d.: I’m going to take another break from the storyline and talk about something very much in the news at this time of year: college football. If you read this blog regularly, you may have guessed that I’m a big football fan. You may have also gathered that I have a lot of respect for the men and women who serve our country in the United States Armed Services. Since many in my immediate and extended family have served in this capacity, this would follow.
Today, I want to talk about a subject that involves both. I was at work yesterday with no television available, but modern technology allowed me to watch the Army-Navy game on tape delay. What I saw was the best example of sportsmanship anyone could ask for.
I usually like to watch the interviews the broadcasters conduct with the fans in the stands who are part of one branch of the armed services or the other. Sadly, I didn’t have time to watch those and the whole game, but I still found several things interesting about the game itself.
The service academies cannot recruit huge lineman because of weight restrictions placed on their cadets, and the football teams probably have less time to prepare for a game than other college football teams. That’s why I find it refreshing to watch a football game that involves one or two of the service academies.
Because top-level passers usually choose scholarship offers that promise them the chance to make a lot of money, both in college and in the professional leagues; these two teams didn’t have the most talented passing quarterbacks. However, both were good at what they did: run the option.
The option-oriented offense demands precision to detail. Not to take anything away from the victorious Navy team, but Army had just played in a conference championship game the week before, while Navy had an extra week to rest and practice.
Navy, though, had a brilliant defensive game plan, stacking the line of scrimmage and walking their safeties up to linebacker depth, daring Army’s quarterback to beat them with the pass. This resulted in a couple of pass interference penalties for Navy, who graciously accepted the penalties without argument. Also, there was only one personal foul penalty called for taunting when Navy knew that they had the game won. The Navy receiver spiked the ball at the back of the endzone. Although this is an automatic penalty in college.
football, the Navy player wasn’t trying to taunt the Army team, which acted with grace and dignity. The Army defense simply jogged off the field after this play, ready to regroup. There were no flags planted in either endzone at the end of the game, nor any brawls on the field or in the stands. Considering that this is one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in all of sports, that’s amazing; or is it?
The reason that no one fought or whined is because the players and fans in the stands knew that they would face disciplinary actions if they did. This is different from most college teams, where the players are coddled because the coach is afraid of his star players turning on him and/or entering the transfer portal if the player disagrees with what the coach says or does.
One play in particular illustrates this point. On this play, Army’s quarterback released the ball to a receiver on a post-fly route (meaning it was a long pass). Since running this route takes a few seconds, the Army quarterback held the ball, allowing a red-dogging Navy linebacker to hit him in the chest just as he released the ball. The hit was vicious but legal since the linebacker led with his shoulder, not his helmet. After the play was over, the Army quarterback simply picked himself up off the ground, dusted off the seat of his pants and called his teammates to huddle. No trash talking of any kind was done by either player.
Army’s offensive line was voted the best in college football, so being able to penetrate it on a regular basis took some careful planning from the Navy defense. The Navy team’s defensive effort indicated that they were well-prepared for the game.
This game was a throwback to the 1970s and early 1980s when running backs ruled and games didn’t take four hours to play. That made this game more enjoyable to watch. I only wish there were more disciplined teams like these two in college football.
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