Offense hits a speed bump

Following a wild first quarter, the Navy football offense punted on six of seven possessions to finish out the Charlotte game.

Navy’s offense committed four unforced turnovers, while other mistakes short-circuited drives during this past Saturday’s disappointing loss to Notre Dame.

After operating like a well-oiled machine for five games and one quarter, Navy’s new Wing-T offense has hit a speed bump. The Midshipmen have scored three touchdowns over their last seven quarters of football and first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic was asked this week if he’s concerned.

“I’m always concerned. We need to play better,” Cronic said. “We’ve got to get our mojo back a little bit I guess. You do that by going out and fundamentally executing. I expect us to bounce back and play well [this Saturday]. I have no reason to think that we won’t.”Navy’s offense, which was averaging 43.6 points and 465.4 yards going into the Charlotte game, will try to get back on track this Saturday in Houston.

It won’t be easy as host Rice fields a stingy defense that ranks high within the American Athletic Conference in most statistical categories.

Sophomore linebacker Ty Morris and senior cornerback Sean Fresch spearhead a unit that ranks 10th nationally in tackles for loss (7.9 per game) and 12th in sacks (3.1). The Owls stand ninth in the Football Bowl Subdivision in pass defense, allowing an average of only 164.1 yards.

“I haven’t seen anybody in the league that is playing better defense,” Cronic said of Rice. “They’re physical, they fly to the ball, they’re disciplined and smart.”

Cronic said almost every opponent has struggled to consistently move the ball against the Owls. Tulane, which ranks eighth nationally in scoring offense (40.5 points), was limited to 17 offensive points against Rice. The Green Wave was held to 306 total yards, 119 below their season average.

Morris leads Rice with 42 tackles, including 5 ½ for loss and three sacks. Fresch has 40 tackles and six pass breakups. Defensive end Charles Looes leads the Owls with 6 ½ tackles for loss, while linebacker Myron Morrison has six.

Defensive coordinator Brian Smith has created a unit that wreaks havoc in the backfield. For most of this season, Navy has used multiple formations, tons of pre-snap motion and sleight of hand to slow down opposing defenses and Cronic hopes that is the case this Saturday.

“They’re very multiple, do a lot of different things and disguise it well. We can count on them attacking us. That’s their nature and what has made them successful,” Cronic said. “When you’re aggressive it also leaves you vulnerable in certain areas. Hopefully, we can find a way to take advantage of that aggression.”

Charlotte defended Cronic’s hybrid Wing-T better than any opponent to date, limiting Navy to a season-low 288 total yards. Remarkably, 219 of those yards came on five straight possessions to start the game as the Mids capitalized on three straight turnovers by the 49ers to score 31 points.

Notre Dame held Navy to 310 total yards with half of that coming on two touchdown drives. Quarterback Blake Horvath broke loose for a 47-yard touchdown run to highlight an 80-yard scoring campaign. Snipe Eli Heidenreich scored from a yard out on a jet sweep to cap a methodical 12-play, 75-yard march.

Cronic pointed out that Navy moved the ball and picked up first downs on several of the drives that ended with turnovers.

“It would have been nice to have seen what would have happened if we had played a clean game. Because there were times when we did some really good things,” he said. “In the last game, we just could not get out of our own way for whatever reason. We hurt ourselves so much we didn’t give ourselves a chance to sustain drives. We need to get back on that train of not beating ourselves.”

Cronic was particularly encouraged to review the film and see the Navy offensive line get solid movement against a massive and very stout Notre Dame defensive front.

As far as Cronic is concerned, the last two games have done nothing to diminish the confidence of the Navy offense, which currently ranks ninth nationally in scoring (40.4 points) and No. 47 in total yards (417.9).

“I personally expect to score a lot of points every time we go out there. I think our players do, too. There’s enough on film to where, as a coach, I’m still very confident in our players. I hope they felt the same way after watching it,” Cronic said.

“I think there’s a lot of disappointed young men because they know we missed opportunities. They could see that on film. drives we had were long drives. We were able to churn it out.””

Horvath thinks the offense might have lost its competitive edge a bit after Navy raced out to a 38-0 lead early in the second period against Charlotte. Cronic chalks up the subpar performance versus Notre Dame to six total turnovers, two of which came as a result of muffed punts.

“You can’t turn it over six times and beat anybody. Hopefully, we got it all out of our system in one game,” he said.

Horvath said this week he’s not worried about the dropoff in production the past two games and believes Navy will resume piling up points and yards this Saturday afternoon.

“I’m not concerned because it’s all been on us. It wasn’t a big hit by Notre Dame that forced a fumble, it was a bad pitch, a dropped ball — all things we can control,” Horvath said. “When you look back at the shortcomings it’s been us not executing. There’s just little stuff we’ve got to get fixed.”

Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at [e-mail], 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.