Heavy cost of loss to Temple could haunt Mids on Saturday vs. Army
The Midshipmen got kicked right in their Cotton Bowl aspirations and — to make matters much, much worse — were divested of two of their best offensive players for the remainder of the season on the same first-half play.
So here is that irony: The loss of record-setting quarterback Will Worth and team co-captain Toneo Gulley was not the reason No. 19 Navy was overwhelmed by Temple, 34-10, in the American Athletic Conference title game. The Mids were well on their way to that ugly defeat already.
But the loss of those two starters for good and several other players to lesser injuries could very well cost them the most important game of this and every Navy football season. Next week, the Mids will play Army West Point at M&T Bank Stadium and the conditions could not be better for the Black Knights to end their 14-game losing streak in the legendary rivalry.
Army (6-5) will be healthy and unusually rested, since the Knights have not played since crushing Morgan State on Nov. 19. The Mids will be playing for the eighth consecutive week and have a lot to figure out.
“We have to find a way to bounce back,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said, “because as painful as it is right now, we obviously have Army next week and need to bounce back.”
“We were grateful to be in this game and we are not going to make any excuses about being in the championship game because we are grateful to be here,” he said. “We did not play well and you have to give them credit.”
The loss knocked Navy out of a possible New Year's Day bowl bid and pushed it back into the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec.?23 in Fort Worth, Texas, against an opponent that will be announced today.
It was a dramatic reversal of fortune for the Mids, who arrived at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday riding a huge wave of momentum that started with their victory over Notre Dame and included three straight conference victories in which they scored a total of 183 points.
How the Mids could manage only three points in the first half against an unranked Temple team is a testament to how completely their terrific season ground to a halt. The Owls ran past and threw over the Navy defense on the way to three straight touchdowns in the first 17 minutes. Worth and Gulley each suffered season-ending foot injuries on the Mids' second play of the second quarter. Navy would lose two more slotbacks and a wide receiver, though all three are expected to play next week.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Abey (Archbishop Spalding) finished the game and will be the starter against Army, becoming the third quarterback to start for Navy this season. Worth, who set the Navy single-season record for total offense (2,595 yards) before leaving Saturday's game, assumed the starting role when Tago Smith was severely injured early in the second quarter of the season opener.
Abey suddenly is carrying the weight of a Navy winning streak against Army that dates to 2002 and the opportunity for the seniors to sweep their portion of the historic series.
“It is going to be a big responsibility, and I will be up to it,” he said.
Offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper acknowledged that Saturday's loss was a huge setback, but said Abey and the Mids would be ready to execute the triple option effectively next week.
“He's up for next week in the biggest game of the year and we've got to get him ready to go,” Jasper said. “I'm not going to let it change the game plan. We've got to go out and play. We can't play tight. We can't play scared. We've got to go out and play. He's got enough reps in practice to where he knows what's going on, and we've got to go out there and just play. It's a big game, but at the same time we can't go out there and play tight.”
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