It’s official. Navy’s offense is in a slump.
It would be unfair to expect the Midshipmen to maintain the pace they set through five games, when they were averaging 43.6 points and 465.4 total yards per game. Quarterback Blake Horvath and company were going to come back to earth a bit.
However, the various impressive schemes of the Wing-T offense and the superb play-calling of first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic made Navy fans confident that any drop in production would be minimal.
By far the biggest reason for optimism was the consistently high level of play by the offensive line, which had been blowing opponents off the ball and creating plenty of openings. That unit was also getting the job done in pass protection, giving Horvath ample time to throw.
So it’s been surprising to see the Navy offense struggle to a degree over the past three games, averaging a pedestrian 286 yards against Charlotte, Notre Dame and Rice. That is 179 yards fewer than its opening five games.
The Midshipmen have only managed 24 points over the past two games, which is rather shocking considering the way they lit up the scoreboard on the way to starting 6-0.
Once unbeaten and ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, Navy suddenly finds itself mired in a two-game losing streak and Cronic has to figure out how to jump-start his “millennial” version of the Wing-T.
Navy punted on six of seven possessions over the final three quarters of its 51-17 rout of Charlotte. The Mids totaled a mere 84 yards on those seven possessions. That performance could be chalked up to the offense losing interest or its edge after building a commanding 38-0 lead early in the second period. It really didn’t matter what the offense did because the Mids didn’t need any more points.
Horvath basically admitted as much afterward when he said the Mids took their foot off the gas.
Navy was limited to 310 total yards in a 51-14 loss to Notre Dame. That lack of production could be blamed on the Midshipmen committing four offensive turnovers.
Cronic said last week the Mids did some good things and moved the ball well at times when they weren’t shooting themselves in the foot. He wondered aloud what the Navy offense might have done absent the turnovers.
There are no excuses for what happened during Saturday night’s disappointing 24-10 loss to Rice. Navy’s offense was bad and did not do nearly enough to give the team a chance to win. The Midshipmen seemed out of sync from start to finish and were held to season lows for points and total yards (260).
Actually, if you are looking for excuses there are some. Saturday’s game was delayed by a total of five hours and six minutes due to severe thunderstorms in the Houston area. By the time the game got underway for good, the artificial surface at Rice Stadium was soggier than a soaking wet sponge. Neither factor seemed to bother Rice.
Navy put together two lengthy drives — an eight-play, 75-yarder that produced the lone touchdown and an 18-play, 71-yarder that resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Nathan Kirkwood. The Mids moved also 50 yards in six plays, but that foray into enemy territory ended with a turnover on downs after Heidenreich slipped while trying to cut upfield on fourth-and-2.
Give the Rice defense a lot of credit for having a sound game plan and executing at a high level. The Owls have been solid defensively all season and rank highly in most statistical categories within the American Athletic Conference.
For the most part, the Owls had their eyes in the right place and therefore did not give up many explosive plays.
I’ll need to review the tape to be certain, but it appeared while watching the game live that the Rice defensive front controlled the point of attack more often than not. Navy only averaged 3.5 yards per rushing attempt, which would seem to support that assertion.
Making matters worse, the Midshipmen could not get much going in the passing game as Horvath completed just 10 of 21 attempts for 120 yards and was intercepted twice.
Through five games, Navy’s hybrid Wing-T was responsible for a slew of explosive plays. There have not been nearly as many over the last three games.
Cronic said several weeks ago, back when the offense was riding high and at the top of the national rankings, that Navy was benefiting from a high percentage of play calls working and defenses making mistakes that led to huge holes in the run game and wide-open receivers in the pass game.
“It’s been a little bit of a perfect storm because we’ve had a lot of things go right and that just builds the confidence. There’s been a lot of positives happening to where they feel like they can compete,” said Cronic, who warned that it wouldn’t always be smooth sailing for the Mids.
That adversity has hit and it will be interesting to see how Navy responds. As Cronic mentioned, the offense had been playing with tremendous confidence and swagger and you hope a couple subpar performances don’t impact that mindset.
Cronic noted last week that opponents now have plenty of film of the Navy offense, which wasn’t the case earlier in the season. The system Cronic has implemented here in Annapolis is not the same as what he employed at Mercer and other previous stops.
This version of the Wing-T incorporates numerous triple-option elements, which Cronic did not do much at the other schools he has coached.
Because opponents are now more familiar with the offense, Cronic said it’s imperative to change things up and add some wrinkles to keep defenses off-balance.
Navy will need the offense to rediscover its mojo this Saturday when it travels to Tampa to take on South Florida.
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.
Navy at South Florida
Saturday, noon
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1430 AM