Navy routed by service academy rival Air Force, 40-7, on the road to drop to 1-2

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — All preconceived ideas were upended Saturday as Navy visited Air Force for the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series and got blown out, 40-7.

Navy’s offense was supposed to be resurgent following its impressive performance in the second half against Tulane. It was believed the Midshipmen suddenly had a dangerous passing attack with a talented thrower in Dalen Morris and an impressive array of weapons in the wide receiver corps.

Air Force figured to be severely weakened on defense due to the loss of all five returning starters, who elected to accept administrative turnbacks granted due to the coronavirus. The Falcons were without several other defenders and the depth chart was loaded with inexperienced sophomores and freshmen.

Those factors were a big reason why the Midshipmen were favored by a touchdown even though they had not won at Falcon Stadium since 2012.

Then the expected narrative completely fell apart.

It was revealed about an hour before kickoff that Morris did not make the road trip due to an undisclosed medical condition. Junior Tyger Goslin made his first career start and struggled mightily.

That was not surprising considering Goslin had made just one career varsity appearance, having seen mop-up duty toward the end of a blowout of Holy Cross last season. Goslin only recently became eligible after being suspended by the NCAA due to an unspecified rules violation.

Another surprise? Air Force listed junior Brice Honaker as the starting place-kicker on its depth chart this week. Tevye Schuettpelz-Rohl wound up beating out his classmate and had himself a day.

Schuettpelz-Rohl went 4 for 4 on field-goal attempts and that alone would have been more than enough to lift Air Force past listless Navy in front of 4,000-plus cadets at Falcon Stadium. It was a dismal performance by the Midshipmen, who will not defend their Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy championship.

Navy can only hope to retain the trophy, which would happen if Army beats Air Force then subsequently loses to its archrival.

Fullback Timothy Jackson was the workhorse of a rushing game that amassed 410 yards and steadily wore down the Mids. Jackson powered his way up the middle for 118 yards on 19 carries. Backup fullback Brad Roberts ran for 103 yards behind a powerful offensive line that dominated at the point of attack.

Sophomore Haaziq Daniels earned the starting quarterback job and was impressive in his varsity debut, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder completed three straight passes to set up one of the field goals late in the first half.

While the Air Force offense moved the ball effectively, it could not finish as the Navy defense repeatedly stiffened in the red zone and forced field goals. Thanks to the defense, it was still a two-score game late in the third quarter.

However, the Navy offense was forced to punt for the fifth time and a depleted defense that was on the field the whole game finally wilted in the fourth quarter. Roberts found huge holes up the middle for back-to-back runs of 24 and 29 yards as the Falcons drove 74 yards in seven plays for a touchdown that sealed the win.

Daniels gained 12 yards to set up a 2-yard touchdown dive by fullback Matthew Murla to make it 26-7 with 12:08 remaining in the game.

Navy did not manage a single sustained drive. The Midshipmen moved into the home team’s territory on their opening possession thanks mostly to a 33-yard pass to wide receiver Ryan Mitchell. That drive ended with an errant pass by Goslin on fourth down.

Navy’s lone touchdown came off a 73-yard pass from Goslin to slotback Myles Fells. Five possessions ended with a punt while two resulted in a turnover on downs. The Midshipmen finished with a mere 236 yards and 10 first downs — much of that coming at garbage time late in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps most disappointing was the inability to establish any semblance of a ground game. Air Force completely took away the perimeter element of the triple-option and fullback Jamale Carothers was repeatedly stuffed on the dive as the Mids were limited to 90 rushing yards.

Navy was forced to throw the ball and did not do so effectively. Goslin completed 6 of 15 passes for 137 yards, but most of that came on the touchdown completion to Fells.

Carothers finished with 21 yards on 8 carries, while Goslin was sacked three times and ended with minus-7 yards. Nelson Smith led the Mids with 25 rushing yards with all of that coming on their final two possessions after the game had long since been decided.

Trailing 33-7 midway through the fourth quarter, Navy inserted sophomore Maasai Maynor at quarterback and he promptly directed a promising drive into Air Force territory. That ended badly with Maynor being intercepted by safety Corvan Taylor, whose 62-yard return set up the Falcons for their third touchdown of the fourth quarter.

Air Force struck first with Schuettpelz-Rohl booming a career-best 48-yard field goal on the home team’s opening possession. Daniels took an option keeper 21 yards deep into Navy territory to set up the score.

After managing just 54 total yards and one first down on three drives in the first quarter, Navy finally got on the board early in the second stanza. The Midshipmen lined up both slots on the same side of the formation and that confused the defense, enabling Myles Fells to get wide-open down the middle on a seam route.

Goslin hit Fells in stride and he did the rest, racing untouched into the end zone to complete a 73-yard scoring strike that put the visitors ahead, 10-7. It didn’t last long as Air Force quickly responded, driving 75 yards for a touchdown to retake the lead.

Daniels broke loose for a 32-yard run down the right sideline to bring the ball deep into Navy territory. Jackson appeared to score on a tough 18-yard run up the middle, but replay review ruled he was down at the 1-yard line. Daniels dove over on the next play for the score.

Disaster struck on Navy’s next possession as Goslin tripped while running toward the perimeter on an option play and fumbled while falling to the turf. Linebacker Parker Noren recovered at the Navy 30-yard line and Air Force was back in business.

The Midshipmen defense rose to the occasion and forced the Falcons to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Schuettpelz-Rohl that increased the lead to 13-7 with 6:46 remaining in the first half.

Navy went three-and-out for the third time in the game and that gave Air Force an opportunity to tack on more points before halftime. Daniels took to the air to move the ball into enemy territory, completing three straight passes totaling 34 yards.

Faced with fourth-and-2 from the 15-yard line, the Falcons sent out the field goal unit and Schuettpelz-Rohl converted again — this time from 32 yards — sending the home team into the locker room with a 16-7 advantage.

Navy was limited to 144 total yards and just three first downs in the first half. The Midshipmen only had 25 rushing yards on 14 attempts.

Air Force got possession to start the second half and quickly added to its lead. Jackson got things going with back-to-back runs of 19 and 12 yards, while the drive was helped along by a 15-yard personal foul penalty against Navy safety Kevin Brennan.

Replay review determined that Brennan was guilty of targeting and he was disqualified from the game. He was one of many Navy defenders forced to leave the game. Standout inside linebacker Diego Fagot, starting safety Evan Fochtman and backup safety Mitch West all suffered injuries.

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