Navy Football: Defense and power running lift Midshipmen over Virginia in Military Bowl

3. Navy’s defense slammed the door

Navy’s offense did what it was supposed to do. It held onto the football, milked the clock and found the endzone. Despite trailing early they were able to stick to their gameplan and run the football, a lot. That would not have been possible without an impressive showing from the Midshipmen on defense.

It was another rough day for the Virginia offense, but the Navy defense was just as impressive as the Virginia offense was woeful. The Hoos weren’t able to get into any sort of rhythm. Instead they were marred with three-and-outs, miscues and turnovers. Virginia was 4-for-13 on third downs and turned the ball over three times.

Virginia had 79 yards of offense in the first half against Navy. They averaged a measly 1.0 yard per carry on 10 attempts. The second half was more of the same. Virginia ended the game with 163 yards of total offense, averaging 1.7 yards per carry.

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The expectations weren’t astronomical for either team entering this game. There’s a reason that neither had managed a winning record and a reason (or two) to be concerned going forward. On Thursday Navy did enough to give their fans hope for a brighter future in 2018 while Virginia was just as bad as they’ve been for months.