Insights from the Navy ND Game

[WrekDivr]

It’s tough to draw too many insights from the clown show the squids put on on the national stage yesterday. Their head coach said that the stage was too big for them (ouch!).

Nonetheless there were a few things that were interesting:

Army vs. ND
- the squids could score when they weren’t turning it over. Navy had 5 drives where they didn’t turn the ball over or end the half. They scored a TD on 2, missed a FG on another, and punted twice. Army will need to score on a higher percentage of drives to beat ND, but they can be scored on.
- the squids could move the ball, putting up 223 yards rushing and another 88 passing. While these numbers aren’t huge, they are in spite of the 6 turnovers.
- TOP was nearly even, even with all of the turnovers. Army has a chance to control the clock vs. ND
- ND had 7 drives and scored on 7 of them. The other 3 were 2 punts and a missed FG. One of their scores was a FG. In all, ND scored a TD on 6 of 10 drives. If Army can convert drives to TDs, this ratio can be a winning formula. Get a few more to go our way and Army has a real shot at the upset.
- Leonard is a running threat with 83 yards vs. the squids. Army has performed batter against running QBs this year and will need to do so again vs. ND.
- Perhaps ND will now overlook Army given their rout of the squids. I hope that Vegas makes Army multiple TD underdogs.

Army vs. Navy
- Squid success on offense relies on the big play, even vs. ND. Their 3 non-punt drives included (one each) a Horvath 47-yard TD run, a Horvath 60-yard run, and a 21-yard pass play. If Army can keep Navy from making these plays, their offense could struggle.
- The Squids can be run on. ND ran for 264 yards and averaged 6.6 yards per rush. If Army can duplicate this success, we will win.
- Horvath can be rattled. He accounted for most of their TOs with poor pitches, an INT, fumble, and a strip sack.

[kfan12]

Think Navy was pressing...had a heck of a time holding onto the ball. Made me wonder if the game ball was a brand-new ball or something. Two lessons really. 1) Don't commit unforced turnovers. 2) ND can be scored on with a good game plan.

Game likely would have gone to the wire if Navy hadn't dropped it on the ground.