2011 Week 9

IT WAS A DONE DEAL WHEN
We stepped up on our final drive. Navy had just scored on a long TD (thanks to that damn gimmicky option offense of theirs) to tie the game 28-28 with less than a minute to go. We started in our own end of the field with 53 seconds to play. On 2nd and 10, D.J. McPhearson hit WR Karl Bush for a 64 yard pass to put us into field goal range. On the next play, we got called for holding, pushing us back slightly. David Taylor took a handoff to center the field for the field goal attempt, and sophomore kicker Casey Gipson booted it through from 34 yards out as time expired.

GAME BALLS
Karl Bush gets the game ball. Our #2 WR, he's been mostly silent all year long thanks to a few factors (D.J. McPhearson stepping in at WR earlier in the year, freshman WR T.J. Simon getting lots of looks in our spread offense, and of course our tendency to run the ball a lot has deprived the whole passing attack in general). But he came up huge with a 64 yard reception to put us in FG range.

KEY STATISTICS
Navy's offense sucked us in to stop their persistent rushing attack, and then hit us with deep passes. They only completed 4 throws, but managed 165 yards and 2 touchdowns on those 4 completions. That's how they made it such a close game.

NOTES
ILB Leon Neal took over the team lead in tackles with his performance this week. ... HB David Taylor already has 1037 yards on the season. With five games left to play (assuming we get a bowl game, which seems like a lock), he's well on his way to shattering the team's old rushing record and setting the bar high for future RBs. ... We've now got a 2-1 record against Navy since joining D-1A.