The Navy Midshipmen pulled off a come-from-behind victory on the road at Tulsa on Friday night, snagging the 20-17 win. Navy trailed 10-3 after Tulsa’s Anthony Watkins returned the second half opening kickoff 97-yards to the house, but the Mids rattled off the next 17 points to take a lead they’d hold on to for good.
This comes as a bit of a surprise as Tulsa was the favorite going into the game. Despite taking No. 2 Cincinnati down to the wire last weekend, the Midshipmen were +10.5 underdogs, per Tipico Sportsbook.
But even more surprising?
Navy pulled off the upset without completing a single pass.
Yep, you read that right. The Mids went 0-for-4 as a team in passing with no recorded receptions.
a perfect Navy football leaderboard pic.twitter.com/QwADjIivBF
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It’s art. Pure art.
Starting Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai rushed for 64-yards — including what would be the game-winning touchdown — and finished 0-for-3 passing in the game. As a team, Navy gained 302 yards on 60 attempts on the ground. Lavatai’s 1-yard touchdown run that put Navy up 17-10 in the fourth quarter capped off a 15-play, 8+ minute drive.
As a triple option team, Navy isn’t particularly known as a passing team. Zero completed passes, however? They haven’t done that since 2017 against SMU when Malcolm Perry’s lone pass attempt was intercepted. The Mids also won that game, rushing the ball 72 times for 559 yards in a 43-40 victory.
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