Sports > October 2, 2008

By Matt Six | Staff writer

Navy fullback Eric Kettani marched for a career-high 175 yards in an upset victory over No. 16 Wake Forest 24-17 at BB&T Field. “This is definitely an eye-opener,” junior Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner said in the postgame press conference.

click to enlarge

A Navy running back takes the ball against Wake Forest Sept. 27. The Midshipmen beat the Deacons at home 24-17, handing Wake Forest the first loss of the season. (Andrew Imboden / Old Gold & Black)

We have a lot of tough games coming up, and it’s going to test our character to see how we respond as a team.”

Entering the game with a nation-leading plus-10 turnover margin, the Demon Deacons (3-1) committed six turnovers in the loss. The six turnovers resulted in 17 points for Navy (3-2).

Five of the six turnovers came in the first half, including an interception on Wake’s first offensive drive that led to an early Navy touchdown. The early turnovers allowed Navy to build a 17-0 lead at halftime.

“I told our kids that we can’t beat anybody turning the ball over like that, that I know of, especially against a good Navy offense,” Head Coach Jim Grobe said.

The early lead came at a price for the Midshipmen, however, as their starting quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada left the game with a hamstring injury.

Wake fans remembering last year’s match-up between the two teams felt optimistic about the entrance of reserve Navy quarterback Jarod Bryant.

In last year’s match-up, Bryant replaced Kaheaku-Enhada and fumbled on his first play.

The fumble resulted in touchdown by then fifth-year senior Matt Robinson, and Robinson’s score propelled Wake to a 44-24 victory.

Unlike his performance last year, Bryant looked poised in orchestrating the Navy triple-option offense.

Bryant rushed 15 times for 47 yards, including a touchdown that sealed the victory for the Midshipmen.

Bryant and Kaheaku-Enhada combined for a total of only four pass attempts. Navy’s triple option offense featured heavy doses of the No. 1-ranked running game in the country, allowing them to effectively melt the clock in the second half.

Navy’s 292 yards on the ground dwarfed Wake’s number of 43 rushing yards.

The Deacons’ defense, previously ranked 33rd nationally, allowed 191 more yards than they had been averaging.

Navy committed a total of two turnovers, both coming in the second half.

The first came on the opening kickoff in the second half, as junior Alex Frye hit Navy returner John Angelo and forced a fumble at the Navy 16-yard line.

Six plays later, Wake capitalized to cut the Navy lead to 17-7.

Grobe was impressed with Frye’s play.

“When (Alex) gets opportunities, whether it be on special teams or a few snaps on defense, he’s taking advantage of them,” Grobe said. “He’s playing fast and full speed, and that’s what you like to see out of the young guys.”

Another young Deacon who looked good was sophomore offensive tackle Michael Hoag. Hoag saw meaningful minutes after senior offensive tackle Joe Birdsong was ejected for an illegal blow to the head.

“I thought Mike Hoag did some good things,” Grobe said. “I thought he hung in there pretty well for a first game for a young guy.”

The Wake defense did a good job bottling up the Navy offense in the second half, forcing four straight punts after the Navy fumble on the kickoff.

Trailing by seven points, Wake forced a second Navy turnover with 5:59 remaining in the game, as senior Brandon Ghee recovered a fumble by Jarod Bryant.

“The hardest thing to do in stopping option football is to get used to the pace of the game as quickly as possible,” Grobe said. “They got on us pretty early, but then I thought our kids settled down and played better.”

Wake started the subsequent drive well, as Skinner completed a 14-yard pass to senior Ben Wooster at the Navy 40.

Just as the Wake offense gained some momentum, Skinner threw an errant pass over the middle that was intercepted by Navy safety Emmet Merchant.

“They had a lot of drop-eight coverage and you need to be patient with that,” Skinner said. “At times, I wasn’t patient enough. I should have checked the ball down or ran with the ball. There’s not many holes in drop-eight coverage.”

On the next play, Navy’s Kettani rushed up the middle for 57 yards, leading to a first-and-goal situation for the Midshipmen.

Navy scored a touchdown with Bryant to take a commanding 24-10 lead with 3:45 remaining.

Wake scored a late touchdown on an 8-yard catch by senior Mike Rinfrette to cut the deficit to seven with 1:14 remaining.

Swank’s onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, and Navy ran out the clock to end the game.

“I think our players realize that we have some work to do to be a good football team,” Grobe said.

“We’re not a bad football team. We didn’t play well today, and I don’t want to take anything away from Navy. The reality of the situation is that we have no one easy on our schedule. With every team that we play, if we don’t play well, we will lose to them. Navy was no exception.”

The Gridiron Deacs have a bye week leading up to their match-up with the Clemson Tigers onThursday, Oct. 9.

Like Wake, Clemson has a bye week leading up to the nationally televised game on ESPN. Both teams look to rebound after losses, with the Terrapins upending the Tigers 20-17 in Death Valley.