Mids Take the High Way

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 10 -- For a second, Navy's players did not react after the fourth-down pass from Pittsburgh quarterback Pat Bostick fell incomplete in the second overtime. Yet when no penalty flags were thrown, it became apparent that Navy's 48-45 victory, which featured more than 900 yards of offense, had been clinched on a play by junior cornerback Rashawn King.

The Midshipmen (4-2) appeared in trouble after Pittsburgh (2-4) had a first and goal at the 2-yard line in the second overtime.

But the ball was still at the 2 on fourth down. The Panthers called a timeout before the crucial play. On the Navy sideline, Coach Paul Johnson told the team to expect a running play, likely to freshman LeSean McCoy (165 yards rushing, three touchdowns).

As the Panthers broke their huddle and headed to the line of scrimmage, McCoy clapped his hands eagerly in the backfield.

Yet the play was a fade pattern in the to senior tight end Darrell Strong. Strong is 6 feet 5, 265 pounds -- five inches taller and 75 pounds heavier than King.

King had the play defended well and knocked the ball away, though the pass was overthrown and very close to being out of bounds. A few of the Navy players looked to the officials to make sure a penalty had not been called. When no flag was thrown, the players began celebrating.

"They went at me earlier, and I kind of expected the fade," King said.

It was one of the few times that the offenses for either team misfired. The longest the game went without a score was a 5-minute 58-second stretch in the first quarter.

Navy's first seven possessions went as follows: Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, missed field goal, punt, touchdown, touchdown.

Yet it was a measure of how the game was going that, to that point, the Midshipmen only led by four.

"It was a crazy game," Johnson said. "The way the game was going we had to match them score for score."

Navy did. Panthers Coach Dave Wannstedt had spent 11 years as an NFL head coach and is known largely for his defensive pedigree. His team reflected that -- the Panthers entered the night ranked No. 10 in the nation in total defense.