Roughly halfway through the first quarter, junior inside linebacker Matt Brewer tracked down Delaware’s Mark Schenauer after the wide receiver caught a pass in the slot and was running for a first down, and potentially a lot more. Brewer adjusted his pursuit angle just enough that when he hit Schenauer, the ball came loose and wound up in the arms of senior outside linebacker Mason Graham.
The first forced fumble of Brewer’s career led to Graham’s first fumble recovery, which set up Navy at its 47-yard line. Nine plays later, slotback Aaron Santiago took a pitch around the left side into the end zone from 13 yards to give the Midshipmen a two-touchdown lead on the way to a 40-17 victory.
“We can get better at that position, but overall I think the guys played hard,” Green said. “Mason first time playing at that spot had a key fumble recovery, he had a couple key pressures coming off the edge in pass rush, and Brewer did a good job underneath in coverage and was very physical, made a lot of tackles.”
To be exact, he had a team-high seven, including one behind the line of scrimmage, to go along with a pair of forced fumbles. Making the first start of his career, Brewer jarred the ball free a second time with 8 minutes 47 seconds to play in the second quarter, but the Blue Hens recovered running back David Hayes’s fumble.
“We had a lot of guys just chomping at the bit to play,” said Brewer, whose only in-game exposure before Saturday was as part of special teams last season.
Graham, meantime, finished with three tackles and a pass breakup in addition to his fumble recovery. He, too, was making the first start of his career, but as the game progressed, it became clear Graham was settling in just fine, operating with the smarts and poise of a seasoned veteran.
“Mason played really well. Really, really well,” Niumatalolo said. “I mean he was just all over the field, played on edge, played scared. We have to have that fine line of being confident but play a little bit on edge, and I thought he played well.”
No doubt there were lapses among all the linebackers, although most came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was all but sealed. The Blue Hens amassed 101 of their 363 total yards in the last period, which featured a 78-yard drive over 12 plays for a cosmetic touchdown.
Still, entering the fourth quarter, Navy had limited one of the highest-scoring offenses in the Football Championship Subdivision last season to 83 yards passing thanks in large part to a robust outing from the linebackers. Blue Hens starting quarterback Trevor Sasek was never able to remain comfortable in the pocket other than in spurts, before leaving the game with a sore knee.
“Yeah, we did some positive things,” outside linebackers coach Tony Grantham said. “Obviously there’s going to be some things to work on, but for a first start, it was a good experience for us. Obviously winning the game is the number one goal. We were able to affect the quarterback in some of the pass rush stuff we do and also in some of our coverage responsibilities rerouting receivers and that type of thing.”
Late in the third quarter, with Sasek on the bench, Graham was in coverage on third and goal from the 8, and backup quarterback Tim Donnelly’s pass fell incomplete, forcing Delaware to settle for three — and a 16-point deficit.
“The biggest thing for me was I wanted to make sure that I did my assignment right and just my job, my responsibility,” Graham said. “I wanted to do it right every single time, every single snap. ”
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