With the welcome relief of a bye week slowing things down, now’s as good a time as any to look at how the Texas Bowl is shaping up. The Mids are now 8-3, and officially accepted the invitation following the Notre Dame win last week. Their opponent will come from the Big 12 as long as the conference has enough bowl-eligible teams. Last year we spent half of the run-up to the EagleBank Bowl looking at the ACC standings and praying to avoid a rematch with Wake Forest. Thankfully, there’s no such problem this year (yet).

Here’s the Big 12 Bowl lineup, assuming only the champ makes the BCS:

1. BCS (Fiesta)
2. Cotton
3. Holiday
4. Alamo
5. Sun
6. Insight
7. Independence
8. Texas

It’s possible for more than one team to make the BCS if Texas loses the Big 12 championship game, but still gets selected for a BCS at-large bid. In that case, the Texas Bowl would have the #9 selection from the conference, and we might have to start worrying about having enough teams eligible. If the conference doesn’t have a team available, then Navy’s opponent will be an at-large selection from who knows where.

Here’s how things look in the Big 12 right now:

Bowl eligible: Texas (10-0), Oklahoma State (8-2), Nebraska (7-3), Oklahoma (6-4), Texas Tech (6-4), Iowa State (6-5), Missouri (6-4)

Still alive: Kansas State (6-5), Kansas (5-5), Texas A&M (5-5), Baylor (4-6)

LOL no: Colorado (3-7)

Seven teams are bowl eligible, with four still kicking. None of the four has an easy go of things to finish up the season, so there are no guarantees to get eight eligible teams, let alone nine. Kansas State has 6 wins, but still isn’t bowl-eligible because two of those wins came against I-AA opponents. They play Nebraska next week. Win, and they get a spot in the Big 12 championship game and a chance to play for the Fiesta Bowl. Lose, and they don’t go to any bowl game. Talk about feast or famine… Anyway, the only team I wouldn’t want to play is Texas Tech, since that would be a rematch of the 2003 Houston Bowl. From a football perspective, anyone else in the conference would make a very appealing bowl matchup for the Mids. For obvious reasons, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska aren’t going to be trickling down to the #8 selection. The best-case scenario for Navy would be a team that would bring a lot of fans to the game, creating a better atmosphere for the game and helping the bowl committee financially. That means Oklahoma or Texas A&M. 

A few things need to happen in order for either of those teams to make their way down to the Texas Bowl. They would most likely have to finish 6-6; the bowls that pick ahead of the Texas Bowl will want OU and A&M too, but they won’t be able to select a 6-6 team if a team with a winning record is still available. That also means that a few other schools need a win in the next couple of weeks to guarantee a winning season. So here’s your Birddog Big 12 Texas Bowl Rooting Guide to give you something to follow during Navy’s week off.

1) Oklahoma at Texas Tech: An Oklahoma win gives them a winning record for the season and likely eliminates them from Texas Bowl contention. Same with the Red Raiders, so root for Texas Tech.

2) Iowa State at Missouri: This is the Cyclones’ last game of the season, while Mizzou still has a game against Kansas next week. Root for Iowa State to get a winning record, making it less likely that they will fall to the Texas Bowl.

3) Baylor at Texas A&M: Call in whatever karmic favors you have to pull for Texas A&M.

4) Kansas State at Nebraska: Not that it’s going to happen, but the more bowl-eligible Big 12 teams, the better. Cheer for Kansas State.

5) Kansas at Texas: Don’t bother hoping for the impossible. Texas.

If by some miracle all of this comes to pass, that will leave us with 6 teams with a guaranteed winning record: Texas, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Kansas State. Oklahoma would be 6-5 with a game at home against Oklahoma State left to play. Mizzou would be 6-5 with 5-6 Kansas next on the schedule. Texas A&M would be 6-5, with their season finale against Texas remaining. If Texas wins the conference, that would leave at least 9 teams for the 8 bowl games to pick from. A Missouri win over Kansas would give them a winning record as well, leaving the Independence Bowl and Texas Bowl to pick from OU and A&M, assuming each loses its last game.

Confused yet? That’s the best-case scenario. I think it’s more likely that Kansas, Missouri, or Iowa State will end up playing Navy. Any of those would make for a great game, but I’m not sure if they’d make for a great crowd. Here’s hoping I’m wrong. Kansas and Missouri both drew well in their bowl games last year, after all. I’m just not as sure they’ll turn out for a game against Navy the way a more local team would.

Navy wins again;
Seven is greater than three.
Bye week! Sweet relief!

For Navy fans who lived through the two decades after George Welsh left to coach Virginia, it can be hard to admit that the Mids are, in fact, good. Slowly but surely, though, people are coming around. After all, Navy has won a lot of football games over the last seven years– 58 to be exact. “Expect to win” hasn’t just been a marketing slogan for NAAA; it’s been sound advice. While we all understand how challenging it is to win at a service academy, we know that Navy enters every game with a shot to win it. It shouldn’t be a surprise when they do.

The exception to that rule is Notre Dame. Navy could be the 5-time defending national champion, and beating Notre Dame would still be a big deal. It’s just not supposed to happen… A point we were all reminded about for 43 straight years. The losing streak might have ended in 2007, but Saturday’s win was just as satisfying. This was supposed to be the year that Notre Dame put Navy back in its place on the way to a BCS bowl. Instead, the Mids walked out of South Bend victorious, and Navy fans have been giddy ever since. Well, this Navy fan has been, anyway, and I’m sure I’m not alone. If it’s hard for us to move on, imagine how hard it must be for the team. Moving on has been sort of a theme for Navy football this season, as Ken Niumatalolo has found himself trying to keep the team grounded after impressive performances in games like Ohio State and Rice. Too many people patting the team on the back, he said; he had to make sure his guys didn’t let it go to their heads. Niumat probably had to work overtime this week. He knows that the fastest way to squash the feel-good vibe from the Notre Dame win would be to walk out onto the field on Senior Day and lose to Delaware.

It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. In 2003, the Mids jumped out to a 14-0 lead before fizzling out on offense and falling, 21-17. In 2007, the offense was phenomenal, but the defense took the day off in a 59-52 loss. The Blue Hens advanced to the I-AA title game in both of those years, winning in 2003. The wheels fell off the wagon for Delaware last year, as they finished 4-8. This year’s team has bounced back a bit, coming into the Navy game at 6-3 and ranked 23rd in I-AA.

The difference has been primarily at quarterback. Delaware has relied on I-A transfers at quarterback over the last few years to lead their offenses. In 2003, it was Andy Hall, who transferred from Georgia Tech. In 2007, it was Pitt transfer Joe Flacco. Last year, head coach K.C. Keeler was about two games short of holding an open tryout with the student body to find someone to play the position. This year, though, Keeler has Penn State transfer Pat Devlin. With Devlin, the Blue Hen spread offense has regained some of its punch. Devlin threw for 302 yards against William & Mary, 329 against Maine, and 284 against UMass, helping to make Delaware the 25th-rated passing offense in I-AA. The Delaware offense is what Paul Johnson would call the “NCAA Offense:” spread, 3 or 4 wide, QB in the shotgun. The running game is a lot of the same zone schemes that have plagued the Mids in the past, although with an average size of 6-4, 277 pounds, the offensive line doesn’t have nearly the size of the other teams that ran those schemes.

Defensively, Delaware lines up in a 4-3. It’s a fairly young unit that will be taking the field against the Navy offense, with only 3 seniors expected to start. Over the years, Delaware has tried a little bit of everything against the Mids. In the ‘03 game, the safeties basically ignored the possibility of the pass, and it burned them– once. After that, the Mids weren’t able to capitalize. Aaron Polanco was a much better passer than Craig Candeto, so that approach wouldn’t fly in ‘04. Instead, they actually tried more of a straight man-to-man. Kyle Eckel ended up running for 143 yards. Last time, it was the ol’ free-safety-follows-the-slotback defense:

It didn’t work. Of course, the Mids couldn’t stop Delaware either, but I doubt that K.C. Keeler is anxious to recycle a game plan that gave up 52 points the last time out.

The concern after a big win is that it will lead to a letdown the following week. I don’t think that’s what we’re going to see out of Navy, though. The team already had a letdown against Temple. They’ve learned their lesson. I think that the win over Notre Dame will serve as a wake-up call for just how much this team can accomplish. A 10-win regular season is still within reach. As tired and beat up as the Mids are heading into their 11th straight week without a bye, they can go all-out knowing that a break is on the horizon. Ricky Dobbs looked like he hadn’t missed a beat last week, and the Navy offense might get a similar spark from the return of big-play slotback Marcus Curry. Navy fane know how dangerous Delaware can be. They’ll be motivated this week, too, as they will need to win to stay alive for a playoff berth. I don’t know if this Delaware team measures up to the championship contenders of years past, but they aren’t to be taken lightly. Fortunately, nobody knows that better than the Mids.

I was lucky enough to have made the trip to Ireland back in 1996 when Navy played Notre Dame in Dublin. It was a bowl-game type of atmosphere in the week leading up to the game, complete with parade, pep rally, and the usual festivities. My memory of that week is a bit hazy (for various reasons), but there’s one part of the pep rally that sort of struck a chord with me at the time. You know how pep rallies are; bands, cheerleaders, and speakers getting on stage to lead the rah-rah. One speaker was less rah-rah and more matter-of-fact. I can’t remember who it was… Tom Lynch, maybe? He had to be from the class of ‘64. He got up on the stage, grabbed the microphone, and said, “You know, we beat Notre Dame three out of four times when I was a Mid.” Of all the things that were said that evening, that’s the only thing that has stuck with me. I desperately wanted to beat Notre Dame just once. I wouldn’t dare dream of anything more than that; seeing more than one win over the Irish just felt like too much to ask for.

That which was unfathomable to me then has now become the reality that the Brigade wakes up to every morning. Navy defeated Notre Dame on Saturday, 23-21, for their second win over the Irish in three years. There was no overtime necessary this time, as the Mids scored on their first drive then led for the rest of the game.

It’s five days later, and I’m still having a hard time organizing my thoughts. Even during the repetitive misery of the losing streak, I knew that I’d eventually see the Mids beat Notre Dame. But twice in three years? No way. Not that karma didn’t owe us one (hundred) in the series. There were certainly a few bounces that went Navy’s way in the game; bounces that, for the last FORTY-FIVE years, had favored Notre Dame. Still, it was up to the Mids to capitalize on those opportunities. They did so in grand fashion, particularly on defense; Navy forced three turnovers for the second straight game. On the other side of the ball, Ricky Dobbs fought for 102 rushing yards and a touchdown. Vince Murray ran for a whopping 158 yards on only 14 carries, and Alex Teich added another 52 yards of his own. Together, the fullbacks averaged a somewhat ridiculous 11 yards per carry. The Mids churned out 348 yards on the ground, which as far as I know is the most they’ve ever had against the Irish. 

It’s not as if Notre Dame had much trouble moving the ball, either. I did get one thing right in my preview; Charlie Weis was going to come out throwing. Not exactly a profound revelation, I know… Still, it was different from the Notre Dame template of Navy games past. And for the most part, it worked. Had the Irish won the game, it might have been a jewel in the “Jimmy Clausen for Heisman” campaign. The talented junior threw for 452 yards and two touchdowns on a school-record 37 completions on 51 attempts. Wide receivers Michael Floyd and Golden Tate lived up to their reputations as well, combining for 19 catches and 141 and 132 yards, respectively. A quick glance at the stat sheet might lead you to believe that Notre Dame scored closer to 51 than 21, but the stats only tell part of the story. The other side of that coin is that the effectiveness of the Notre Dame offense was inversely proportional to its proximity to the Navy goal line. Six times the Irish made their way inside the Navy 20 yard line, coming away with points only twice.

It was classic Buddy Green defense. Navy’s savvy coordinator builds his defenses around two principles: 1) stop the run, and 2) prevent the big play. By not giving up the big play, he forces the offense to make extended drives. And the more snaps that 18, 19, and 20 year-olds take, the more likely it is that they’ll make a mistake. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday, with the mistakes coming in the form of two missed field goals and an interception after Michael Floyd came out of the huddle with the wrong play. After a pride-crushing performance against Temple, the Navy defense rebounded against the Notre Dame rushing attack, holding the home team to only 60 yards on 20 carries. Navy’s run defense was also a big part of Notre Dame’s red zone struggles; the Irish had a stretch of 7 plays inside the Navy 10 yard line before finally punching the ball into the end zone. Now, did Buddy know that Notre Dame would commit all these miscues? Of course not. If Clausen & Company were able to convert on a couple more of these drives, Buddy probably would’ve taken a few more chances. But as things played out, he had no reason to change his approach.

Navy’s team effort was highlighted by several excellent individual performances. Not surprisingly, tops on the list is Ram Vela. Before Charlie Weis goes to sleep, he checks for Ram Vela under his bed. Has any one player been more responsible for the hot seat that Weis currently occupies? In 2007, Vela’s high-flying acrobatics in South Bend led to a 4th-down sack, sending the game into overtime, where the Mids would eventually prevail for the first time in 43 years (you might have heard the story). This year, the senior linebacker just did… well, everything. While tying for the team lead with 9 tackles, Vela also recovered a fumble, tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage, registered 2 QB hurries, and intercepted a pass on the Navy 5 yard line that bounced off Michael Floyd’s back. When Ram was a quarterback at San Antonio’s Taft High School, what do you think Navy’s coaches told him when they recruited him? “Hey Ram, come to the Naval Academy. We’ll try you at 4 different positions before settling on outside linebacker, where you’ll score a touchdown in the Army-Navy game, become the face of the school in its television ads, and almost single-handedly be responsible for the downfall of a Notre Dame head coach!” Fulfill your destiny, indeed. Craig Schaefer and Blake Carter both had 9 tackles of their own, including Schaefer’s game-clinching sack of Clausen in the end zone for a safety. Carter and fellow cornerback Kevin Edwards both played outstanding games themselves. You might not think so based on numbers that Notre Dame’s receivers put up, but with the zone coverage that Navy was playing most of the afternoon, one-on-one matchups weren’t their main focus. Part of preventing the big play is making tackles to keep receivers from gaining yards after the catch, and that’s where both Carter and Edwards stood out. Both players forced fumbles that altered the course of the game; Carter on Notre Dame’s first drive, and Edwards on the goal line. One led to Navy’s first touchdown, while the other kept the Irish from making it a one-score game at the end of the 3rd quarter.

It didn’t seem like the Mids were able to get much pressure on Clausen for most of the game, but when they did, they sure made it count. The margin of victory was provided by the aforementioned safety with a minute left in the game. Clausen simply dropped back too far, and Craig Schaefer was able to bull-rush past the left tackle to make the play. It was the second straight sack for the defense, with Jabaree Tuani getting in on the action on the previous play. Tuani’s sack is particularly impressive. Notre Dame had trips receivers lined up on the wide side of the field. All three of them ran slant patterns. The right tackle was supposed to execute one of those evil cut blocks that Corwin Brown disapproves of (we’ll get to him in a second) in order to create a passing lane. Jabaree used his hands to shed the block, staying on his feet and forcing Clausen to improvise. But Jabaree just didn’t give him the time:

That’s a defensive end that knows what he’s doing. It was also Jabaree’s first sack of the season, which is somewhat surprising until you consider that it’s the linebackers that usually get the sacks in this defense… like Craig Schaefer. Together, Craig and Jabaree put the finishing touches on a defensive performance that might not jump out at you on paper, but won’t soon be forgotten by Navy fans.

The reaction to the game in the national media has been centered around how it affects the future of Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. That comes as no surprise. Other than Navy’s involvement in the matter, I never really cared about the fate of the Notre Dame staff one way or another. I’m no Weis fan, but we’re talking about people’s livelihoods here. My opinion changed last night, though; right around the time I heard Corwin Brown run his mouth. As Notre Dame’s co-defensive coordinator, Brown apparently didn’t like Ken Niumatalolo’s assessment of the game.

“First and foremost, I was very disappointed with what the Navy head coach said after the game. He didn’t want something to be misconstrued, then he said it regarding how we prepared and what we prepared to do. Because I’m going to tell you this, we came out in the second half, minus one mess up, they don’t get anything. Whether you think it’s the right thing to say or not, in this profession, with all the classy guys that I’ve watched and played under and studied, they would never say a thing like that. So to say that we didn’t prepare well or we didn’t have a good game plan, that’s crazy.”

Didn’t prepare well? Didn’t have a good game plan? Harsh words from the Navy camp. The only problem is that Ken Niumatalolo said no such thing.

“I think the one thing that helped us, and I really hope this doesn’t come across wrong, but I think the thing that helped us this year was last year because we knew that they’d line up the same way.  We didn’t execute very well last year, and coming into this year they did a great job against us last year defensively, so we had a pretty good clue that they were going to come back and do the same things as they did last year, and we had a few things.  We were expecting that same defense that we saw last year.

But it was still a grind.  I mean, they’re still a great defense, and we thought we had some alignments in some of our formations.  But it was a grind to get yardage against them even though we thought we had some numbers advantages in certain formations.’

Well, now, it appears that someone’s completely overreacting, and it’s not the guy whose name rhymes with “See who got the polo.” Coach Niumatalolo said that after his offense struggled in last year’s game, he expected Notre Dame to do the same things this year. Is that unreasonable? How does that turn into “didn’t prepare well” or “didn’t have a good game plan?” You think that maybe Niumatalolo figured he’d see the same defense out of Notre Dame because that’s exactly what Jon Tenuta said he was going to do?

Notre Dame had success keeping Navy’s rushing attack in check last season, Tenuta’s first with the Irish.

Notre Dame held Navy to 11 first downs and 178 rushing yards. Tenuta said the Irish can use last year’s success going into this season’s game.

“I think that’s the basis of what you install,” Tenuta said. “You go back to what we did well, and you build from there. That’s your starting point, but obviously, they know that too.”

Brown’s right, though; Notre Dame’s defensive plan was certainly criticized after the game. But it wasn’t by Niumatalolo; it was by Brown’s own players:

After the game, Notre Dame nose guard Ian Williams said that Navy “out-schemed us and I think they just played harder.”

That drew a response Sunday from Weis, who pointed out that safety Kyle McCarthy said after the game that Navy’s success had nothing to do with the scheme.

“There’s a reason why one guy’s a captain and one guy’s not,” Weis said.

But even McCarthy said the Irish defensively “just tried to do the same stuff as we did last year.” That’s what Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said he was counting on.

Hey, Jon Tenuta said he wasn’t even worried about Navy anyway, since he’d “been in this game a long time” and ”seen every option known to mankind.” That’s what the “classy” guys say, I guess. Of course, if Brown says that the coaches prepared well and had a good game plan, then guess who he’s blaming for the loss?

Here’s the bottom line. After last year’s game, we saw the mistakes that Navy made. Corwin Brown and Jon Tenuta did not. Despite having seen “every option known to mankind,” Tenuta either didn’t know enough about the Navy offense to recognize when the Mids screwed up, or was so arrogant that he just assumed their struggles were because he and Brown had “solved” the offense. Brown was caught with his pants down on Saturday, and now he’s lashing out at Ken Niumatalolo for saying something that is 1) exactly what Jon Tenuta said, 2) exactly what Brown’s own players said, and 3) the truth, unlike Brown’s accusations.

The funny thing is that Tenuta and Brown’s game plan last year wasn’t some stroke of coaching brilliance, or even unusual. Like several 4-3 teams the Mids have faced over the years, the Irish used a defensive end to pinch the playside tackle, leaving the middle linebacker unblocked and free to move outside to tackle the quarterback.

The pinch gives the quarterback a “keep” read at the mesh, and since the middle linebacker isn’t in the count, it’s likely the QB never even looks at him as he’s reading whether or not to pitch the ball.

This year, Ivin Jasper found ways to take advantage of this, making the middle linebacker run himself out of the play. Sometimes the QB’s motion fooled the MLB into blitzing a gap that the offense was actually running away from. Sometimes the MLB just ran himself into traffic. Most often, the MLB ran outside while the fullback ran right up the middle through the spot he once occupied.

The middle linebacker, the key to the Notre Dame defensive plan, was basically marginalized. CORWIN, WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THIS?

“What I think is crazy is the lack of imagination for what they do.”

THANKS, COACH.

Not that we didn’t see anything a little different. Niumatalolo mentioned having numbers advantages in certain formations. He was referring to what was probably the easiest wrinkle in the Navy offense that fans could identify– the fullback option. With Alex Teich and Vince Murray being smaller and a little more nimble than Navy fullbacks of the past, we talked before the season about how Coach Jasper could take advantage of that by running the fullback outside. He’s called the fullback option here and there all season, but against Notre Dame it was clearly a featured part of the game plan. When the Mids lined up in the trips formation, Notre Dame countered by having a safety cover the middle receiver, with the other safety in the middle of the formation. One linebacker was left to cover the entire weak side. The playside tackle would carry out his block just like he would on a triple option play; cutting inside the defensive end to get to the middle linebacker. By pulling a guard to block the playside DE, it created the numbers advantage Niumatalolo spoke of. That weakside linebacker now has to cover both the QB and the FB.

When the play was run out of the base spread formation, the playside slotback would block the safety. CORWIN, YOUR THOUGHTS?

“What I think is crazy is the lack of imagination for what they do.”

BRILLIANT.

Navy’s third touchdown of the game came on a beautiful 52-yard pass from Ricky Dobbs to Greg Jones in the third quarter. Coach Jasper had been setting up for that play for the whole game. He ran several plays in the first half out of the twins formation, with both wide receivers on the line of scrimmage. As you know, the inside receiver is ineligible in this formation, since he’s covered up by the outside receiver. At first, Notre Dame didn’t realize the inside receiver was ineligible and covered him:

Coming out of halftime, though, the defense figured out the trick, and started ignoring the inside receiver:

On the next drive, it was time for the boomshakalaka. Jasper actually credits wide receivers coach Danny O’Rourke for recognizing the right time to call the play. As far as the corner was concerned, everything looked the same as the last drive; his man, the inside receiver, was on the line of scrimmage. When he looked inside, he saw the slotback lined up off the LOS, just like before. What he didn’t see, though, was the slotback on the other side of the formation moved up in a tight end position. He also didn’t see the receiver behind him backed up off the line. That made his man eligible, but he didn’t realize it. The ball is snapped, he runs inside looking for a run, and the ball is thrown over his head to a player he thought he didn’t have to cover.

The best part is watching the corner try to plead his case while Greg is still running with the ball. CORWIN BROWN? UNIMPRESSED.

“What I think is crazy is the lack of imagination for what they do.”

INDEED.

Perhaps the most satisfying play of the afternoon was Vince Murray’s touchdown run, a 25-yard blast up the middle to open the second quarter. The play is impressive not just because Murray ran into the end zone untouched, but because Ricky put him there. The play is a midline option. Now, on all the videos I’ve already posted, notice how Notre Dame’s linebackers are lined up. There’s one in the middle, and one outside each defensive end, covering the C-gaps. On this play, though, that’s not the case.

Notre Dame called a cornerback blitz. The corner would have the C-gap responsibility, meaning that the linebacker is now lined up over the B-gap. Ricky, recognizing the new linebacker alignment, checked to run the play to the other side. The playside guard, leaving the DT unblocked, is able to get to the middle linebacker. One safety rotates over to cover the ineligible receiver that the cornerback would have covered. The other safety follows the playside A-back and runs in the opposite direction. The defense basically got out of Vince’s way.

This is a great play for two reasons. One, Ricky makes the read on the DT to give to the fullback. That’s a very fast read, and one that he’s struggled with off and on over the season. Two, he recognized the defense and checked to the right play. Ricky has the physical tools to be as good a quarterback as any of us have ever seen in this offense. He’s only a junior, though, and mastering the finer points of the offense takes time. Plays like this are an encouraging sign that the process is on schedule.

COACH BROWN, ANY REMARKS ON WHY YOU HAD YOUR SAFETY DESERT THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD TO COVER AN INELIGIBLE RECEIVER?

“What I think is crazy is the lack of imagination for what they do.”

THANK YOU SIR.

Navy’s win over Notre Dame is their 7th of the season, securing the Mids’ spot in the Texas Bowl. The win also keeps alive the possibility of a 10-win regular season. Perhaps the biggest impact will be on the recruiting trail; no doubt the comments of “Navy will slide now that Paul Johnson is gone” will fall on deaf ears, not that they shouldn’t have already. It was an important win for this team, for this program, and for the soul.

The scene: a television studio in Burbank, California. The audience listens in amazement as psychic John Edward relays messages from the other side.

JOHN EDWARD: …and so, Steve, Larry says that just because he’s dead, don’t think you don’t still owe him that 20 bucks.

STEVE: God dammit.

JOHN EDWARD: Larry says that can be arranged.

STEVE: *slinks away*

The audience claps.

JOHN EDWARD: Thanks, Steve. I’d get to confession if I were you. OK, I’m sensing another spirit now… Wow, this is a cantankerous one. Is there a basketball fan in the audience? Baseball, maybe? How about football?

NAVY FAN: *raises hand* Uh, I like football.

JOHN EDWARD: I knew it! Are you a Giants fan? Raiders? Bengals?

NAVY FAN: Uh…

JOHN EDWARD: College, maybe? Northwestern? East Carolina?

NAVY FAN: I like Navy.

JOHN EDWARD: Of course, they all wear Navy blue! Nailed that one too!

The audience gasps in amazement.

NAVY FAN: Don’t Northwestern and ECU wear purp…

JOHN EDWARD: *cutting him off* So, Northwestern fan,

NAVY FAN: Navy.

JOHN EDWARD: So, Navy fan, have you lost someone close to you recently?

NAVY FAN: No.

JOHN EDWARD: Are you sure? No friends, relatives?

NAVY FAN: No.

JOHN EDWARD: How about not so recently? Maybe in the past year? 10 years?

NAVY FAN: Nope.

JOHN EDWARD: *annoyed* You’re telling me you’re never lost anyone?

NAVY FAN: Well, there is one person…

JOHN EDWARD: I knew it!

The audience applauds.

NAVY FAN: But I doubt…

BOOMING, DISTANT VOICE: OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

A bright light appears onstage, accompanied by a roar of thunder. The room shakes. Smoke begins to billow from the floor. A ghostly figure emerges. 

GHOST OF PJ: BOO, SUCKAZ.

The audience screams.

NAVY FAN: HOLY CRAP!

JOHN EDWARD: WTF YOU’RE REAL??!

GHOST OF PJ: OF COURSE I’M REAL YOU QUACK. BUT WAITING FOR YOU TO COME AROUND TO THE RIGHT ANSWER TAKES FOREVER EVEN IN THE AFTERLIFE. I’M TAKING MATTERS INTO MY OWN INCORPOREAL HANDS.

NAVY FAN: Wait, how are you a ghost? You’re still alive.

GHOST OF PJ: NOT TO YOU I’M NOT. YOU’VE BEEN MOURNING MY LOSS FOR TWO YEARS. IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO MOVE THE %$#! ON. I SURE AS HELL HAVE.

JOHN EDWARD: And you came on my show to tell him this? I’m awesome!

GHOST OF PJ: SHUT YOUR LIE HOLE, DINGLEBERRY. I WANTED JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT TO TALK FOR ME, BUT THE GHOST WHISPERER PRODUCERS DIDN’T LIKE MY SCRIPT.

NAVY FAN: Bummer.

GHOST OF PJ: TELL ME ABOUT IT.

NAVY FAN: But how can I move on? Things just aren’t the same without you.

GHOST OF PJ: WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DO YOU NOT HAVE WINNING SEASONS, BOWL GAMES, AND THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF’S TROPHY?

NAVY FAN: Well yeah, but…

GHOST OF PJ: BUT WHAT? DID I EVER WIN GAMES OVER TOP 25 TEAMS IN BACK-TO-BACK SEASONS? DID I EVER WIN BACK-TO-BACK GAMES OVER BCS TEAMS?

NAVY FAN: Well, no. But Temple. We lost to Temple!

GHOST OF PJ: AND I LOST TO DELAWARE. TWICE. HELL, WE WERE A GNAT’S ASS FROM LOSING TO UMASS, NORTHEASTERN, RICE, AND NORTH TEXAS, TOO. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES? EVEN AT GEORGIA TECH? SERIOUSLY.

NAVY FAN: But it’s how we lost, Coach. The offense… It’s too conservative. We didn’t get the ball to the slotbacks enough, and we hardly threw at all. And we called a quarterback sneak on 4th & 1! Everyone knew it was coming.

GHOST OF PJ: DO YOU WANT A LESS CONSERVATIVE OFFENSE, OR DO YOU WANT TO WIN? THE A-BACKS AND WIDE RECEIVERS HAD 8 CARRIES AGAINST TEMPLE. AGAINST NOTRE DAME THEY ONLY HAD 6! AND RICKY ONLY THREW THREE TIMES. THE THREE QUARTERBACK SNEAKS NAVY RAN GOT THEM TWO FIRST DOWNS AND A TOUCHDOWN. I BET YOU LIKED THAT GAME, DIDN’T YOU? YOU THINK MAYBE THE COACHES KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING?

NAVY FAN: I guess…

GHOST OF PJ: YOU GUESS? THE HELL YOU DO. YOU KNOW, MORON. THEY DON’T GO DOWN TO MCDONALD’S AND START SECOND-GUESSING YOUR JOB, SO YOU OUGHT TO LEAVE THEM ALONE. I CALLED A QB SNEAK ON 4TH & 1 AGAINST WAKE FOREST ON SATURDAY. YOU WANNA TELL ME HOW CLUELESS I AM?

NAVY FAN: Well, no…

GHOST OF PJ: DAMN STRAIGHT. YOU’D BE KISSING MY SUPERNATURAL BUTT ON CITY DOCK.

NAVY FAN: But you really opened things up in 2007!

GHOST OF PJ: YOU THINK I WANTED TO? DID YOU SEE THE DEFENSE IN 2007? IF WE DIDN’T SCORE ON EVERY DRIVE, WE’D LOSE. THAT 2007 DEFENSE STILL HAUNTS ME, AND I’M A FREAKING GHOST.

NAVY FAN: Wow, I really had no idea.

GHOST OF PJ: STOP TELLING ME THINGS I ALREADY KNOW. BETTER FIGURE IT OUT SOON, THOUGH. I’M SICK OF PEOPLE CALLING MY NAME LIKE I’M THE CANDYMAN OR SOMETHING. IF YOU DON’T REALIZE HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT, SOME OTHER COLLEGE PROGRAM WILL SOON ENOUGH.

DISTANT, BOOMING VOICE OF THE FUTURE GHOST OF IVIN JASPER: YOU TELL ‘EM, COACH.

HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA

It’s Notre Dame week, but you might not have noticed.

There was a time when the week before the Notre Dame game was a bit crazy for Navy fans. Prior to Navy’s TV deals with HDNet and CSTV/CBS College Sports, the Notre Dame game was one of only a handful of chances that Navy fans across the country had to see the Mids play. Everyone would get all riled up telling each other that this would finally be the year that the losing streak to the Irish would end. National media outlets that usually paid no attention to Navy would swoop down on Annapolis and start asking questions about the streak and 1963 and Roger Staubach and every other recycled storyline you can think of. Nervous anticipation ran wild. Two years ago, the streak finally did end, mercifully. That just set up a new angle for last year. Can Navy do it again? Will Notre Dame get revenge? A different verse of the same song, for the most part. The same anxious buzz accompanied the week preceding the game.

This year, though, feels downright… normal. There’s no streak to talk about. The Irish won last year’s contest, so there’s no “revenge” on the line. There’s a bit more media attention on the Mids this week, but not overwhelmingly so– certainly not to the extent of years past. It’s not that Notre Dame isn’t a big game. It’s just that the hoopla that defined the rivalry for generations no longer applies, and that’s fine by me. As much as I enjoy the series with Notre Dame and recognize its importance to the Navy program, I’ve always sort of hated the week leading up to the game. It’s not that the media attention was bad, even if they just repeated the same theme year after year. Media exposure is a big reason why the Naval Academy schedules Notre Dame in the first place. No, I dreaded Notre Dame week each year because it always tends to bring out the worst in Navy fans.

The Naval Academy is not like other college football programs. The challenges that come from being a 4000-student military school with high academic standards and a service commitment after graduation make fielding a Division I football program a bit of an uphill climb. You’d think that Navy fans would understand this better than most. Some do. Others, not so much. Everyone says they do. People certainly pay lip service to the obstacles that confront the Navy program, but I don’t think everyone really takes it to heart. A winning record, CIC Trophy, and bowl game are generally how we measure success around here, but for some fans, that isn’t enough. Some people worry about impossible-to-quantify measures like “perception” and “respect,” or about getting mentions on ESPN, or getting ranked in top-25 polls. I’m not going to pretend that I wouldn’t think it’s cool to see “#21 Navy” on my screen at game time, but I also don’t care if I ever do. It’s a shame that some people can’t enjoy Navy football for what it is instead of seeking validation from the same dull, hype-filled nonsense that permeates the collective mindset of the rest of the college football world. And that’s where Notre Dame comes in. For these folks, the game against college football royalty like the Irish is Navy’s big chance for the validation they crave. They get to spend the week joining the chorus of college football’s grand cliche– hating Notre Dame– and seeing people actually care about who Navy’s playing this week. They’ll hear Navy mentioned on Gameday, and see the highlights on Sportscenter. All the important stuff, right? If they say so.

That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing on the line for the Mids this week. There’s a big difference between 7-3 and 6-4, and the loss to Temple means that Navy needs to beat Notre Dame to have a shot at a 10-win regular season. A win would also clinch a spot in the Texas Bowl for Navy, who needs 7 wins due to their 13-game schedule.

Getting there this week is going to be tough. Notre Dame has traditionally run the ball against Navy (including last year), keeping things simple rather than risk upset by throwing interceptions and dropping passes. The Irish are certainly built to be able to do just that. Starting running back Armando Allen is reportedly out this week, but his replacement, Robert Hughes, ran for 138 yards last Saturday against Washington State, has the same average yards per carry on the season (4.9), plus one more touchdown. It’s easy to plug in a new running back with that kind of success when your offensive line consists of 5 seniors that average almost 6-6, 314 pounds. But does that mean that running the ball is the game plan against Navy? I don’t think it will be.

Charlie Weis was hailed as a hero in South Bend, leading Notre Dame to consecutive BCS bowl berths in 2005 and 2006. The wheels fell off the wagon in 2007, though, as the Irish fell to 3-9. Last year was somewhat better, but going 7-6 and playing in the Hawaii Bowl isn’t what Notre Dame boosters and fans expect. Emblematic of the struggles of the last two years is Navy’s 46-44 win in 2007 that ended the 43-game winning streak that Notre Dame had over the Midshipmen. The Irish are playing pretty well this season, sitting at 6-2 and ranked #22 in the BCS; they will want to show that the days of close games against Navy are over. Notre Dame needs 9 wins and a top 14 BCS ranking in order to be eligible for an at-large BCS bowl berth, which means that they’re going to need votes in the polls. Blowouts help their case. I have no doubt that Notre Dame will throw the ball in an effort to run up the score a little bit.

It’s not like they haven’t been chucking the ball all season anyway. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen has played his way into Heisman contention, completing 67% of his passes for 2318 yards and 18 TDs through 8 games. Most importantly, he has thrown only 2 interceptions, compared to the 9 he threw by this point in the season a year ago. His 289 yards passing per game is 8th nationally, and he is 2nd in passing efficiency. In his arsenal are a pair of wide receivers in Golden Tate and Michael Floyd that might be the best tandem in I-A. Tate is 4th in the country with 115 receiving yards per game. Floyd’s injury has forced Tate to shoulder the bulk of the receiving load for the last five weeks, revealing all-around skills that might have been undiscovered had Floyd not broken his collarbone. Floyd was actually considered the playmaker of the two, with 320 yards and 4 TDs in the first two games of the season. Weis says that Floyd looks good and is ready to go against the Mids:

“He’ll be in there plenty. He has fresh legs. He has had a month and a half where he hasn’t taken the beat down that everyone else has. He looks very spry.”

Floyd’s return just makes the game that much harder for the Navy secondary.

Notre Dame isn’t the only team getting players back from injury, though. Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs is ready to return, and by all accounts, looking great. Also ready to make a return is slotback Marcus Curry, the Mids’ best home run threat. That’s good news for an offense looking for a little redemption itself. Not only are they looking to recover from a disappointing loss to Temple last week, but they also have a little to prove after the mental breakdowns in Baltimore a year ago… Stuff like missed assignments that left players unblocked on the perimeter:

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta has indicated that the defense he used against the Mids a year ago would be the basis for his plan tomorrow. This could be a smokescreen like we saw from SMU, but with the statistical success that the Irish had, I doubt it. Will a worn-down Navy team make the same mental errors? Or will Ricky’s return bring a renewed focus and energy to a banged-up offense?

I won’t go so far as to say that Navy should have won last year, but without the mental mistakes, they certainly could have. This year, the Irish are a much different animal offensively. The Mids are going to have to score points in order to keep pace. I think they can. If they fall back to last year’s blunders, though, the game will be too far gone for any onside kicking miracles to be able to save them.

Something that is frequently discussed among Navy fans– at least those of you unfortunate enough to have wandered onto this dark and confused slice of the internet– is the idea of a “complete game.” Navy has done a whole lot of winning over the last several years, but sometimes it seems as if one particular unit carried the others to victory. Perhaps the defense won the game in a low-scoring slugfest. Maybe the offense would win a shootout. Then again, there are games like Air Force last year where Navy’s special teams kicked four field goals and blocked two punts to lead the Mids to the win. Rare is the glorious afternoon where all three units play at the top of their respective games, making the Mids look as if they could give the Washington Redskins a run for their money. Those are the games we live for.

The corollary to that, of course, is that sometimes we’re going to see complete losses– games where something goes wrong in all three phases. Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Temple could be described in such a way. Not that you can’t point to good things on both sides of the ball. Vince Murray rushed for 115 yards. The defense finally forced a couple of turnovers. Special teams almost had a banner day, with Joe Buckley nailing his lone field goal attempt, David Wright scooping up a botched punt for a touchdown, and Craig Schaefer recovering a fumbled punt return to set up another Navy touchdown. But as they giveth, they also taketh away, and in the end the game that people remember will look a lot different from the picture painted by those superlatives.

We’ll start with special teams. Things were looking good after Wright’s touchdown gave the Mids the lead with 1:55 left in the second quarter. After a stagnant first half, a little momentum going into the break can do wonders for a team’s attitude. Any momentum gained on that play, however, was lost almost immediately. Temple’s James Nixon returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, turning a 10-7 Navy lead into a 14-10 advantage for the Owls as the teams headed into their locker rooms. Navy had only given up two shaky kickoff returns all season; one to open the Ohio State game, the other at the beginning of the game against Rice. Both were returned to about midfield. Other than that, kickoff coverage hasn’t been much of an issue. In fact, the Mids have given up 20 yards or less per return in the majority of their games thus far. Obviously, that wasn’t the case on Saturday. Temple is particularly strong on kickoff returns, having led the nation with 26.6 yards per return last year. They haven’t slowed down in 2009, ranking 6th with 28.45 yards. Navy, on the other hand, entered the game short-handed on special teams. Ricky Dobbs, Marcus Curry, and Jordan Stephens might have been the names that caught your eye on the injury list, but another pair of names probably flew under your radar: Jordan Eddington and Tra’ves Bush. Eddington and Bush happen to be the team’s two leading tacklers on kickoff coverage, and their absence was felt last week. Does that excuse giving up a 100-yard KO return? No, but it does suggest something other than a systemic problem for the coverage unit. It also demonstrates just how valuable every member of the team really is, and how you can’t take any player’s contributions for granted.

As momentum-killing as Nixon’s return was, though, the Mids were still able to fight back to take the lead at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, the kickoff return was only the beginning of Navy’s problems. First and foremost was the utter collapse of what had been a very stout run defense. Temple superfrosh Bernard Pierce rewrote the record book, running for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Pierce was the Temple offense. Looking back at the game preview, we got two things right. One, Vaughn Charlton’s arm isn’t going to lead anyone to the promised land. Temple’s beleaguered quarterback completed only 5 of 17 passes for 37 yards and two interceptions. That’s not the kind of stat line that usually accompanies victory. It wouldn’t have on Saturday, either, except for the other thing we got right from the preview: Navy has problems defending zone blocking schemes.

What on earth is it with zone blocking that makes it the kryptonite to what has otherwise been a super run defense this year? Shoot, why limit the scope to only this year? Navy has always had problems defending against it. I’d be lying if I said I knew the reason why, although I have a hypothesis. Take a moment, if you will, to consider THE GRAPHIC:

Yes, there it is in all of its master-of-the-obvious splendor– the weekly reminder that Navy is indeed a small team. With reliability that makes Old Faithful jealous, it appears at least once during every Navy broadcast. If you’re like me, you usually just roll your eyes whenever you see it and mumble something along the lines of  “same as every other week.” And that’s true; with the exception of the other service academies, the Mids don’t have the bulk of their opponents. While the tendency is for us to dismiss the size difference as simply business as usual, there are occasions where it might be a bit more significant– specifically, with teams that like to run the zone stretch. Lining up across from someone and pushing him backwards isn’t that easy; even smaller players can dig in and get leverage. To really be able to push them around, you need to get them moving laterally. That’s exactly what the zone stretch play does; the line moves together in one direction, while the running back runs to the hip of the playside tackle. A patient ballcarrier will be able to make a cut toward any hole in the defense that might open up. If no running lane develops, his “cut” is to keep running off tackle. As the defensive line is getting manhandled, linebackers are unable to fly to the ball the way they usually would. Doing so would open up the cutback lanes that the running back is looking for. It’s usually a moot point when the Mids take on the zone stretch anyway, since the d-line is unable to draw the double teams to keep blocks off the LBs in the first place.

Even if I’m right– and I could very easily be full of crap– it still doesn’t fully explain 267 yards. My first question was why the safeties weren’t more active in run support. Against Pitt and their freshman phenom Dion Lewis, Wyatt Middleton was second on the team with 9 tackles. Emmett Merchant and Kwesi Mitchell combined for 17 tackles against Western Kentucky, who also relied heavily on zone blocking. Against Temple, the safeties combined for only 5 tackles, and spent most of the game lined up fairly deep. That seems ridiculous when there’s a running back having a record day against you… Or does it? Perhaps the correct statement is that it seems ridiculous after a running back had a record day against you. In this case, hindsight might need to be corrected a bit to get to 20/20. While Pierce did run for 267 yards, 109 of those yards came on two plays. Temple never actually put together an extended touchdown drive; both of their TDs were on runs of 40+ yards. In fact, having the safeties play deep almost won the game for Navy, with Wyatt Middleton finding himself in position to grab two interceptions. Both of those INTs were in the second half, with one leading to a Navy touchdown while the other probably should have assured a win, coming with 6:30 left in the game. This tells me that the Mids’ defensive problems weren’t because of scheme, but rather the result of individual breakdowns on Pierce’s two big runs.

That was certainly the case with Pierce’s game-winner, a 41-yard rambler down the left sideline. Before the play, there appeared to be a bit of confusion between Tyler Simmons and Tony Haberer. After the snap, the source of that confusion was revealed– both players ended up covering the same gap. As a result, neither took the outside lane, and there were enough blockers to handle what few defenders were left out there.

A rare, but costly, mistake.

There were times when a safety was brought down in run support. Whenever Temple would line up with two tight ends and a split end on the same side of the formation, either Wyatt or Emmett would line up closer to the line of scrimmage. Temple would either try to throw deep to take advantage of 1-on-1 coverage with no safety help, or just run the other way, making the safety a non-factor in the play.

I don’t think that anyone would argue that Navy’s defense performed well on Saturday, but upon closer inspection, maybe it wasn’t quite as bad as we first thought. On the other hand, WTF 267 YARDS! There’s a finite amount of space between my ears, and if this game knocked out some fond childhood memory of my dog or Legos or something, I’m going to be really pissed.

Finally, we come to the offense. Vince Murray shouldered the load for the Mids once again, carrying the ball 33 times for 115 yards. To many fans, though, that’s not a good thing. At the beginning of the year, everyone said the problem with the Navy offense was that they weren’t getting any production out of the fullback. They said that the fullbacks were too small and couldn’t “move the pile.” That has apparently been tossed out the window. Now, the complaint is that the fullback is getting the ball too much, that Ivin Jasper is too conservative, and that this would never happen if Paul Johnson was still here.

Shouldn’t we have advanced past this point by now? Apparently “conservative” is defined as “not getting the ball to the slotbacks enough.” Sometimes I wonder what on earth people have been watching for the last eight years. Shouldn’t we all know by now how the offense works? If not the specific Xs & Os, at least the general concepts? Haven’t we been told over and over again that it’s the defense that determines who carries the ball ? Of course we have. On Saturday, the fullbacks and quarterbacks combined for 87% of Navy’s carries. That would never happen in a Paul Johnson team! Really? Against Maryland in 2005, they combined for 81% of Navy’s carries. Against Air Force that same year, it was 82%. Against UMass in 2006, it was 86%. Tulsa? 94%! In these games, was Paul Johnson being “conservative,” or do you think that maybe it was a result of what the defense was giving up?

There is a reason why Vince Murray carried the ball so many times against Temple, too. The Owls lined up with 4 men on the line of scrimmage. In doing so, they frequently left the center uncovered. Coach Jasper just gave the ball to the fullback straight up the middle. The fullback hits the hole so quickly that the guards could pass inside of the defensive tackles to get to the second level.

Maybe “conservative” means that Coach Jasper didn’t pass enough. Well, did you see Kriss Proctor’s passes? Did you really want to see more of them? Thank goodness Mario Washington was wide open on the first pass Proctor threw, because even that wasn’t exactly pretty. On the first play of the game, the corner covering Mario blitzed. The safety on the other side of the field followed the tail motion in the direction of the play. When the Mids came out to start their second drive, Coach Jasper had Mario run a crossing pattern to the area that the tail motion safety vacated. With Temple firing the corner again, nobody was around to cover him:

Proctor’s other passes were underthrown pretty badly. One actually ended up drawing a pass interference penalty. The other was intercepted.

You’d think that running up the middle on almost every play would open up the toss sweep, but it never really did. Remember, the toss sweep is sort of like a screen play; the object is to suck defenders into the backfield while getting the ball behind them and into the hands of a fast runner in space. The linebackers never lined up on the line of scrimmage, though. That, plus safeties creeping up with the knowledge that the Mids probably didn’t want to risk passing again, meant that they’d probably be able to stuff the toss.

The toss isn’t the only way to get the ball outside, though. Another way is to show a triple option look, but use the fullback as a blocker. Use the guard to block the would-be dive key, then option off of the same pitch key. After being unable to convert on a few 3rd and short-yardage situations, Coach Jasper tried this. Unfortunately, the guard couldn’t maintain his block, and the defensive end blew up the play.

Navy moved the ball well enough for most of the game. In the end, though, the inability to convert on these 3rd & 4th downs were what made all the difference. Coach Jasper tried running the quarterback sneak, but it didn’t work. He tried handing to the fullback off tackle. Didn’t work. He tried the midline. Didn’t work. He tried the triple so that the QB could read his way outside, and that didn’t work. He tried to force the ball outside on a double option, and THAT didn’t work. In every instance, there was either a bad block or a missed assignment. There wasn’t much else to try. Convert on any one of these plays, and the Mids probably win the game.

Extra Points

– Clock management has been a bit confusing to me at times this season, although I’m not nearly as critical of it as some of the things I’ve read. Most of the complaints this week have centered around the use of timeouts. Now, maybe I’m in the minority here, but I think timeouts are THAT valuable, especially in the first half. So if Coach Niumat wants to call timeout to get his team on the same page before a big 3rd down play, that sounds like a fine idea to me. In the second half, one timeout was spent when Kriss Proctor had trouble checking to the right play. That’s a good use of a timeout. Another was used when Proctor was sacked with 2:29 left in the game. Again, that’s a good time to call timeout. The second timeout was spent when as Coach Niumat tried to run down the clock before punting with 4:19 to play. That’s the only one I didn’t really like.

The problem for me wasn’t the idea that Coach Niumatalolo would let the play clock run down just to call a timeout before punting. That’s a common tactic. The only problem I had with it is that he did it with more than 4 minutes left to play. That is a LOT of time, especially in the college game. At that point, running the clock down actually hurts the Mids. With their drive starting with 4:13 remaining, Temple didn’t even need to run a hurry-up offense. If running the clock down before punting doesn’t put the other team in extremis, then there’s really no value in doing it. Think of it like basketball. If you get the ball in a tie game with about a minute left, you want to shoot the ball as soon as possible so that you’ll have time for another possession if your opponent uses the full :35 on the shot clock. It’s the same concept here.

Of course, none of the timeouts really affected the outcome of the game, so this is all just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

The Temple recap is taking a while. It’s a long one.

Hey Ausiello,
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Graham Watson this week.