Rutgers Picks Apart Navy

No. 15 Scarlet Knights Intercept Kaheaku-Enhada Three Times, Pull Away to Win: Rutgers 41, Navy 24

PISCATAWAY, N.J., Sept. 7 -- Navy Coach Paul Johnson's formula for his team is twofold: Run the football and don't turn over the ball. On Friday night, the Midshipmen did the first part -- they rushed for 254 yards against No. 15 Rutgers.

Yet they were undone by three interceptions in a 41-24 loss before 43,514 at Rutgers Stadium.

Junior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada threw all three interceptions for the Midshipmen (1-1); it was the most interceptions in a game for a Navy quarterback since 1997.

Two were in the Rutgers end zone; the third was deep in Navy territory. The turnovers led to a combined 17 points for the Scarlet Knights.

"I got back there and made three poor decisions," Kaheaku-Enhada said.

The third interception came midway through the third quarter and may have been the most damaging. Rutgers led 24-14 when Navy junior Ketric Buffin intercepted a pass by junior Mike Teel and returned it to the Rutgers 34-yard line.

On first down, junior slotback Shun White gained 12 yards on a toss sweep.

Johnson called a timeout before the next play. In the huddle on the sideline, he told Kaheaku-Enhada not to throw the ball into coverage.

As Kaheaku-Enhada dropped back to pass, the wide receiver on the far sideline was double-covered. However, senior slotback Reggie Campbell was running stride for stride toward the end zone with Rutgers safety Courtney Greene, and it appeared for an instant he had a step on Greene.

By the time the ball was thrown, however, Greene had caught up, and he made a leaping interception, then landed in the end zone for a touchback.

"The interesting part is that if we put that in the end zone, it's a 24-21 game and maybe they panic a little," Johnson said.

Junior running back Ray Rice took advantage of the turnovers. He finished with 175 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns, including one on a two-yard run with 2 minutes 17 seconds to play. He entered with a combined 174 yards in two starts against the Midshipmen.

Teel completed 14 of 19 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns.

Rutgers opened practice on Aug. 2. By Aug. 5, it was working on Navy's option-based offense.

Yet in a halftime interview, Coach Greg Schiano said Navy was using formations he had not seen. The Midshipmen used flat motion for the slotbacks -- meaning the slotback went in motion in a straight line across the formation rather than in an arc behind the fullback. Navy has used that technique sparingly in recent games.

Essentially it forced a defender to follow the slotback and thus, instead of having eight or nine men close to the line of scrimmage, it left seven or eight.

The move gave junior fullback Eric Kettani and senior fullback Adam Ballard more room up the middle. Kettani had nine carries for a team-high 48 yards and Ballard finished with 12 carries for 42 yards.

The interceptions were one problem. The Midshipmen also had problems on defense. Team captain Jeff Deliz, a safety, began the game with tackles on four of the first eight plays. He left the game for good on the ninth play, a 12-yard touchdown pass from Teel to freshman Shamar Graves. Deliz was determined to have an ankle sprain, and by halftime he was on crutches.

Late in the first quarter, junior linebacker Clint Sovie was on crutches, too. He left the game with a right ankle injury. Freshman Wyatt Middleton replaced Deliz and finished with a game-high 13 tackles.

The Midshipmen trailed 17-7, but with a second and goal from the Rutgers 4, Kaheaku-Enhada dropped back to pass and, with no one open, he appeared to try to throw the ball out of the end zone. As he readied to throw, he was hit by sophomore linebacker Damaso Mu?oz; the hit caused his pass to land among three defenders in the end zone, and it was intercepted by senior Ron Girault with 3:42 left in the first half.

The Scarlet Knights converted that turnover into a 22-yard touchdown pass from Teel to Rice with 34 seconds left in the first half for a 24-7 lead.

It proved even more costly after Navy opened the second half with a 67-yard drive that culminated in a three-yard run by Kaheaku-Enhada to make the score 24-14.

It marked the 19th time in the past 26 games that Navy scored on its opening drive of the second half.

There is a lot of excitement about the Rutgers program. A billboard on the highway implored fans to apply to join the waiting list for season tickets; every home game this year is sold out, and the waiting list is 6,000 people (and counting).

Students formed a line for first-come, first-served seats about 2 1/2 hours before kickoff.