NAVY COMEBACK TOPS PITT, 24-21

By Jeff Batzel for MASN

 

 

Annapolis, Md. – Nick Sloan split the uprights with a 30 yard field goal as time expired Saturday to give Navy a 24-21 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Panthers.

 

Sloan’s field goal ended a two-game skid for the Midshipmen and culminated a come from behind effort that saw Navy score twice in the final 4-minutes and get a huge defensive stop when they needed it most.

 

QB Keenan Reynolds who ran Navy’s well-oiled offensive machine like a magician on Saturday, was the catalyst.  Reynolds 31 yard run on a 3rd and 5 situation put the Mids in the red zone with 4:00 left.  Reynolds encore was a 2-yard scamper that allowed Nick Sloan to tie the contest with his conversion kick.

 

Then it was Navy’s defense that came up big.  The Midshipmen defense bottled up Tom Savage, Pitt’s fine QB who had a 20-27, 203 yard day, on 3-straight plays to force a punt. Matt Yoklic shanked a  20 yarder against the wind giving Navy great field position at the Pitt 49 yard line with 2:17 left.  

 

Two big third down conversions kept the Midshipmen moving toward field goal position as they mastered clock management and utilized all of their timeouts in getting three first downs to put them in position for Sloan’s game winner.

 

Other than a big pass play from Reynolds to Thomas in the 2nd quarter, Navy’s offense struggled early.  “We had problems with (Aaron) Donald and couldn’t block #44 (Shane Gordon) in the first half,” stated Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo.  “We just had to execute in the 2nd half and we did,” chimed in QB Keenan Reynolds.

 

“They found a way to win it,” said a disappointed Pitt Head Coach Paul Chryst.  “We didn’t make enough plays to win the game.”

 

Senior Receiver Devin Street caught 9 passes for 96 yards and became Pitt’s all-time leading receiver during the game.

 

 

 

Pitt      3  10  0    8  -  21

Navy   0    7   0   17 – 24

 

P- Bewitt 25 yd. FG  3-0  7:28 1st

N- Reynolds 58 yd. pass to Thomas (Sloan PAT)  7-3  13:07 2nd

P- Blewitt 44 yd. FG   6-7  9:23 2nd

P- Savage 12 yd. pass to Street (Blewitt PAT)  13-7  1:41  2nd

N- Singleton 9 yd. run (Sloan PAT)  14-13  14:28  4th

P- Savage 3 yd. pass to Boyd (Pass Savage to Street) 21-14 8:07 4th  

N- Reynolds 2-yd. run (Sloan PAT) 21-21  3:52 4th

N- Sloan 30 yd. FG  24-21  0:00 4th

 

 

Navy Grounds Air Force 28-10

Sophomore Keenan Reynolds, coming off a concussion last week against Western Kentucky, scored three touchdowns and rushed for 140 yards on 28 carries to lead Navy to a 28-10 win over Air Force.

A record-breaking home crowd of 38,225 witnessed the Midshipmen come from behind to earn their first win towards earning the Commander-in-Chief's trophy that is awarded to the service academy with the best record in their round robin competition.

Junior, Chris Johnson picked off two passes to end Air Force's final two drives.  Johnson's two interceptions was the first two INT game since Wyatt Middleton had two in 2009 against Temple.

Air Force jumped out to a 3-0 lead on their opening drive.  Navy bounced back when Reynolds scored his first TD from three yards out.  The Falcons regained the lead on their next possession when Anthony LaCoste scored on an 18-yard run.  Air Force took a  10-7 lead into the half.

Navy scored on their first drive of the second half to take the lead for good.  Hometown star, Demond Brown took a pitch from Reynolds and scampered into the end zone from 38 yards out to give the Mids a 14-10 lead.

Reynolds scored two more TDs in the fourth quarter (two yards and 10 yards) to seal the Navy win 28-10.

The 1963 Navy team that won the Cotton Bowl and finished 9-2 was recognized at halftime.  It's the 50th anniversary of what many consider the greatest team to ever play at Navy.  The team finished number two in the country that year.  That team was led by Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach and team captain Tom Lynch.

The 1963 team was coached by Wayne Hardin who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December.

Air Force (1-5) hosts San Diego State on Thursday night and Navy (3-1) travels to Duke on Saturday.

The Chase for the CIC Trophy

This week Navy (2-1) hosts Air Force (1-4) in the first match-up for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy awarded annually to the service academy with the best record in their round robin competition. Army (2-3) travels to Boston College.

This week's games were threatened to be cancelled earlier in the week due to the government shutdown, but cooler heads prevailed and both games were given approval to be played.

Air Force will host Army on November 2 and the Army-Navy game will be played in Philadelphia on December 14.