Upset Alert: Navy Leads UCF at Halftime
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The UCF Knights did not come out with the fire and emotion needed against the Navy Midshipmen.
That was the No. 1 question and concern from today’s article: 10 Pregame Questions: Navy at UCF. It led to the following statistic.
Case in point, Navy has 166 yards rushing at halftime. That’s a horrendous sign, and the Midshipmen lead 14-6 over the Knights.
The defense was not ready for the option, period. It was obvious from the first drive onward. For the half, Navy was 5-of-9 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth down. Most of those conversions, short runs that were manageable.
During the 1st quarter, Navy had 16 carries for 91 yards. #UCF’s defense needs to play much better. #ChargeOn
— Brian Smith (@fbscout_florida) November 19, 2022
That’s not all that uncommon against Navy. Many teams have struggled to handle the speed and deception of the Midshipmen’s attack in real time. That led to many short-yardage conversion attempts for teams that played Navy before today, and it’s been the same against UCF. On offense, it’s been a bit off as well.
Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee connected with Javon Baker on a deep ball, but it was short and towards the sideline. If he had led Baker, that’s six. A big miss, despite the 37-yard pass completion.
Plumlee also had two short passes to the flat, one during the beginning of the second quarter to Johnny Richardson, and during the next possession to RJ Harvey, that both could have been big plays.
The first was a poor throw by Plumlee and Richardson could not haul it in. The second pass was on the money, but Harvey flat out dropped it. Those two plays have impacted the score as much as anything since the beginning of the second stanza.
Overall, Plumlee was off with his accuracy. That must change in the second half. Plumlee finished the first half 11-of-18 for 107 yards and an interception during a Hail Mary on the last play of the half.
A couple of other key offensive statistics to ponder are as follows. UCF started the game 0-4 on third downs. That’s inexcusable. It was flat out a lack of execution. Despite that, UCF had success moving the football, albeit in spurts. It just did not lead to the points that are needed.
UCF totaled 154 yards for the half. They ran for 47 yards and passed for 107.
On defense, despite the 91 rushing yards in the first quarter, UCF started to play better. At least it seemed that way for a few moments. There was a great 20-yard run by Daba Fofana after seemingly being stopped near the line of scrimmage. Then, a huge fourth down came up.
Huge 4th down and 2 coming up. Knights need a stop! #ChargeOn
— Brian Smith (@fbscout_florida) November 19, 2022
Navy absolutely won the battle at the line during that play, and the first down was easily made from a fullback drive. Navy kept hammering, and UCF just could not handle the option.
With 1:33 left in the half, Navy’s Vincent Terrell, Jr. barrelled into the endzone and the Knights looked totally gassed on defense. This game has been heading in the direction of a major upset since the opening kickoff.
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