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Now that we have your attention, I guess it is only fitting for us to be as honest as possible.
Look, we were tasked with arguing in favor of some outrageous and bold claims in support of Navy football for the 2019 season. As fans, that comes pretty easy for folks like me and Rocky. We witnessed the win over Notre Dame in 2007 that snapped the 43-game winning streak for the Irish. We saw Keenan Reynolds finish fifth in Heisman voting in 2015, the highest by a service academy athlete since Roger Staubach in 1963 (okay, we weren’t around for that). The point is, we have already seen some outlandish results from Navy football in just the last 12 years, so of course a little part of us believes these predictions are possible. Yes, they are bold, wishful, and make you say “psh”, but that is half the fun. Also the smack talk, but hey, that’s what brothers and sisters do right?
This year’s Army-Navy game will be the most watched game in college football.
Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Navy was two wins away from earning the coveted G5 NY6 bowl spot in 2015 and had a chance at it again going into the AAC Championship game the following year. I see 2019 as a deja vu 2015 experience; only with a slightly improved outcome.
Think about it, in 2015 Navy was led by a dynamic playmaking (I think these are two buzzwords we are supposed to drop from our analysis these days) senior quarterback by the name of Keenan Reynolds. The 2019 version? A dynamic and playmaking senior quarterback by the name of Malcolm Perry.
“Oh okay, Austin, sure. I have no doubt Perry will succeed under center but it isn’t like Navy has the ease of Army’s schedule.” -@NavyFanForLife1234
Ahh, good point hypothetical (yet, likely) Twitter commentator, but can I argue Navy’s schedule is set-up eerily similar to that successful Navy season? 2015 featured an opening Patriot League opponent (Colgate) and followed with AAC play against, guess who, East Carolina. It doesn’t stop there. Navy hosted Air Force, Tulane, and USF then too, before closing out the season taking on Army in the City of Brotherly Love. The Mids defeated Memphis on the road and ultimately faltered in their last AAC game of the year against Houston, but that is where history will be rewritten.
You see, Navy will again close out their AAC regular season on the road at TDECU Stadium except this time the run-and-shoot will make all the difference and Coach Ken will be flowing with emotion after locking up his second AAC Championship Game appearance.
At this point Navy will have a 10-1 record and venture down to Orlando to take on an undefeated UCF squad ranked 6th in the country. After securing the easy two-score victory the Midshipmen will have no rest and must finish their regular season play against an Army squad with just one loss.
Imagine that.11-1 Navy vs. 11-1 Army with NY6 bowl implications. All of college football would tune-in and drive viewership to nearly 40 million people. And what a glorious day it will be when 80 million ears hear and 80 million eyes see Navy singing second. Beat Army!
We’re just getting started
Navy will average the most yards per game since 2007 (444.1)
Taking a cue from Austin here, and drawing from historic Navy seasons, I’m willing to wager you see the greatest yards per game from a Navy offense since Kaipo Kaheaku-Enhada, Reggie Campbell, and Eric Kettani were lining up on the field in Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium back in 2007.
Not sure if you’ve heard yet, but Navy is incorporating a new element to their triple-option attack; it’s called the run-and-shoot. If you don’t know what that means, it’s basically just a twist on the current offense, except the quarterback is looking for opportunities to throw down field instead just handing it off or pitching it.
All I can think about is how disrespectful defenses were last season when they basically sat on the run without any real concern for a passing play. Enter this new twist, where you are including this passing element coming out of the same formation as your triple-option and you have a recipe for big passing plays and/or wide open running lanes. Put me down for an average of 450 yards a game: 325 on the ground and 125 through the air.
Yea I said it! Big Play Perry will be out there launching bombs down field hitting wide-open slot backs. Right after that you can expect the bread and butter triple-option to pick up big yardage as the defense backs up after realizing giving up the pass wasn’t such a great idea after all. And Navy fans around the world be like:
Navy will beat Air Force by three scores and Army by four
Alright, they’ve had their fun; and it’s adorable how Army fans think they’ve arrived after a big season. We’ll just ignore the fact that season was on the back of an incredibly weak schedule that is only even remotely respectable because of a game in Norman against the #5 Sooners. But we won’t forget the matchups with Liberty, Lafayette, and Colgate as well. Don’t even get me started on Air Force or about how the Calhoun era is winding down in a spectacular ball of flames while doing his best Fisher DeBerry impression.
We’ll start with Air Force, who hasn’t won a matchup in Naptown since 2011, when a terrible unsportsmanlike conduct call resulted in a missed extra point and a 1-point Air Force win.
Yea, they cleaned Navy’s clock last season, and it wasn’t fun to witness as a defender of the Blue and Gold, but that happens sometimes. But as I mentioned earlier, this is a brand new Navy offense with some pretty sweet tricks up their sleeve. I’m predicting a -13.5 spread in favor of Navy and they will easily cover. Not up in here, Blue Falcons!
Ok, Ok, I get it. Army has won three years in a row. They have done a great job capitalizing on Navy injuries in 2016, blending in with the snow in 2017, and barely beating Navy in the middle of their worst season in nearly two decades in 2018. Again, it happens, 14 years in a row is a long time to win, and to be honest, I didn’t think Army showing up for their annual shellacking was doing the rivalry any favors. Cue the Hollywood writers and the Malcolm Perry Road Show to Navy Redemption. I’m sorry guys, but I just think there is approximately a 0% chance the West Point class of 2020 sweeps Navy. Not no way, not no how. We haven’t even mentioned Navy’s new defensive scheme, which I am willing to wager pays off in a big way this year. I’ll take it a step further and bet they end the regular season by shutting out Army. You heard it here first Navy Fans (and Army fans who are super in their feelings as they read this). Navy caps off the 2019 campaign to return the CIC with a resounding defeat of Army by a score of 28-0 in the City of Brotherly Love.