kettani had absolutely no running room and was often tackled as soon as he took the handoff.
“We couldn’t get anyone to the middle linebacker. He was all over the place. We couldn’t get the fullback going. In our offense, if you can’t get the fullback going it’s hard to get the pitch going,” said White, who managed just 30 yards on nine carries other than the 40-yard run.
McKillop was singled out by the Navy defense as the biggest disrupter to their game.
“You have to give them credit,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Their two stars played well. We had a hard time blocking [linebacker Scott] McKillop and we had a hard time tackling McCoy.”
2006 was also the last time they lost a game that badly.
Nose tackle Rashaad Duncan (seven tackles) was a force up front as the Panthers held the Mids to a season-low 194 yards rushing, their lowest total in two years. It was a 360 degree turnaround from a year ago when Navy rolled up 331 yards rushing at Heinz Field.
“I thought our defensive coaches had a real good, sound scheme. We really did a lot of research on what they did and we felt like we had to stop the fullback, which we did,” Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “I thought we kept it simple. Things weren’t as complicated as they were a year ago and we let some guys make plays and used the athletic ability that we have.”
Cornerback Jovani Chappel and end Jabaal Sheard (six tackles apiece) also had good games as Pittsburgh held Navy fullback Eric Kettani to 13 yards on eight carries.
This was a game where the speed on defense really showed up. Sheard and Romeus were coming off the edges all game long. Greg Williams at linebacker really stayed in position to contain, and with his speed could keep the option runner from turning the corner. According to Coach Wannstedt, it was a K.I.S.S approach by the coaches.
“I thought our defensive coaches had a real good, sound scheme,” Wannstedt said. “We did a lot of research on what they did and we felt like we had to stop the fullback, and we did.
“We kept it simple. Things weren’t as complicated as they were a year ago, and we let some guys make plays and just used the athletic ability we have.”
Navy — their coaches and players — knew what had happened, and owned up to it.
There wasn’t much for Navy’s players to say following their 42-21 loss to No. 23 Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon. When cornerback Rashawn King was asked about Pittsburgh’s dynamic tailback LeSean McCoy, he simply said, “He’s fast.” When quarterback Jarod Bryant was asked for his thoughts on the game, he responded, “They’re a good team, and they just put it on us.”
Their head coach took the brunt of the blame.
“We just got our butts whipped in all facets,” Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “I did a bad job of getting our team ready. (Pitt’s staff) did a great job of getting their players ready. Both teams had byes. We had a week to prepare, they had a week to prepare. They played better than we did and that starts with me.”
Always have to give credit to a coach that takes the blame and not on the players or the fact that their star otpion QB was out for the game.
