'Cool, resilient' Navy ready for Army

But during the final 15 minutes at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Navy stormed back with 14 unanswered points to seize a 46-43 victory. The Mids might have salvaged their season that day. They also had begun to carve out an identity as The Team That Wouldn’t Leave.

Never mind only half of their squad was functioning.

What a strange trip it’s been for Navy coach Paul Johnson, who already has put a stamp on his best coaching job since the day he arrived to resuscitate a program in the dumps.

Throughout his six seasons in Annapolis, with the ace up his sleeve known as the triple option, Johnson has made a habit of pushing his teams to overachieve — size and speed disadvantages be damned. Before this season, Navy had reversed course with four straight winning seasons, punctuated by four Commander-In-Chief’s trophies and four bowl game trips, including two wins.

But these Mids (7-4), poised to knock off rival Army again to win yet another Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy on Dec. 1 at M&T Bank Stadium, have taken this overachievement thing to a crazy level.

Try winning seven out of 11 contests that resemble track meets more than football games. Try beating Notre Dame for the first time in 44 years — in South Bend, no less — winning two out of three overtime games, going 3-1 in games decided by a field goal or less, and doing it all with a defense that has spent most of the fall getting trampled.

When you allow your opponents the pleasure of 39.5 points per game, when you give up more than 40 points on seven different occasions, you have no business going to a fifth straight bowl game, unless you’re The Team That Wouldn’t Leave.

Navy is still in business because Johnson’s spread option, built on the running game and the quarterback’s ability to read defenses after the snap, has performed on another plain by averaging 40.1 points. And the Mids, an amazing 4-3 when surrendering more than 40 points, have done it under little margin for error.

The offense, led by junior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada and supported by a stable of slotbacks, fullbacks and backup quarterback Jarod Bryant, rarely has been permitted to rest. It also is about to become the first unit in NCAA history to win a rushing title for the third year in a row.

After setting the tone for the season against Duke, Navy came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Air Force by 11, won a 48-45, double-overtime shootout at Pittsburgh, then scored 52 points — in a home loss to Delaware two weeks later.

No big deal. A week later on Nov. 3, Navy hit the road and made Notre Dame blink in a 46-44, triple-overtime thriller.

Incredibly, that was a warm-up of sorts for this offense, which delivered the team’s defining statement of 2007 at North Texas. Navy hit rock bottom on defense by surrendering 62 points to a 1-8 team. Five times the Mids trailed by 18. Five times they came back, finally blasting their way to a 74-62 win Johnson called “bizarre.”

“This team has been cool and resilient. They don’t let much bother them,” Johnson said. “You won’t find many football teams down by 18 five different times, and they still find a way to win. Lesser guys would have sacked the bats.”

Johnson said he is most impressed by the absence of any finger-pointing. No offense versus defense tension here.

Much of that is traced to Johnson’s skill as a motivator. He is always his offense’s harshest critic. This year, he has been a master at harping on fundamental mistakes during the week and raising expectations on game day for a unit that has always carried the Mids under Johnson, but never like this.

Through 11 games, Navy has scored an astonishing 54 touchdowns. It has punted barely once per game and has scored touchdowns on two-thirds of its 65 trips into the red zone. And next week, the Mids once again will force Army to sack the bats.

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com.