In its return to the East, Navy took control of the West Division race in what was a banner weekend in The American
by Dick Weiss
The momentum continues to build for the American.
Jet-fueled sophomore running back Adrian Killins scored two touchdowns and UCF racked up 315 rushing yards as the Knights won their 15th straight game, defeating South Carolina State, 38-0 to solidify its stature as a top 20 team in the polls.
Sophomore running back Michael Warren rushed for 94 yards and scored two touchdowns as rejuvenated Cincinnati won its second straight game, flexing its muscles with a 21-0 victory over Miami (Ohio) at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.
And, based on the results against teams from the other marquee leagues during the second weekend in college football, The American continues its claim as a Power 6 Conference.
Houston defeated Arizona from the Pac-12, 45-18, to spoil the return of former coach Kevin Sumlin. Freshman Terrence Horne Jr. had kickoff returns of 98 and 97 yards for touchdowns and caught a 3-yard TD pass from Blake Barnett as USF rallied past Georgia Tech, 49-38, in Tampa. And freshman quarterback Holton Ahlers ran for two touchdowns as ECU clobbered another ACC team, North Carolina, 41-19, during an in-state game in Greenville.
Don’t act so surprised.
The American has multiple teams that can play with anyone; and they have upgraded their schedules for the good of the league.
Within The American, however, road games among contenders can be a test of survival - something Memphis discovered the hard way.
Navy stunned the Tigers, the preseason favorite to win The American’s West Divsion, 22-21, rallying from a 21-9 deficit in the fourth quarter in rain-soaked, soggy conditions at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The Mids, are now 17-1 in Annapolis in regular season games over the past four years and rarely lose in bad weather.
“We kind of like being mudders,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “We want to make things ugly.”
The game against Memphis was a test of character for Navy, which was coming off a mistake-filled, 59-41 road loss at Hawaii in the previous Saturday night. Navy had a seemingly endless flight home and a short week to nail down its defense for a dangerous divisional rival – one which had forced the Mids into five turnovers last year during a 30-27 victory at the Liberty Bowl.
“I’m really proud of our team’s resolve, our grit,” said Niumatalolo. “(The Hawaii game) was as bad a loss as I can remember. We didn’t coach very well, didn’t play very well. This shows you the resolve of the young men who come to Navy. You need to be a person of great character. You need to be a fighter. A of times things looked very bleak. Memphis is going to win a lot of games this season. But we were fortunate enough to come out with a victory.”
It is never wise to under estimate a Ken Niumatalolo-coached program. Or his quarterbacks for that matter.
Junior Malcom Perry got off to a sluggish start, but rushed for 166 yards in a career-high 36 carries and scored two touchdowns - a 7-yard run off a broken play just before halftime and a video-game-like 19-yard score in the fourth quarter that got Navy back in the game.
Then, after Perry put the Mids within striking range on a 17-yard run late in the game, senior Zach Abey, a 6-2, 212-pound former starting quarterback who started nine games last year, came up huge. Abey, who was shifted to wide receiver this year but still moves back to his original position in short-yardage and goal-line situations. He scored the game winning touchdown on a 3-yard run with just 2:37 to play in the game.
Perry became part of Navy football mythology three years ago as a freshman. He made his college debut in the 2016 season opener against Fordham after starter Tago Smith sustained a torn ACL in the second half. Perry had not dressed for the game after missing the first three days of practice and playing in a JV game the day before. Instead, he was sitting in the stands with the Brigade, cheering his team on, when he was summoned by a team manager and was dressed by the start of the second half.
Perry started all 12 games as a sophomore, nine as a slot back and the final three as a quarterback, becoming the most exciting player on the team. In his three starts at quarterback, Perry carried the ball 79 times for 646 yards and seven touchdowns (215.3 yards per game). He finished as the team’s second leading rusher with 1,182 yards on 130 carries, an 8.6-yard average with 11 touchdowns and had three plays of 70 or more yards in Navy’s efficient triple option offense.
Perry, like previous quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Keenan Reynolds in 2015, makes Navy a hard team to defend because he is normally the fastest man on the field. But the Mids needed to force four turnovers to slow down high-powered Memphis, which got 214 yards rushing and a pair of 78-yard and 59-yard touchdown runs by sensational preseaon All-America running back candidate Darrell Henderson to pull this one off.
This was the first time that run-oriented Navy had rallied from a double-figure deficit in the fourth quarter to win since a victory against Temple in 2008.
“There’s only a couple ways to go when you’re in that situation,” Perry said. “You can either fold and accept the loss or line up and play like every play counts.”
Navy has a chance to build on this success. But for now, finally, the Hawaii game looks like it is thousands of miles in the rear-view mirror.