By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Brandon Turner hadn't witnessed a Navy football season end quite like last year's did.
Navy couldn't have expected much more from Keenan Reynolds' freshman season.
Navy wide receiver Brandon Turner pleaded in the second half to somehow get him the ball.
Always kidding, always joking, Navy wide receiver Brandon Turner put on his most serious face recently as he approached Danny O'Rourke, his old position coach.
Still digesting his team's 1-3 start, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo stepped onto a practice field just a short walk from the banks of the Severn River in early October.
Navy wide receiver Brandon Turner was worried.
Everything was going according to plan in the fourth quarter Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Plebe quarterback Keenan Reynolds had racked up 268 total yards and three touchdowns. The Midshipmen were up 24-10 against Florida Atlantic. Bowl eligibility was all but guaranteed. Then Reynolds' left elbow was bent awkwardly on a tackle near midfield. He played out the rest of the game and guided Navy to a 24-17 win.
Keenan Reynolds ran for 159 yards and a touchdown and threw two scoring passes to Brandon Turner, helping Navy beat Florida Atlantic 24-17 on Saturday for its fifth straight victory.
Matt Aiken slipped into the end zone late in Navy's game against Indiana on Saturday, left alone as a cornerback blitzed.
Navy's triple option worked so well the Midshipmen added a wrinkle.
Navy's failure to win the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy the past two years — and the opportunity it receives Saturday when it visits Air Force — has not been far from the minds of the Midshipmen's seniors.
The nature of playing quarterback ensures plenty of praise when things are going well.
Shawn Lynch dutifully moved from wide receiver to safety after his freshman season at Navy.
Brandon Turner wore shoulder pads and shorts to Navy's football practice Monday afternoon. It wasn't the full set of equipment nearly all of his teammates adorned. It was still a welcome step forward.
The large presence of Brandon Turner remained absent from Navy's preseason football practice Tuesday morning, one more day the Midshipmen were without their most experienced wide receiver.
"The guys I remember looking at and watching on TV and being friends with, those guys always had great seasons and went to a bowl game and beat Army," Turner said.
"We easily could have not won any more games, probably won three or four games and beat Army and been content," Turner said. "But we didn't want that. I felt a lot of us sat down and figured out what we needed to do and we got it done, which is pretty cool to look at. You always talk about teams doing that, but we actually sat down, figured out what we wanted to do and accomplished our goals."
