Navy Midshipmen 2-3 (1-2) at Charlotte 49ers 1-4 (0-1)
Saturday 14 October, 1400 EDT
Jerry Richardson Stadium, Charlotte, NC

STREAMING: ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Richard Cross, Analyst: Taylor McHargue, Sideline: Morgan Uber

RADIO: NAVY RADIO NETWORK
Play-by-Play: Pete Medhurst, Analyst: Joe Miller, Sideline: Keith Mills, Studio: Scott Wykoff, Pregame Commentary: John Feinstein
• WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore)
• WFED 820 AM / 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.)
• WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.)
• WFED 104.5 FM (W. Fairfax / Loudon, Va.)
• WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM (Annapolis)
• KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego)
• WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM (Norfolk)
• WJGM 105.7 FM (Jacksonville, Fla.)
• Satellite: SiriusXM (Ch. 121 or 202) and on the SXMApp (Ch. 965)
• Apps: Audacy (WNAV and KWFN) and TuneIn (WBAL)

LIVE STATS: STATBROADCAST
Online: navystats.com

OPENING KICK
• Navy and Charlotte meet on the gridiron for the first time when the two square off on ESPN+ Saturday afternoon (2:00 pm) at a sold-out Jerry Richardson Stadium (15,000) in Charlotte, N.C.
• The Mids will play the longest regular-season schedule in the country this year. Navy played the nation’s first regularseason college football game of the season on August 26 against Notre Dame at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland and will play the final regular-season game of the year on Dec. 9 vs. Army at Gillette Stadium in New England.
• Navy ranks 3rd in the country in fumbles recovered with 7, 5th in turnover margin at +1.20 and 4th in turnovers lost with 3. Xavier McDonald (Sr. / Striker) is 3rd in the country in forced fumbles per game (0.60), while Luke Pirris (So. / Raider) is 3rd in the country in fumbles recovered (2).
• Navy, Air Force and Penn State are the only 3 teams in the country that have not thrown an interception this year. The Mids are also 10th in the country in passing yards per completion, averaging 15.27.
• The Mids are fourth nationally in rushing, averaging 248.2 yards per game. Alex Tecza (So. / FB) is fifth in the country in rushing yards per carry (7.64).
• Navy is seventh in the country in punt returns, averaging 17.7 per return.
• Safety Rayuan Lane (Sr.) is fourth in the nation in passes defended (1.6 per game).
• Over the last two games (USF and North Texas), Navy has been called for 15 penalties while the opposition has been called for just 1. North Texas was the first Navy opponent not to be penalized since Army in the 2016 Army-Navy Game presented by USAA.
• Navy head coach Brian Newberry and Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi are 2 of 11 first-time head coaches in the FBS this year. Four of those 11 are in the American Athletic Conference (UAB’s Trent Dilfer and USF’s Alex Golesh).

COMING HOME
Navy has 10 players on its roster from the state of North Carolina, which is tied with Alabama for the sixth most of any state on Navy’s roster.
Liam Barbee So. LB Stanfield
Stephen Glenn So. P Graham
Connor Lessane Fr. S Lewisville
Alex McCalop Fr. NG Greensboro
Cam Nichols Fr. OG Charlotte
Justin Reed Jr. DE Apex
Zarian Simms Fr. OT Concord
Cameron Smith Jr. SB Charlotte
Joshua Switzer Fr. S Charlotte
Camari Williams Sr. WR Fayetteville

SCOUTING CHARLOTTE
1-4 Overall | 0-1 AAC
Head Coach: Biff Poggi
• Charlotte enters Saturday’s game against Navy with a 1-4 overall record and an 0-1 mark in the American Athletic Conference.
• Charlotte won its opener against South Carolina State 24-3, but has played a brutal stretch of four games over the last month, losing at Maryland (38-20), to Georgia State at home (41-25), at Florida (22-7) and at SMU (34-16).
• Charlotte’s Jalon Jones (Sr. / QB), a transfer from both Bethune Cookman and Jackson State, leads the 49ers in both rushing and passing. Jones has rushed for 316 yards and 3 touchdowns on 62 carries, while completing 44 of his 72 pass attempts for 420 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Durrell Robinson (Fr. / RB) has 166 yards rushing on 40 carries.
• Trexler Ivey (R-So. / QB) has also seen playing time at quarterback, completing 38 of his 59 pass attempts for 459 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
• Colorado transfer Jack Hestera leads Charlotte in receiving, catching 22 passes for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Colin Weber (So. / TE) has 14 catches for 142 yards.
• Linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, a transfer from Michigan, leads the 49ers defense with 36 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup. Georgia Tech transfer linebacker Demetrius Knight II has 33 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception.
• Three-time transfer Eyabe Okie-Anoma (Alabama, UT-Martin and Michigan) is 21st in the country in sacks, averaging 0.80 per contest.
• Punt returner Henry Rutledge has a punt return for a touchdown.
• Youngstown State / John Carroll transfer Grant Gonya is 11th in the nation in punting, averaging 46.1 yards per punt.
• Charlotte ranks 13th nationally in kickoff return defense (14.62) and 22nd in punt returns (14.0).
• The 49ers have 65 transfers on their roster, including Randy Franklin (R-So. / DB) from Navy.

Jumping the gun a little on visiting team posting the thread, as per the bylaws. However, I'm going to be roughing it starting this afternoon.

clt was waiting for you to set this up. appreciate it

I would feel better about this game with Hovarth starting (or at least available). Anyway though, I think Navy should do well if the offense shows up at least a bit.

clt hears we may have sold 5k standing room only tickets for this one. tailgate parking passes are hard to find

clt is getting ready to finish packing up for the tailgate, gotta get there early it is going to be packed

Navy wins 14-0

Not counting Charlotte taking a knee on the last play of the first half, each team had six possessions in the first half. All 12 of those ended with a punt. I can’t remember ever seeing that before.

Also, there was one point in the game when both teams had combined to complete 5 passes out of 18 pass attempts. Those 18 attempts gained a total of 18 yards for both teams.

clt says that game was something else. congrats to to Navy on a well earned win.

(10-14-2023 05:22 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Navy wins 14-0

Not counting Charlotte taking a knee on the last play of the first half, each team had six possessions in the first half. All 12 of those ended with a punt. I can’t remember ever seeing that before.

Also, there was one point in the game when both teams had combined to complete 5 passes out of 18 pass attempts. Those 18 attempts gained a total of 18 yards for both teams.

I’ve seen games like that, but there was always extreme adverse weather involved.

At the high school level, our local HS played the last two games of the year in sub freezing temperatures. The two games were a 0-0 tie, and a 2-0 loss.

Now I’m curious about punting stats for those games and might go look up the old stats. Might have been too cold to punt though :/

(10-14-2023 06:14 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(10-14-2023 05:22 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Navy wins 14-0

Not counting Charlotte taking a knee on the last play of the first half, each team had six possessions in the first half. All 12 of those ended with a punt. I can’t remember ever seeing that before.

Also, there was one point in the game when both teams had combined to complete 5 passes out of 18 pass attempts. Those 18 attempts gained a total of 18 yards for both teams.

I’ve seen games like that, but there was always extreme adverse weather involved.

At the high school level, our local HS played the last two games of the year in sub freezing temperatures. The two games were a 0-0 tie, and a 2-0 loss.

Now I’m curious about punting stats for those games and might go look up the old stats. Might have been too cold to punt though :/

Our Ray Guy watchlist guy punted 11 times. Averaging 46.3

MVP

(10-14-2023 05:25 PM)ghostofclt! Wrote:  clt says that game was something else. congrats to to Navy on a well earned win.

Thanks.

Apologize if the AAC ESPN+ crew covered this.
As we adjust to the new offensive system, the sophomore Horvath and plebe Woodson are better suited athletes for what OC Chesnutt wants. They just weren't ready.
The week before N. Texas, the coaches told senior QB Tai Lavatai that Horvath would get thd start, and Woodson was the Future.Tai shifted to mentor mode.
And then last week Horvath suffered an injury to his non throwing hand. Tai came in and won that game.

So Tai was the obvious starter, with the freshman the clear backup, and Xavier Arline moved back from slotback as the #3, with game qb experience, but very few reps in the new offense.

5 minutes into the game and Lavatai goes out with the rib injury...I'm glad the defense was so good, cuz now I'm wondering what the hell we do for the Air Force game.

QB coach Ivin Jasper moved from the pressbox to the sideline in the second half. On one hand, it's not like the O was suddenly a thing of beauty. On the other hand, that was part of Malcolm Perry's 2019 success.

(10-14-2023 09:05 PM)slhNavy91 Wrote:  

(10-14-2023 05:25 PM)ghostofclt! Wrote:  clt says that game was something else. congrats to to Navy on a well earned win.

Thanks.

Apologize if the AAC ESPN+ crew covered this.
As we adjust to the new offensive system, the sophomore Horvath and plebe Woodson are better suited athletes for what OC Chesnutt wants. They just weren't ready.
The week before N. Texas, the coaches told senior QB Tai Lavatai that Horvath would get thd start, and Woodson was the Future.Tai shifted to mentor mode.
And then last week Horvath suffered an injury to his non throwing hand. Tai came in and won that game.

So Tai was the obvious starter, with the freshman the clear backup, and Xavier Arline moved back from slotback as the #3, with game qb experience, but very few reps in the new offense.

5 minutes into the game and Lavatai goes out with the rib injury...I'm glad the defense was so good, cuz now I'm wondering what the hell we do for the Air Force game.

QB coach Ivin Jasper moved from the pressbox to the sideline in the second half. On one hand, it's not like the O was suddenly a thing of beauty. On the other hand, that was part of Malcolm Perry's 2019 success.

Obviously a work in progress, but I can see what they like about Woodson. I guess he will be the guy against AF.

In his game report, in the local newspaper, longtime Navy beat writer Bill Wagner wrote the following about the QB situation :

" Navy’s already shaky quarterback situation suffered another setback during Saturday’s American Athletic Conference contest at Charlotte.

Freshman Braxton Woodson took over under center and did just enough to lead the Midshipmen to an ugly win.

Woodson was pressed into action and it was clear the plebe was not ready for prime time. He looked tentative and uncertain directing the option offense, which had trouble picking up a first down. Woodson also struggled passing, completing 5 of 14 attempts for 85 yards with most of that coming on the bomb to Heidenreich.

“Braxton came in and had some struggles. He missed some reads. We had to let him settle down,” Newbery said. “I thought he looked different in the second half and took command. We knew we needed some big plays in the second half and we got two, which was all we needed.”

Navy now finds itself in even more of a quarterback quandary heading into next Saturday’s service academy showdown against Air Force in Annapolis. Senior Xavier Arline moved from slotback to quarterback at the beginning of the week and is now the backup.

Arline has considerable more experience than Woodson, but has been practicing as a slotback most of the season.

“It’s awesome to win two consecutive league games. We’ve got to find a way to be more consistent offensively. We’ve got to score more points to beat a team like Air Force. Everybody knows that. We’ve got to go out and get better,” Newberry said. "

Well deserved! I'm convinced he's half the reason we lost this game. The other half is a complete inability to sting two good offensive plays together.

(10-16-2023 01:04 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

Well deserved! I'm convinced he's half the reason we lost this game. The other half is a complete inability to sting two good offensive plays together.

Absolutely.
With a plebe at QB for all but the first drive, and looking the part, repeatedly pinning Charlotte back was a must. Great defensive performance, again, but he might have been the MVP.