Eight years after the NCAA instituted overtime in Division I football, Navy remains one of three teams yet to play past four quarters. But should the Midshipmen do so next season, they’ll have experience from yesterday’s Blue-White spring game.
Adam Young’s 28-yard field goal gave the White team a 26-23 lead on the first possession of overtime, and it held up when Chase Hobby’s attempt from 37 yards for the Blue went wide left. The overtime duel capped a successful day for Navy’s kickers, whose five field goals included ones of 41 and 42 yards by top man Geoff Blumenfeld.
Backup Lamar Owens was the Mids’ top quarterback, completing 11 of 15 passes for 168 yards for White (first-team defense, second-team offense). Among the receivers, coach Paul Johnson singled out slotback Marco Nelson (four catches for 102 yards) and Jason Tomlinson (six for 94) as solid performers.
Johnson was more reserved in his comments about starting quarterback Aaron Polanco’s play, calling him “OK.” Polanco rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown but managed only 55 yards through the air. It wasn’t the performance Polanco would have liked on a day when he and safety Josh Smith were named co-captains for next season.
“There were a lot of mistakes, but that’s what spring ball is all about,” Polanco said. “But, hey, it was good — Navy won.”
Polanco and fullback Michael Brimage provided all the offense for Blue (first-team offense, second-team defense), and without their contributions White was able to rally in the fourth quarter.
Third-string quarterback Eddie Martin and slotback Byron McCoy rushed for White touchdowns in the quarter but the only missed extra point of the day after McCoy’s run gave Blue a chance for a late comeback. With 2:33 to play, Blumenfeld connected on a 41-yard attempt to send the game to overtime.
“It would have been nice to get to overtime against Notre Dame last year,” cornerback Lord Cole said of a game Navy lost on a last-second, tie-breaking field goal by the Fighting Irish. “But it was good to play OT because that’s something we’re always practicing and it was nice to feel that pressure, even if it was spring.”
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