Southern Miss Golden Eagles @ Navy Midshipmen Football Preview

The Navy Midshipmen are playing Southern Mississippi this weekend, but in many ways, they’re really playing themselves more than anything else. When a bitterly disappointed team returns to the gridiron and tries to right the ship, the men of the United States Naval Academy have to banish the previous few weeks from their minds. Otherwise, they’ll lose again.

After a couple of tough losses, Navy will host another good team in Southern Mississippi this Saturday. Navy’s pair of easy wins to start the season, against Delaware and Western Kentucky, has been followed by heartbreaks. Three weeks ago, Navy lost to then-tenth-ranked South Carolina on the road by just three points. Then last week, quarterback Kriss Proctor almost single-handedly led the Midshipmen to a come-from-behind win against Air Force only to fall in overtime in heartbreaking fashion. What made the loss so hard to bear is the fact that after erasing a 28-10 deficit in the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen – with a 34-28 lead in overtime – were taken down by the kind of officiating decision that rankles fans and analysts to no end.

Proctor did some trash talking to an Air Force player after scoring his go-ahead touchdown in overtime. Proctor lightly brushed that same player as he jogged back to the sideline. Television replays showed that Proctor, while certainly surging with emotion, didn’t do anything particularly conspicuous, anything that would be regarded by a reasonable person as showing up or taunting the Air Force player. Yet, a member of the officiating crew decided to throw a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Proctor, in a scene reminiscent of the penalty that killed the University of Washington three years ago against Brigham Young in a very similar situation. Navy, instead of kicking a normal point after touchdown, had to try a 35-yard extra point. The realization that the ball had to be driven made the Midshipmen kicker hit the ball with a lower trajectory. Air Force blocked the PAT and set up a situation in which it could win with a touchdown and an extra point. Instead of playing to tie, Air Force was able to win in the first inning of overtime, and that’s exactly what the Falcons did. They scored a touchdown in response but did not have to worry about a 35-yard extra point. A traditional PAT sailed through the uprights, and Navy – despite a phenomenal comeback in the final nine minutes of regulation – lost its bid to reclaim the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy. The memory of that loss could sabotage the Mids this weekend. Navy has to move on so that one loss doesn’t lead to another.

The Golden Eagles (4-1) enjoy a solid, balanced offense this season. Kendrick Hardy leads Southern Miss’s run game to 198 rushing yards per game, while the passing offense has gone for 255 passing yards per game. Quarterback Austin Davis completes 60% of his passes, and distributes the ball evenly between three main receivers: Ryan Balentine, Tracy Lampley, and Kevin Bolden. The Eagles travel to Navy for their final non-conference game of the year.

Southern Miss will have to key on Proctor and fullback Alexander Teich, who make Navy’s offense tick. At 2-2, the Midshipmen rely on Proctor and Teich, who both average just over 100 rushing yards per game. How Southern Miss is able to fare against Navy’s option will be the match up of the game. While Navy averages 352 rushing yards per game, Southern Miss is only allowing 82 rushing yards per game. The Midshipmen may need more from its defense than it has so far this season if the Golden Eagles defense is able to slow down the option.