Before Navy faced Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl, I felt the game would go one of two ways. You never know how a 6-6 team with Oklahoma's pedigree will treat a bowl game that doesn't meet their usual standard, so if the Sooners were disinterested, I thought it could be a Navy blowout. The Mids can be an annoying opponent for a team that didn't want to be there in the first place. However, if Brent Venables had his squad motivated to play, I thought it would be a grind that could go either way. Both teams would want to run the ball, but both teams also have solid run defenses. There wouldn't be any cheap yards.
I'll give my crystal ball partial credit. Navy took down Oklahoma, 21-20, stopping the Sooners on a two-point conversion attempt with six seconds remaining. The Mids were quickly in a 14-0 hole but fought back to take a 21-14 lead before holding on at the end. Both teams had opportunities in the passing game, but they both had difficulty capitalizing on them, with OU receivers dropping balls and Blake Horvath missing wide-open throws he usually hits with ease.
The offensive stats would make it seem like a typical football game— the two teams combined for 751 yards of offense, which is an average Saturday in most stadiums. Horvath ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns, while his counterpart, Michael Hawkins Jr., had 308 total yards and two touchdowns. However, those numbers belie the nip-and-tuck nature of most of the game.
Oklahoma was far from disinterested, playing with energy from the start. I think Venables kept his players' heads in the game by making it fun. Oklahoma's offense started out playing up-tempo on offense and opened up the playbook during the game. They took advantage of Hawkins' legs and ran two flea-flickers and a fake punt. The free-wheeling approach appeared to make it exciting for the players and also had the bonus effect of catching Navy off guard.
The Sooners took possession on the game's first drive and went 65 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead. Forty-six of those yards came on the ground. Navy's run defense is effective partly because it uses stunts and unconventional run fits to confuse the offensive line, but Oklahoma's unexpectedly fast tempo forced the Mids to keep things simple at first. Navy's defenders covered the gaps they lined up in front of. The Sooners took advantage of this with zone runs designed to cut to the backside of the line. The backside defender couldn't be too aggressive in crashing inside because he'd risk losing containment. That allowed the runner to cut inside of him. Oklahoma picked up two first downs this way.
Both of those plays came on second down, so on the next second down, Navy ran a stunt that brought Landon Robinson around to cover the C gap from a better angle. But this time, Oklahoma didn't cut back. The running back went right through the gap that Robinson left. I'm not sure of a linebacker or another DL was supposed to cover it, but whoever it was, he was blocked.
On their next drive, Oklahoma scored another touchdown on a crazy play, with Hawkins scrambling to the sideline, reversing direction back to midfield, and delivering a perfect ball to his receiver, who had come open in the chaos. After that, though, Navy's defense adjusted and took control. The Sooners didn't score on their next eight drives, which included two fourth-down stops, a fumble, and a three-and-out. After rushing for 76 yards in the first quarter, Oklahoma only had 82 the rest of the game.
The Sooners continued to call backside runs on second down, but the Mids were better prepared. The Mids ran a line stunt on the first play here that drew the playside tackle inside. Both the kick-out block and the TE in the slot blocked the inside linebacker, but that clogged the running lane enough to slow down the runner, who was met by an unblocked Luke Pirris. On the second play, Navy ran a squeeze and scrape, with the raider coming inside to absorb the kickout block and allow Colin Ramos to cover the C gap.
Once they adjusted to the pace, the Mids could use more late stemming in addition to the stunts.
Navy also started playing a lot more cover 0, trusting their defensive backs to stick with Oklahoma's receivers. While the secondary turned those receivers loose a couple of times, dropped balls kept them from paying the price. Here are back-to-back plays to show how committed the Mids were to playing man defense. On the first, the offense lined up with two tight ends. The safeties were in man against the TEs, but when they read run, they crashed inside, and Rayuan Lane made the tackle. Oklahoma completely changed their look on the next play, lining up with five receivers. But Navy stayed in man defense, and Kenny McShan beat the kickout block to stop the quarterback draw.
McShan's play was a good representation of the defense's performance as a whole. Navy wasn't in man coverage the whole afternoon, but they were for most of it. And when you're playing that much man defense, success becomes less about Xs and Os and more about individual effort. We saw examples all over the field. Here's more of McShan:
Here's an athletic play from Marcus Bleazard, bouncing back from getting cut to make the tackle.
Here's Luke Pirris running in from the numbers to make a tackle inside the hash marks.
Andrew Duhart beat the block attempt on this bubble screen:
But the cornerstone of Navy's defense was the defensive line. Throughout the game, the line kept blockers occupied and freed up the linebackers to make tackles. Take a look at these plays here. You'll see:
1. Landon Robinson proving "low man wins," keeping the offensive line off of Kyle Jacob, who makes a 4th-down stop.
2. Robinson getting double-teamed but holding his ground long enough for linebackers to get around the line for the tackle.
3. Griffen Willis doing the same thing.
4. A line stunt that leaves Jacob unblocked again, with him and Robinson combining on the tackle.
They also made plenty of plays on their own. Justin Reed's sack came early in the second quarter. With Navy playing so much man defense, Oklahoma showed a running look with two tight ends and called a sluggo route. But P.J. Volker switched up the coverage on the play, putting the defense in a cover 2. That caused Hawkins to hesitate, which gave Reed a chance to switch from stopping the run to pass rushing, where he beat the tight end.
But while individual effort was the key to Navy's success for most of the afternoon, a great play call clinched the game.
After Oklahoma scored a touchdown with six seconds left, Venables chose to go for the two-point conversion and the win. Oklahoma expected Navy to blitz everyone and have man coverage in the secondary. They ran a play with crossing routes from either side of the formation, counting on getting a rub on the defender covering the receiver coming over from the right. And sure enough, they did. However, Navy didn't rush seven. They used simulated pressure and only rushed four. Three of those rushers dropped into a zone, acting as spies in case Hawkins scrambled. Hawkins wanted to throw over the middle but couldn't since a linebacker was standing in his throwing lane. That caused him to hesitate, and he ran out of time. The offensive line slid their protection to the left, leaving only the running back to account for the two edge rushers on the right.
Although it wasn't technically a zone blitz since the Mids only rushed four, it had the same effect.
Offensively, it wasn't Navy's best performance, but we knew before the game that it was going to be a challenge. In the preview, we saw how the Oklahoma staff handled the option when they were at Clemson, and that's the same plan they used against Navy.
Here is the Mids' first play from scrimmage. Right away, you can see the same elements of the Clemson defense. The Sooners lined up in an odd front, but the line shifted toward the tight end side; the nose tackle wasn't in a 0 technique. One of the inside linebackers would shoot the gap opposite the side that the NT slanted. While the secondary lined up with two safeties, one of them would play run support while the other stayed deep.
When Navy lined up in a shotgun, Oklahoma shifted to an even front and ran the EZ stunt. Again, this is what Venables did against The Citadel. For some reason, Horvath had a tougher time handling this than he usually does.
On the first drive, the Mids were able to use some sleight of hand to get a long pass play to Nathan Kent. You'll notice on that first play how both the tight end and the wide receiver were lined up on the field side. The tight end's alignment is what determined which safety played run support. The safety on the TE side would play coverage, while the other would play the run. On that play, the tight end was covered, so he was ineligible. The field corner saw that and played run support.
Two plays later, the Mids put the TE on the boundary while the receiver remained on the field side. The field safety saw no TE on his side, so he played run support. The field corner did not notice the formation change, though, so he fired inside. That left Nathan Kent all alone.
With a better pass, that would have been a touchdown. Instead, it was a 32-yard gain—good but not good enough. Navy failed to score on that drive and had a hard time running the ball all afternoon.
Physically, Oklahoma's defensive line was as advertised. But the Mids' biggest problem wasn't the Sooners' physical ability; it was their discipline, particularly at linebacker.
When Navy could get linebackers moving the wrong way, they were fine:
The problem is that doing so was a lot easier said than done. Navy threw all kinds of motion and counters at the defense, but the linebackers rarely took a misstep.
The Mids also had trouble running the option. Here are two option plays. The first is a midline option where the unblocked lineman squats, keeping his shoulders square to the quarterback but positioning himself in the fullback's running lane. It looks like a give read, but the fullback has nowhere to go. The second play is a counter option, and the pitch read runs straight to the quarterback. Horvath starts the play with his back to his read, so when he turns around and sees the defensive end in his face, he has to cut upfield into the defense.
With the option not clicking and the linebackers not buying misdirection, Navy had to simplify things. One way they did so was with the inside zone. With the defensive line shading toward the tight end, the Mids ran the other way. When the safety and linebackers followed the play, the fullback had a chance to find a cutback lane if he could squeeze through.
Since the linebackers weren't fooled by misdirection, the Mids also ran a lot of power, either going off tackle to seal the ILBs inside or bringing extra blockers up the middle to account for them.
It had mixed results. Navy still had trouble moving the ball consistently, so they still needed to generate big plays. And boy, did they get one; Horvath's 95-yard touchdown run was the longest in school history. But it took a bit of setting up.
The run was a power read, and Navy ran the play once earlier in the game. Like the other option plays, Oklahoma did a good job making the quarterback's read difficult. The defensive end read the play as the quarterback was reading him, slowly cutting off the running lane. When Horvath kept the ball, he had nowhere to run. But the second time the Mids ran the play, Horvath slow-played the mesh. The defensive end read that as a give on the jet sweep and stepped back to play outside. This gave Horvath the room he needed, and when the safety bit on the sweep as well, there was nothing but open field the rest of the way.
That run tied the game at 14. After Oklahoma missed a 52-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, Navy drove 66 yards in 12 plays for what would be the game-winning touchdown. Navy started the drive by trying to get the ILBs to second-guess themselves. They ran a triple option, a reverse, and a fake swing pass with a screen the other way.
The Mids also connected on two big passes on the drive. Oklahoma had been playing cover 3 for most of the second half, so on third and 7, Navy ran a route to find a soft spot in the zone.
Then on fourth and 3, Horvath found Eli Heidenreich on a corner route. The Mids had run a similar play earlier in the game. At the time, Oklahoma was playing man defense with one deep safety, so Heidenreich's job was to beat the safety coming from the middle. The Mids ran shorter routes underneath to keep DBs from drifting back. Heidenreich was open, but the throw was off. The second time, Oklahoma was in a cover 3. This time, the wide receiver ran a go route to keep the cornerback deep and allow Heidenreich to catch the ball underneath him.
Horvath scored on the next play.
Oklahoma might have been depleted, but they were still a team full of SEC talent, and they came to play. This wasn't a game that would win a beauty pageant, but that doesn't detract from Navy's win. In the past, Navy's bread and butter was winning one-score games, but this year, all of their wins had come by multiple scores. Prevailing in a close, ugly contest with a defensive stand at the end is a testament to the growth of this team.
