Navy football fans learned the answer to one lingering question when quarterback Tyger Goslin trotted onto the field to lead the offense for the opening possession of Saturday night’s game against Memphis.
That ended three weeks of intrigue regarding whether Goslin or Dalen Morris would get the call when the Midshipmen played for the first time in nearly a month.
Of course, the larger question was whether whoever played quarterback could operate Navy’s triple-option offense as designed.
Goslin did not provide the spark the coaching staff was looking for, leading Navy to only one touchdown before being replaced by freshman Xavier Arline late in the third quarter.
Navy’s inability to get anything done offensively wasted an impressive defensive performance as heavily favored Memphis escaped with a narrow 10-7 victory in front of a smattering of midshipmen at an otherwise empty Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Kicker Riley Patterson provided the winning margin for the Tigers by kicking a 26-yard field goal with 10:53 remaining. Navy responded by driving into field-goal range on the subsequent possession but kicker Bijan Nichols missed wide right on a 45-yard attempt with 4:42 to go.
That drive was one of only three in which Navy penetrated past the Memphis 40-yard line. The Midshipmen ran seven plays or less on nine of 12 possessions.
“Offensively we played bad. We’re too sporadic. We’re hit and miss,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said afterward. “We’re just not operating right now. There’s not really much we can hang our hat on.”
Navy fell to 3-5 overall and with two games remaining can finish the regular season no better than .500. The Midshipmen, at 3-3 in the American Athletic Conference, were eliminated from contention for the championship game.
There is a chance Navy could go to a bowl game, which opens the possibility of finishing with a winning record.
Defensive cordinator Brian Newberry had his unit ready to play and Navy delivered its best performance of the season on that side of the field, repeatedly stopping record-setting quarterback Brady White and the high-powered Memphis offense. The Tigers came in ranked 10th nationally in total offense with 517.9 yards per game and were averaging 36.4 points.
The Midshipmen forced five punts, a turnover on downs and a fumble in holding the Tigers to 280 total yards and just one touchdown. Memphis managed only the game-winning field goal over the final three quarters.
White had a subpar outing, completing 18 of 32 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. Memphis was limited to just 75 rushing yards by an aggressive Navy defense that was constantly changing fronts just before the snap.
“Really, really proud of the way our defense played. They were phenomenal and gave us a chance to win,” Niumatalolo said. “Our defense was playing lights out and kept giving us opportunities and we couldn’t capitalize.”
Senior fullback Nelson Smith was pretty much Navy’s only offensive weapon, rushing for 142 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. As has been the case all season, the quarterback and slotback elements of the triple-option offense were missing in action.
Goslin and Arline combined for 11 yards on eight carries, while the slotback corps produced 19 yards on 10 attempts. It spoke volumes that defensive lineman J’arius Warren was Navy’s second-leading rusher, having broken loose for a 24-yard gain off a fake punt on the home team’s lone scoring drive.
Despite almost single-handedly carrying the load, Smith felt he should have done more damage.
“The coaching staff put the ball in my hands a lot today, put the game in my hands, and I didn’t execute well enough to get a win. I feel like I left a lot of yards on the field,” he said.
Goslin did not fare well in the passing game as well, completing only 3 of 9 attempts for 73 yards while tossing an interception. That pickoff prevented a field goal attempt as the Midshipmen had moved to the visiting team’s 17-yard line late in the first half.
Goslin threw to slotback Chance Warren’s inside shoulder on which free safety Quindell Johnson was draped. Johnson easily intercepted the ill-advised pass as it went right into his arms.
The Midshipmen were unable to sustain drives, finishing 2-for-13 on third down conversions and reaching the red zone only once in the entire game. Niumatalolo responded “everything” when asked what went wrong with the Navy offense Saturday night.
“We have to do a better job as coaches, we have to do a better job of executing. Sometimes we blocked well and there were other times when we had some mistakes,” he said. “It’s disappointing because we had all that time off. I was hoping we would play better on offense.”
A bold call jump-started Navy’s first touchdown drive with Niumatalolo dipping into his bag of tricks for a fake punt on fourth-and-1 from his own 26-yard line. Warren — the up blocker in the punt formation — took a direct snap, found a hole and rumbled 24 yards to midfield.
Goslin connected with wide receiver Mark Walker for a 23-yard gain on the next play. Smith then burst through a big hole up the middle for a 22-yard score that gave Navy the early lead.
It did not take long for Memphis to respond with White directing a 79-yard touchdown march that lasted just six plays and took a little over two minutes.
Running back Asa Martin took a short swing pass and raced 43 yards to put the Tigers in the red zone. Two plays later, White found wide receiver Calvin Austin III open on a slant route for a 14-yard scoring strike that tied the score at 7 with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter.
Both teams threatened but turnovers deep in enemy territory scuttled scoring chances and it remained deadlocked going into halftime. Navy’s defense played particularly well in the first half, limiting Memphis to five first downs and 162 total yards despite being forced to consistently protect a short field.
The defensive struggle continued in the second half with the teams trading punts and turnovers on downs. Navy finally got things going offensively late in the third period after Arline entered the game.
Niumatalolo turned into riverboat gambler again by going for it on fourth down from his own 33-yard line. Smith picked up 2 yards to move the sticks and two plays later he found a huge gap off-tackle and raced 20 yards into Memphis territory.
Navy appeared poised to take the lead, but Arline fumbled the snap on first down and linebacker Cole Mashburn recovered to give Memphis the ball just shy of midfield.
Memphis held the ball for nine plays and more than four minutes, marching to the Navy 8-yard line before being stopped. A false start penalty set the Tigers back and an incomplete pass on third-and-goal forced a field-goal attempt.
Patterson, who missed wide right on a 52-yard attempt in the first half, converted a chip shot for what would be the difference.
TULSA@NAVY
Saturday, TBD
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