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SmoothPancakes
12-11-2010, 02:40 PM
So this has been a great game so far, at last from my Navy fan perspective.

Definitely not your normal Army-Navy game. At this moment, with 12:36 left in the 1st half, Navy has rushed 13 times for 58 yards. Meanwhile they're 4-8 passing with 131 yards through the air and two passing touchdowns, one for 77 yards, the other for 32. :D

No need to run a whole lot when you can just toss the ball around, even if you are Navy and are ranked 118th in the nation for passing yards per game.

This has been a messy game though. Navy fumbles the ball away on their second offensive play of the game, then Army promptly gives the ball right back to Navy by way of fumble on THEIR second offensive play of the game. And somehow, after fumbling it moments ago on the kickoff return, Army managed to rip the ball out of the arms of the Navy player who recovered the fumble and managed to retain possession when the refs were done clearing the pile.

SmoothPancakes
12-11-2010, 03:09 PM
This is definitely not your daddy's Army-Navy game. There have been 4 touchdowns this game. The first three (two by Navy and one by Army) have all been via passes, and then Navy just recovered a fumble (snatched out of mid-air by Wyatt Middleton) on their own 2 yard line and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown. So three passing touchdowns and a fumble return for a TD from two teams that rank 118th and 120th in the nation in yards passing/game. I love it!

And both Army and Navy apparently have not been working on their ball handling over the past couple weeks. Navy has been pissing me off with 3 fumbles so far this game, including one on their own 20ish yard line earlier that allowed Army to score their first touchdown in the Army-Navy game since the 2006 game when Army had last scored with a garbage TD with 2 seconds left. Army meanwhile with 2 fumbles so far. Very undisciplined ball handling by both teams today.

JeffHCross
12-11-2010, 03:20 PM
Well, crap. At least I'll get to watch half of the game. The different start time screwed me up and led me to forget the game since I was watching Appalachian and Villanova.

SmoothPancakes
12-11-2010, 03:28 PM
Yeah, they really love that 2:30 start time for Army-Navy. It's been a really good game and actually really close, despite the 24-7 halftime score. 5 fumbles between both teams has screwed offensive drives and it was passing galore in the first quarter and early second while both teams were still trying to figure out how to run against each other.

And it was damn near 17-14 for the halftime score. 17-7, a minute left to go in the half, and Army had the ball inside the Navy 5 yard line. Then Trent Steelman fumbled the ball into the air on the Navy two yard line, safety Wyatt Middleton grabbed it out of midair and had 98 yards of nothing but green grass in front of him to give Navy the 17 point lead at halftime instead of only a potential 3 or 7 point lead had Army kept possession.

SmoothPancakes
12-11-2010, 06:16 PM
Well, Navy does it again. Navy picks up their 9th straight victory over Army, winning 31-17.

It was a great game today, although a very very sloppy game. 6 total turnovers in the game, 3 fumbles and an interception by Navy and a 2 fumbles by Army, as well as a couple fumbles that were recovered by the fumbling team. Also can't help but feel a bit bad for the Army player (can't remember the name) who got sucked into a neutral zone encroachment penalties a couple times in the second half on 3rd and 4th downs by Navy. He played a great game, just was a little too high strung and wanting to get in and make that big play and he let it get the best of him on those plays.

Also, Army really really needs to work on their clock management and two minute offense. So many questionable moves and plays by the offense, and A LOT of time got wasted by Army on their final drive. Very poor time management in my opinion there at the end.

I'm still somewhat surprised at how the game, the first half at least, pretty much ended up being passing heavy for Navy. Definitely shows they aren't afraid at all to sling that ball all over the field as needed to move down the field. I'm actually not looking too forward to Navy's bowl game. I'm not looking forward to seeing Ricky, Wyatt Middleton, Jeff Battipaglia, Emmett Merchant, Vince Murray, Billy Yarborough and the other seniors on the field for the last and final time of their careers and not having next year to look forward to seeing them on the field again. But, at least, they were able to keep the streak alive and end their careers 4-0 against Army.