This Season, Mids Enter Bowl Game With a Solid Defense

It was a relatively straightforward question, but Jeff Deliz still had to stop and think for a second to come up with the answer: Who was the last person to score a touchdown against Navy's defense this season?

"Ummm, I don't remember," the safety said. "Who did we play before Northern Illinois? Notre Dame. It was the running back. I think. Yeah. The running back."

Deliz was right. Notre Dame halfback Robert Hughes scored on a seven-yard run with 3 minutes 29 seconds left in the third quarter of the Fighting Irish's 27-21 victory on Nov. 15. It was the last time a touchdown was scored against the Midshipmen. Hughes's teammate, Brandon Walker, kicked a 36-yard field goal with 11:17 remaining in the game. It was the last time any points were scored against the Midshipmen.

Navy's defense, which was so maligned at the beginning of the season, enters today's inaugural EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium with great confidence, having posted shutouts in its past two games (16-0 at Northern Illinois and 34-0 against Army). The Midshipmen (8-4) will face a Wake Forest team that they upset earlier this season, 24-17, thanks in part to a dominating defensive performance.

A year ago, Navy ranked 108th in division I-A in scoring defense, giving up 36.4 points per game. This season, the Midshipmen are giving up 21.4 points per game, a 15-point swing that makes them the most-improved unit in terms of scoring defense in the country. Navy has forced 29 turnovers (including 16 interceptions), nearly twice as many as it did last season (16 total).

Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo credited longtime defensive coordinator Buddy Green with the steady turnaround of the defense. Green, in turn, pointed to two things that have helped the Midshipmen this season: experience and continuity.

The Midshipmen have stayed relatively healthy, aside from losing left end Michael Walsh to a season-ending foot injury. They've been able to rely on the same core group of players. Last season, injuries decimated the defense, forcing young, inexperienced players into the lineup; 23 players started on defense over the course of the season.

"It was like musical chairs," Green said. "A lot of guys were playing. . . . We knew that some guys had to grow up. Unfortunately we took our lumps as they were growing up."

Navy's coaches and players point to their 23-21 victory over Rutgers on Sept. 20 as being one of the key moments of their season. At the time, the Midshipmen were 1-2, had given up a total of 76 points in back-to-back losses at Ball State and Duke, and were looking at a difficult four-game stretch (Rutgers, at Wake Forest, at Air Force, Pittsburgh).

Against Rutgers, the Midshipmen turned to their defense to win the game, as they needed to protect a slim two-point lead over the final two minutes. Linebacker Ross Pospisil sealed the victory with an interception. A week later at then-No. 16 and undefeated Wake Forest, Pospisil intercepted Wake Forest's third pass of the game, the first of six turnovers forced by Navy.

"At the end of the Rutgers game, I think as a defense we saw a glimpse of when we've all dialed it in and play together as a team, the kind of possibilities that could be there," Pospisil said. "But with a game like [Rutgers], it's just one game. Being able to string together another game right behind that, in a lot of guys' minds just brought confidence. . . . A lot of football is just believing. It's a total mentality. I think it did a lot for that."

The Midshipmen are hoping they can continue to improve, because so many key defenders will return next season. Just four seniors -- Deliz, linebacker Corey Johnson, and cornerbacks Ketric Buffin and Rashawn King -- are expected to start today on defense.

Left end Jabaree Tuani, who leads the team with nine tackles for loss, is a freshman. Right end Matt Nechak, the team leader with four sacks, and nose guard Nate Frazier, who has been unblockable at times, are juniors. Navy's trio of talented inside linebackers -- Pospisil (team-high 93 tackles), Tony Haberer and Clint Sovie -- are juniors who have combined to make 46 career starts. Free safety Wyatt Middleton, the team's best tackler, is a sophomore who has made 20 consecutive starts.

"We have a lot of guys coming back," Sovie said. "When you go on the sidelines and something bad happens -- maybe they have a long run or they score a touchdown and we're down -- you go back and sit on the bench and everybody has a positive attitude. There's no doubt at all. I think last year was such a young defense that you'd get some doubt, and at the beginning of the season, when we lost those first two games, we experienced a little bit of that. The most encouraging thing is we haven't had that since the Duke game. Hopefully we can carry that into next year."