What has been especially exasperating during Navy’s four-game slide is the regularity with which the Midshipmen have been able to accumulate points after initially stalling in the red zone, including during Saturday’s 21-20 loss to Rutgers.
“It’s a little bit of everything. Busted assignment. Sometimes the defense just makes a play,” said senior quarterback Kriss Proctor, who ran for a season-low 39 yards against the Scarlet Knights. “I think the offense, I wouldn’t say putting pressure on ourselves, but I think early in the season we weren’t worried about it. You just get into the end zone when you’re in the red zone. That’s the bottom line, and maybe now we’re just pressing too much.”
Such doubts began infiltrating Navy’s thought process when Rutgers kept Proctor from crossing the goal line during the Midshipmen’s initial foray into the red zone.
Shortly thereafter, though, safety Chris Ferguson’s interception return for a touchdown tied it at 7, and Navy took a 14-7 lead when Proctor ran for a 56-yard touchdown with four minutes to play until halftime. In the third quarter, Navy added a field goal for a 17-7 advantage before the Scarlet Knights came storming back.
One week earlier, in a 63-35 loss to Southern Mississippi, Navy advanced to the Golden Eagles’ 6-yard line on the opening possession of the game but failed to reach the end zone. Worse, place kicker Jon Teague’s 29-yard field goal attempt was blocked and returned 79 yards for a touchdown.
Navy had a chance to tie on its ensuing drive, which got to the 1, but three straight running plays resulted in no gain, and Southern Miss went 99 yards to make it 14-0. Navy trailed, 35-7, at halftime and drew no closer than 21 points the rest of the game in the team’s worst loss in nine years.
Yet the Midshipmen scored 28 points in the second half during which they amassed 354 yards of total offense, including 238 rushing.
“We’ve got to look at what we’re doing and re-evaluate it and look at ourselves,” offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper said. “Each person has to look at himself, but ultimately it’s my job. I’ve got to make sure we’re doing things down there where we can be successful. That’s my responsibility, so I have to make sure when we get down there, we’re not getting too fancy, and we’re doing what we can to get the ball into the end zone.”
Navy endured a similar funk last season, when over the first four games it ranked 118th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in red-zone efficiency. Then the Midshipmen scored touchdowns on 12 consecutive red-zone possessions and predictably, victories ensued.
Relief may be near on Saturday against East Carolina (2-4) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Last year, Navy scored 10 touchdowns in beating the Pirates, 76-35, to trigger a season-best four-game winning streak.
“There’s a lot of little things that hopefully we can rectify,” Coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “But I’m encouraged. I’m encouraged by who these guys are, the guys that we coach, encouraged by our coaches that we’ve got guys that have been here before, not been 2-4, but they know what it takes to win, and hopefully we pay those small little prices that add up to the big ones.”
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