For all the talk about how Arizona State would handle Navy's triple-option offense, the real mismatch turned out to be when the Sun Devils had the ball.
Cody Peterson didn't settle in at a position in his first two years at Navy. And injury problems arose wherever he moved.
Brandon Turner hadn't witnessed a Navy football season end quite like last year's did.
Noah Copeland sputtered through his first two starts, bottled up as Navy's offense managed a combined 17 points in losses to Notre Dame and Penn State.
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.
Brye French never met Brendan Looney, but he heard stories about the former Navy football and lacrosse player. French, himself a two-sport athlete, attended Looney's funeral along with the rest of his lacrosse teammates.
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.
Brye French and Bo Snelson represented Navy at Wednesday's Army-Navy media day at Lincoln Financial Field, one of the traditional duties of the Midshipmen's football captains.
Jonathan Gazaille was the last player to leave Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
It would've been easy for the Navy Midshipmen to get complacent Saturday. Easy for them to look past Texas State and dwell on their next game against Army. Easy for them to remember that their trip to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl has already been booked.
Quarterback Keenan Reynolds deftly handled nearly everything presented to him during his sensational debut season at Navy, rarely looking like a freshman along the way.
Corey Robinson completed 25 of 28 passes for 322 yards and a touchdown to lead Troy in a 41-31 win over Navy on Saturday.
Brye French looked forward to this weekend for more than a year.
"They had us on our heels the whole time," Niumatalolo said. "When we tried to get people up on the run, they'd throw it over our hands. We played people in the zone, then the quarterback would pull it. They had a great plan and they executed it."
"It's a low right now for us," coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "We're pretty emotional in the locker room, just the sadness of knowing it's an end."
