The biggest questions about Navy coming into 2024 were all about the new offense. What would it look like? Could the Mids execute it? Would it be viable over the long term? We’ll undoubtedly see new wrinkles introduced throughout the season, but I think most of those questions have been answered.

However, there were still some open questions about the team entering the UAB game. How would they play on their first road trip? How would they prepare during six-week exams? After beating Memphis and with Air Force on the horizon, would Navy fall victim to a trap game? How would they perform now that they’re getting national media attention?

Pretty well, as it turns out. Navy only had eight possessions, but they scored on seven of them in a 41-18 win over the Blazers.

One of the things Coach Newberry said he wanted to see from the offense was more extended drives. While the Mids have generated several long touchdowns, they haven’t put together any quarter-eating possessions of 10+ plays that Navy was once known for. It seems counterintuitive; why would you want to take 12 plays to score when you can do it in one? It’s good to take advantage of the opportunities you’re given, but that’s the point: you must be given those opportunities. Big plays happen when the defense makes a mistake. If you’re facing a well-coached defense that doesn’t make mistakes, you’ll have to drive the field a few yards at a time. Doing so requires executing at a high level because any mistake can kill the drive.

That was the test the Mids faced on Saturday. Memphis was very aggressive with their backside defenders, which left them vulnerable to misdirection. UAB was not, and they also appeared well-versed in some of Navy’s tendencies.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. First, we have a jet sweep. The wide receiver comes inside to block any inside-out pursuit. In most defenses, the cornerback would follow the receiver inside to cover him if it’s a pass. Here, UAB’s cornerback doesn’t follow. He reads the play and assists on the tackle.

Here’s a play with all sorts of eye candy. It’s an option play that simulates the power read, but with the quarterback following pulling linemen to the other side of the formation. In this case, the “backside” linebacker doesn’t follow the sweep and instead steps up to play his gap. Blake Horvath had nowhere to run.

You’ll notice how this was the norm as you watch the clips. The linebackers were the most disciplined Navy has faced this year.

UAB’s defensive game plan was pretty simple. They wanted their aggression to come from their alignment, not their players. Depending on the play, the Blazers lined up in either a 5-3 or a 4-3. The deepest linebacker was often within five yards of the line of scrimmage. The safeties, regardless of whether there were one or two on the play, were usually lined up around nine yards from the ball.

With so many players lined up in the tackle box, one of the first things Navy did was get the ball to the perimeter as quickly as possible. They threw the ball outside, ran tosses and jet sweeps, and ran a double option using the defensive end as the pitch key.

They also ran the triple option. A backside defender would make the stop, but it was usually 6-7 yards downfield. And if that defender got caught up in traffic, it was an even bigger gain.

One thing you’ll notice on those triple option plays is that the dive key always took the fullback. That helped set up Alex Tecza’s touchdown run, which was just an off-tackle fullback run to the tight end side. The defensive end playing the fullback dive made him easy to pin inside. The tight end and slotback could double one inside linebacker, while the other was stuck behind them. The outside linebacker was left unblocked since he would read it as an option and play either the QB or the pitch.

Interestingly, when Navy shifted from under center to shotgun, UAB’s defense spread out more. The Mids then ran up the middle, such as on this play with the fullback on a zone dive.

These were solid gains, but other than Horvath’s touchdown, none of them would be considered explosive. UAB forced Navy to be methodical, which is why the Mids’ first two drives took a combined 21 plays and 11:19.

UAB was only fooled twice, but those two plays were catastrophic. The first was on Nathan Kent’s touchdown. The Mids lined up in a trips formation, with two receivers stacked wide. They had run the triple option out of this formation on the previous drive, and they used play action off of a triple option look here. Horvath mentioned after the game that UAB liked to play cover 1, which is what they were doing here. When the safety bit the cheese, Horvath knew that Kent would be open over the middle with his sprinter’s speed in single coverage. His faith was rewarded:

The second UAB mistake, if you can even call it that, was on Eli Heidenreich’s long touchdown reception. Twitter lit up with the highlight of Ben Purvis steamrolling some poor defender trying to come back to make a play, but that wasn’t the only vital block to spring Heidenreich. Just as important was right guard Cam Nichols hustling to get in front of the inside linebacker. It didn’t look pretty; running full speed then turning around for a block is a good way to end up on the ground. But that was all Nichols had to do. The play was set up by the perimeter passes in the first half. Horvath’s fake drew the linebacker away just enough for Nichols to get in front of him. Heidenreich took care of the rest.

Actually, Kent coming all the way across the field to get in front of a defender was a pretty great play, too.

In the second half, UAB’s defense adjusted to get more aggressive. When the Mids ran the triple, the inside linebacker would scrape.

They also lined up in a 4-4, with one safety playing as an outside linebacker. When Navy sent a player into motion, the deep safety would follow the motion, while the safety at linebacker level dropped back to play coverage or trail the running play.

Navy responded by running more plays to the backside, trying to get the safeties rotating the wrong way.

They ran a quarterback counter opposite the slotback’s motion.

They also had Horvath roll out, then throw back the other way opposite the safeties’ rotation.

The linebackers were more aggressive, so the Mids also ran the power read. Horvath could cut behind the linebackers as they followed the sweep.

Navy continued to run triple option, but they started running it out of the shotgun. In this case, it was a zone option play, with the option run to the backside. Because it’s a zone play, the inside linebackers have to follow the offensive line to stay with their assigned gap. That took away the threat of the scrape, making it a simple read for the quarterback.

The Mids also ran to the backside with some classic Wing-T. Daba Fofana’s touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the fullback trap from the buck series. One side of the formation looks like a sweep, while the fullback runs a trap play on the backside. It actually looks like the backside guard blocked the wrong guy on the play, but Fofana was strong enough to run through the tackle.

Defensively, the game was a lot like last year’s. In the preview, I showed how Navy had their cake and ate it, too. Because the defensive line was so dominant, Navy could sit back in coverage while still making plays in the backfield. UAB’s offensive line has been rebuilt, but in the first half, Navy still got the better of them:

Both Navy and UAB seemed content with the Blazers running and throwing short in the first half. The result was the two teams combining for only three drives apiece. Unfortunately for UAB, they were down 21-3 after those drives. They still ran the ball, but they had to start taking shots downfield, forcing the ball into coverage. It led to their only touchdown of the afternoon, but only after an interception by Mbiti Williams Jr. sealed their fate.

If UAB had scored a touchdown on that drive, they would’ve only been down by two touchdowns with a whole quarter to play. Instead, Navy drove 94 yards on eight plays and scored a touchdown that put the game out of reach.

After the game, Newberry was happy with the win but felt his team could do better. He pointed to tackling and perimeter blocking as two areas in particular that weren’t up to his standard. But in a roundabout way, he also felt it was a good thing. Earning a 23-point win but knowing your team is capable of more is encouraging, especially on the road after exam week.

Whatever issues Navy has to work on, it’s better to do so after a convincing victory.

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