ANNAPOLIS -- The newest member of The American made the boldest statement here Saturday.
The U.S. Naval Academy, playing its first conference game in its storied history, beat East Carolina, 45-21, on a beautiful sunny afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The Midshipmen (2-0) played perfect offensive football in the first half, scoring on surgically executed drives of 68, 56, 70 and 85 yards in their first four possessions to take a 28-14 lead, then proceeded to roll up 415 yards rushing in its machine-like triple option offense to beat a solid East Carolina team – one that that pushed SEC’s Florida to the limit in a 31-24 loss the previous week at The Swamp.
“When we have all 11 guys on the same page,” senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds said of Navy’s offense, “It's like watching poetry in motion.”
Reynolds finished with a monster day, rushing for 142 yards and scoring five rushing touchdowns in his first league game, a conference record. He now has an NCAA-record 13 games with three touchdowns or more during his career and has a total of 70 career rushing touchdowns. If his personal march to the end zone continues, he will likely become the all-time NCAA leader in rushing touchdowns. Running back Monte Ball of Wisconsin finished with 77 TDs from 2009-12.
“He had five?” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo asked following the game. “You don't even notice it. It was the same thing when he had seven against San Jose State in 2013. He's so business-like and gets things done. There are so many things that happen over the course of the game and he makes it look easy. We're going to be a hard team to defend with Keenan because he has seen everything.”
Reynolds, who is from Antioch, Tennessee, is one of several quarterbacks in The American who are making a national impact and he could be a player who merits a closer look by TV analysts when they talk about Heisman candidates.
Reynolds wasn't the only offensive star to shine brightly for Navy. Fullback Chris Swain, a six-foot-one, 245-pound bruising senior from Macon, Georgia, had another breakout game with 123 rushing yards on 29 carries. Swain was tackled short of the goal line on three occasions and that enabled Reynolds to score a pair of 1-yard touchdowns along with a 2-yarder. Asked if he felt bad about Swain repeatedly coming up short of scoring touchdowns, Reynolds shook his head and smiled.
“No. Because Chris has been here long enough to know that inside the five you’ve got to finish,” Reynolds said, matter-of-factly. “At the end of the day we’re just trying to punch it in any way we can and it doesn’t matter if it’s me or Swain or (Quentin) Ezell.”
Defensive end Will Anthony helped limit ECU's no-huddle offense, making two sacks, two tackles for a loss and recovering a fumble at the ECU 17 when it temporarily looked like Navy might be losing some of its momentum. Reynolds scored on a two-yard run to drive the lead to 35-14.
“East Carolina is a good football team,” Niumatalolo said. “I thought I was headed for a relaxing weekend after we beat Colgate. Then I tune in East Carolina- Florida on TV. They played Florida toe-to-toe. And Florida was having trouble running the football on them.”
East Carolina had held its last six opponents to below 100 rushing yards. But Reynolds knows how to make his offense purr. “Keenan Is a fine quarterback and the fullbacks gave us problems,” East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill said. “Keenan has been running this offense for four years – his 33rd straight start. You can tell he's been there and he's tough as all get out.”
The Pirates got a spark from prolific quarterback Blake Kemp, who threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns on 49 passes. “We didn't score enough and we knew going into the game we would have to capitalize on our possessions because they don't make a lot of mistakes,” Kemp said. “We didn't do it.”
Navy looks like it won't have difficulty running the football on anyone on its schedule, including Notre Dame. And their divisional games in the American Athletic Conference West like Memphis, Houston and Tulsa should be fun to watch. When Navy joined The American, the Midshipmen -- who have players from 28 states on their roster -- asked to be placed in the West because they are a national school that does much of their recruiting in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Commissioner Mike Aresco wasn't about to argue. He knows what a team like Navy brings to the conference. “They are a national school with high-class students and an excellent academic reputation which has had success in football,” Aresco said.
Aresco was in the house Saturday to conduct the ceremonial coin toss before kickoff.
He had to be impressed with the pomp and ceremony -- the Midshipmen marching from Taylor Avenue into the stadium in their dress whites, the flyover by a B-25 Mitchell, which is the aircraft used during the “Doolittle Raid' in 1942 targeting the Japanese, the two goats on the sidelines, the singing of “Anchors Aweigh” and the singing of Navy's alma mater, “Navy Blue and Gold” played as the team stands at attention in front of the brigade of Midshipmen.
Navy is a school of Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach, two iconic Heisman Trophy winners in the early 60s.
And it is now the school of Keenan Reynolds.
The brigade received well deserved liberty for the rest of the weekend from Admiral Ted Carter, the Superintendent of the Academy, for a meritorious performance.
It won't be the last time. Navy is a more than just a sleeper team to crack the top 25.