The unthinkable became reality as junior quarterback Tai Lavatai’s fourth-down pass attempt fell to the back of the end zone as the clock ticked down.
Navy’s comeback bid ended with the turnover on downs, and 30,542 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Sept. 3 saw the Midshipmen suffer a 14-7 season-opening loss to Delaware — Navy’s first to an FCS program in 15 years.
“We didn’t execute down there. We probably could have given them a better call on the fourth down,” Midshipmen head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Wish we could have executed better and I wish I would’ve called a better play.”
The excitement of a new college football season quickly wilted as Navy turned the ball over on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Lavatai fumbled as he faked a handoff to fullback Anton Hall. Delaware (1-0) linebacker Drew Nickles recovered at the Midshipmen 21-yard line.
Only two plays later, graduate quarterback Nolan Henderson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Bryce De Maille in the middle of the end zone for the only points of the opening half.
Navy went three-and-out on each of its first two possessions of the second half. Delaware stretched its lead to 14-0 with 4:30 left in the third quarter as Henderson connected with Chandler Harvin on a 51-yard strike.
Navy (0-1) failed to score its first points of the 2022 season until the final minute of the third quarter as Lavatai kept it himself for a 2-yard touchdown run up the gut, capping a 10-play, 56-yard drive.
Here are five takeaways from the upset:
1. It’s impossible to overstate how devastating a loss this is for Navy.
Head coach Ken Niumatalolo had expressed deep optimism for this season, saying that the Midshipmen would resemble the winning teams fans have become accustomed to during his tenure. Back-to-back losing seasons could be explained by key injuries or the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption to offseason workouts, but the Midshipmen entered this campaign coming off of a normal offseason and were confident this would be a bounce-back year.
Instead, Navy opened the season with the first loss to an FCS opponent since a Joe Flacco-led Delaware team bested the Midshipmen, 59-52, in 2007.
“These guys are hurting right now. The coaches are hurting. Everyone involved in this program is hurting because you put so much into it,” Niumatalolo said. “We’ve got to recover, get some treatment, get healthy, come back Monday and just keep swinging. That’s all you can do. You can’t feel sorry for yourself, you can’t point fingers.”
While acknowledging the disappointment, senior striker John Marshall downplayed the magnitude of the upset.
“It’s a tough loss if they’re FCS or FBS. They’re on scholarship, too, so they can play a little ball. They’ve got transfers, they’ve got sixth years, they’ve got what they need to be a good team,” he said. “Football is football. It’s who wants it more and who executes better, and they executed better than us today.”
2. Navy’s first-half turnovers gave Delaware the confidence it needed to pull off the upset.
Navy committed just two turnovers throughout its final eight games of the 2021 season. The Mids only lost five fumbles all year.
Less than four minutes into the second quarter against Delaware, the Midshipmen had already lost three fumbles. The first came on the game’s first play from scrimmage at the mesh point between Lavatai and sophomore fullback Anton Hall Jr.
“Our number one thing on offense is always to take care of the ball. You can’t beat anybody turning the ball over three times,” Niumatalolo said. “Our big emphasis this whole camp was to get off to a fast start. Geez, you couldn’t have had a worse start than fumble on the first play of the game.”
Lavatai fumbled again in the closing minutes of the first quarter and Hall coughed up the football early in the second. Lavatai’s third fumble of the game came on the Midshipmen’s first offensive snap of the second half, though it fortunately rolled out of bounds for an 11-yard loss.
Navy ran for 184 yards on 63 attempts (2.9 yards per rush).
“We weren’t moving guys off the ball the way we wanted to,” senior tackle Kip Franklin said. “That’s not us. That’s not Navy football. That’s not what we do.”
Lavatai completed five of 13 pass attempts for 135 yards.
3. Navy had a chance to win entirely thanks to its defense.
The Midshipmen outgained Delaware 319 yards of total offense to 202. The defense held the Blue Hens to just 13 yards rushing and an average of less than half a yard per attempt. Henderson completed 20 of 32 passes for 189 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he was also sacked five times.
Navy recorded its most sacks in a game since 2015 and most tackles for loss (12) since 2005.
“Our defense played their butts off. They gave us a chance,” Niumatalolo said. “They kept playing in bad field position and just kept swinging the whole time.”
Sophomore linebacker Collin Ramos led Navy with a team-high nine tackles, including one for a loss, and forced a fumble that was recovered by nose guard Donald Berniard Jr.
4. The Midshipmen missed their only field goal attempt without starting kicker Bijan Nichols.
Navy was unable to cut into Delaware’s 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter as junior Evan Warren missed his first career attempt from 45 yards away. The Midshipmen came up empty despite sustaining a 15-play, 45-yard drive that lasted more than seven minutes.
Warren started in place of Nichols, who was unavailable with a leg injury. Nichols, a four-year starter, was named second-team All-AAC last season.
Warren connected on his only extra-point attempt against Delaware.
5. Navy needs to turn the page quickly with two conference foes and Air Force up next.
Navy has little time to wallow in shock or disappointment with American Athletic Conference play starting in seven days as the Midshipmen host AAC rival Memphis. Another conference matchup against East Carolina follows.
“We can go 1-0 in the AAC. That’s what we’re going to be looking forward to,” Marshall said.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox