Navy football is in need of a bounce-back win and the schedule sets up such that there is seemingly a good chance to get one this Saturday.
Coming off a blowout loss to No. 8 Notre Dame, now unranked Navy (6-1) travels to Houston to take on a Rice program that is reeling after its head coach was fired on Sunday.
Coach Mike Bloomgren was dismissed in the wake of a 2-6 start despite evidence Rice was improving. After suffering three losses by an average of 23 points early in the season, the Owls had been much more competitive. Rice pulled off a surprising 29-27 upset of Texas-San Antonio, then was tied, 10-10, with Tulane before giving up two fourth quarter touchdowns.
The Green Wave are 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the American. The Owls’ other losses were also close, 21-20 to Charlotte and 17-10 to UConn.
“I want to express my sincere appreciation to Coach Bloomgren. He has represented our university and football program with the utmost class and integrity,” Rice Vice President and director of athletics Tommy McClelland said. “However, as I evaluated our program and compared our current and desired trajectory, I determined new leadership is needed to guide us into the future.”
Navy coach Brian Newberry had gotten to know Bloomgren the past two years while attending the annual American Athletic Conference football media event.
“I hate it for Mike, who is a really good football coach. This is a tough business and I hate it for Mike and his family,” Newberry said.
There have been many instances when the in-season firing of a head coach led to a turnaround and it is not uncommon for schools to win the ensuing game after such an event. This past weekend, East Carolina routed Temple, 56-34, in its first game under interim coach Blake Harrell.
Associate head coach Pete Alamar will lead Rice football on an interim basis and that leaves the Navy football staff wondering if there will be changes in schemes or personnel. Alamar was the special teams coordinator for the Owls.
“You don’t know what to expect, especially on the offensive side of the football, so it leaves some question marks for us,” Newberry said. “We expect to potentially see some different things on the offensive side of the football.”
Newberry definitely doesn’t expect Rice to do anything differently on defense since that side of the ball has been a strength so far this season. The Owls rank ninth nationally in pass defense (164.1 yards allowed) and 10th in tackles for loss with almost eight per game.
Sophomore linebacker Ty Morris (43 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 4 sacks) and senior cornerback Sean Fresch (40 tackles) are two of the top playmakers for the Rice defense.
“This is a good Rice football team. They’re as good defensively as any team in the league. They’re at the top of the conference in almost every defensive category,” Newberry said. “I’m really impressed by what I’ve seen defensively. I like what they’re doing schematically. They’re really aggressive and opportunistic.”
Rice’s offense is directed by a familiar face in quarterback E.J. Warner, who transferred from Temple. Last season, Warner picked apart the Navy pass defense completing 27 of 33 attempts for 402 yards and four touchdowns to lead Temple to a 32-18 victory.
So far this season, Warner has completed almost 61% of passes (160-for-263) for 1,573 yards and 10 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
“Obviously, we’re very familiar with E.J. We played against him twice when he was at Temple. He was excellent against last year and really diced us up,” Newberry said. “A really good passer and really smart quarterback who makes quick reads and gets the ball out quick. We’ve learned first-hand that he’s a really good football player.”
Warner did not play this past Saturday at UConn and was replaced by Drew Devillier, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound freshman from Plano, Texas. Devillier only completed 14 of 30 passes for 88 yards in the loss.
Newberry can’t worry about what’s going on within the Rice program in a week when he needs to regroup his own club in the wake of an embarrassing 51-14 loss to Notre Dame. The Midshipmen self-destructed by committing six turnovers.
Newberry said it wasn’t all bad and noted Navy moved the ball effectively whenever it wasn’t short-circuiting drives with unforced fumbles and other mistakes. The Midshipmen amassed 222 rushing yards, while quarterback Blake Horvath completed 7 of 13 passes for 88 yards.
“There were some bright spots and things we did really well. I think the big message is that when we do it the right way we can play with anybody in the country, and you saw that in spurts against Notre Dame,” Newberry said. “There are a lot of positives we can take away from that game.”
Horvath was involved with all four offensive turnovers and there were questions afterward whether a thumb injury was a factor. ABC sideline reporter Molly McGrath reported during the game that Horvath hurt the thumb during the Charlotte game and had the affected hand taped.
Horvath apparently took off the tape after dropping the ball while attempting a pass from his own goal line. Newberry downplayed the thumb injury and insisted it was not a factor Saturday.
“I think that’s just Molly McGrath trying to be a good sideline journalist down there and looking for anything. She asked me about that before the game,” Newberry said. “[Horvath] tweaked it the week before but nothing that affected him. His thumb’s fine.”
Asked whether he had any concerns about Horvath’s thumb injury going forward and Newberry said “none.”
Navy football received a bunch of praise from fans and media on the way to a 6-0 start and No. 24 national ranking. Now there are detractors and naysayers with one media outlet saying the Midshipmen’s hot start was the result of a weak schedule.
Meanwhile, Newberry continues to preach the 1-0 mantra he has all season and said the players no doubt have that mindset in the wake of a 37-point loss.
“I tell the players all the time that the same people who are singing your praises one week will be just the opposite the next. That’s why we talk about drowning out the noise,” Newberry said. “There’s a saying that when you win things get minimized and when you lose things get magnified. After a loss, I think the players will be more dialed in to the things we need to get better at doing. I really believe we’re a much better football team than the way we played Saturday.”
In the home locker room at MetLife Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Newberry spoke to the players and coaches alike about taking ownership of the loss and accountability for what went wrong. He talked about “pulling the thumb and not pointing the finger” and knows everyone will do exactly that.
“We don’t have those kind of guys in our program that would do that,” Newberry said of pointing fingers. “I think we have great leadership and that’s not just when things are going well. I’ve been here long enough and been around these guys long enough to know just how they’re going to respond. I have zero hesitation in saying these kids will respond in the right way. I think we’re going to grow from this and be better from having gone through it.”
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.
No. 24 Navy at Rice
Saturday, 4 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1430 AM
Line: Navy by 11