Navy

At the beginning of the season we knew this one was going to be a tough one. Everyone who plays a well run triple option attack knows how difficult it is to stop. Just ask Corwin Brown and Charlie Weiss of Notre Dame who lost to the Midshipmen the past two years.
Besides the #3 rushing attack and highest graduation rate in the nation, Navy also has a passing game this year. Jr. QB Ricky Dobbs is considered to be Navy’s best passer over the last decade. If the Navy ground game wasn’t enough, the Warriors now have to worry about getting beat through the air as #4 can realy sling the rock.

For this game, coach Mac and Defensive Coordinator Cal Lee only need to visit to the Hawaii film room for the scouting report on Navy. Throughout the 1990’s, UH ran Paul Johnson’s triple option attack and it was this offense which gave Hawaii its first WAC title and Holiday Bowl Victory. This offense was able to effectively move the ball on the ground as well as the air using small undersized athletes nobody wanted. When the highly ranked BYU Cougars rolled into town nearly 20 years ago with Heisman Trophy Winner, Ty Detmer, they found out all about the Johnson triple option attack. That night Hawaii QB Garrett Gabriel looked more like the Heisman trophy Winner passing for nearly 400 yards on the Cougar defense. BYU was expecting a heavy dose of the run but little did they know that they would get killed through the air.

Johnson is no longer at Navy but neverthless his successor and star pupil, Kenny Niumatalolo is carrying on the legacy. At 8-3 Navy, is again bowl bound and scaring everyone they face. On Saturday, the Midshipmen are favored by 9 but many feel it should be more.

The keys for the game are simple. Offensively the Warriors must protect Moniz and keep the chains moving. If Hawaii continues to go 3 and out like they did last week at San Jose, it will be a long night with Navy quickly running away with the score. Hawaii must outscore Navy to have any chance of winning.

Defensively, the interior linemen need to hold point and stop the dive play. Maetoga, Savaiianea, and Tufaga must have the game of their lives and assert their physical dominance. The bread and butter for Navy is the dive and much of their success feeds off their success with the interior run game. Strong interior play will help the linebackers and secondary who must play smart assignment football and avoid being out of position. The cut blocks and occaisional deep pass are also something that the Warriors should be concerned about.

Can Hawaii win and be one step closer to a bowl on Christmas Day? The answer is yes but the Warriors will need to play almost perfect tomorrow. That means no stupid penalties, turnovers and fooling coaching decisions. If they decide to go for it on 4th and 10 inside Navy’s 25 yard line instead of opting for the easy 3, then for sure Coach Mac will be opening presents with the grand kids on Christmas Day instead of preparing to face June and SMU.