Navy heading to Philadelphia to take on Temple this past weekend was a huge chance for the Midshipmen to get above .500 on the year. Temple came into the game struggling and Navy looked to take advantage on their quest to get bowl eligible. Instead, the Owls played one of their best games of the year to pick up their first American Athletic Conference victory on the season.
Temple got starting quarterback EJ Warner back after he missed the last two games with a concussion. Warner didn’t disappoint and was able to hit a lot of big throws early in the game. Temple jumped out to a 17-0 lead and just when the game started to get out of reach Navy was the recipient of four turnovers by the Owls.
Navy wasn’t able to capitalize however as the offense struggled to move the ball and the early deficit was too much to overcome. Surprisingly, Xavier Arline was the starting quarterback for Navy this week. Many expected it to be either Tai Lavatai or Braxton Woodson starting under center. However, the senior who switched over to the running back position this season returned to quarterback this week due to the number of injuries at the position.
Arline played respectably and was able to make some big throws while adding in 97 yards rushing. Overall, the offense struggled however, not generating enough space up front to get the triple option attack working. Navy averaged just 3 yards per carry on the day and was only 6/14 passing.
Defensively, Navy struggled to cover receivers well. Even when they did, Warner was able to make some great throws to torch this secondary. Warner ended up with 402 yards and 4 touchdowns along with 2 interceptions.
Navy head coach Brian Newberry was clearly disappointed and upset with the performance after the game. He stated that the Midshipmen were “outplayed” and “outcoached” the entire game. He added “it’s not what our fans deserve” and promised to get back to work and come out better next week.
This is definitely a tough loss to stomach for Navy. A win would have really helped their case for getting to a bowl game. Instead, they’ll have to win three of their last four games. One of those games is against a 7-2 SMU team on the road. UAB (3-6) and ECU (1-8) are both winnable games at home, but certainly not givens. If they can win those two games then it all comes down to the Army vs Navy game at the end of the year where anything can happen.
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