SMU’s passing attack was too much for Navy football early on, as the Midshipmen faced a 28-7 deficit by the end of the first quarter. The Mustangs (10-2) kept clicking on all cylinders for the remainder of the game and defeated the Mids, 59-14, on Nov. 25.
With the loss, Navy (5-6) falls short of bowl eligibility. However, the Mids still have a chance to build on some of the success they’ve had under first-year head coach Brian Newberry. Navy has one game remaining this season, against archrival Army on Dec. 9.
If the Mids win, they will share the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with Army and Air Force and clinch their first non-losing season since 2019.
“We have to be able to flush this game,” Newberry said following the SMU loss. “We can’t let this be a hangover that affects our preparation moving forward to our most important game of the year.”
In the first quarter alone, SMU sophomore quarterback Preston Stone threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns on 11 of 14 passing. Mustangs junior wide receiver Moochie Dixon caught four of those passes for 125 yards and two scores. Dixon became the first receiver to post more than 100 receiving yards for SMU in a game this season.
Stone finished the game throwing for 322 yards and three touchdowns on 14 of 19 passing but suffered a leg injury early in the second quarter. That didn’t stop SMU, though, as the Mustangs’ rushing attack kept pounding. Senior running back Tyler Lavine ran for three touchdowns in the first half and finished the game rushing for 49 yards on seven attempts.
SMU had a 52-14 lead at halftime.
“They hit on all of their shots early,” Newberry said. “We just didn’t do a great job in coverage. We knew that they’re really talented at wideout. We knew their quarterback is going to throw it up to them, whether they were open or not. We knew we had to win those 50-50 balls and we just, we weren’t able to do that today.”
Throughout the season, Navy had battled the injury bug and it was apparent in this game. Against SMU, senior wide receiver Jayden Umbarger and junior wide receiver Regis Velez were ruled out of the game early on with injuries.
“We were already thin at wideout, losing Camari [Williams] who didn’t play today, and then to have two wideouts go down early, we were scrambling,” Newberry said. “Had to use tight ends at wideout and try to tell them what to do before a play started and things like that, so it was not an ideal situation, obviously.”
The Mids have used four signal-callers this season. Senior quarterback Tai Lavatai, the team’s original starter, battled through injuries that limited him to just seven games on the season. Sophomore Blake Horvath, who started the fall second on the depth chart, was limited to only four games. Horvath last saw action against North Texas on Oct. 7, when he received his first start but left with an injury late in the first half.
After a rough start against Air Force on Oct. 21 by freshman quarterback Braxton Woodson, senior Xavier Arline took over as the main signal-caller against Temple on Nov. 4 and kept the role into this game. However, Arline was injured early in the second quarter and Woodson took over in relief.
Woodson finished the game with 71 yards and an interception on 9 of 18 passing. He was the leading rusher for the Mids against SMU, though, rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts. Woodson’s touchdown run came on a 69-yard rush.
“We knew we were going to have to score some points to win because of how explosive their offense was and just simply weren’t able to do that today,” Newberry said.
Despite the blowout loss, Navy can carry some positives into the Army game. The Mids lead the nation in shutout wins (3) and fumble recoveries (14), and heading into the game against the Mustangs, Navy held the best red-zone defense as well.
Defensive stars like junior free safety Rayuan Lane III, junior cornerback Dashaun Peele and junior defensive end Justin Reed made huge impacts for the Mids this season. Lane has been a standout player for the Mids’ defense. After recording no interceptions in 2022, Lane has four this season and returned one 97 yards to the house against UAB on Nov. 11. Peele has four interceptions and one fumble recovery this season.
With an early season-ending injury to standout senior defensive end Jacob Busic, Reed stepped up and has been a monster for the Mids’ defensive line. Reed leads the team with 4.5 sacks and is tied with sophomore raider Luke Pirris with three fumble recoveries.
On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore fullback Alex Tecza and sophomore slotback Eli Heidenreich have been workhorses for the Mids. In 11 games, the duo combined for 1,352 total yards and 10 touchdowns.
That doesn’t eliminate the sting of the SMU loss, however.
“Really disappointed for our players and we had a great opportunity in front of us and we just didn’t do enough to get it done,” Newberry said. “Didn’t deserve to win today, didn’t play well enough.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox