The Navy Midshipmen have enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they must head out on the road. Their week off comes to an end as they meet up with the East Carolina Pirates at 6 p.m. ET at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday. East Carolina should still be feeling good after a win, while the Midshipmen will be looking to get back in the win column.
A victory for Navy just wasn't in the stars two weeks ago as the team never even grasped a temporary lead. They suffered a grim 37-13 defeat to the Memphis Tigers. A silver lining for Navy was the play of QB Tai Lavatai, who passed for one TD and 99 yards on seven attempts in addition to rushing for one TD and 37 yards. Lavatai had some trouble finding his footing against the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens three weeks ago, so this was a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, if there were any doubts why East Carolina was a heavy favorite Saturday, the squad quickly laid those doubts to rest. They were completely in charge last week, breezing past the Campbell Fighting Camels 49-10 at home. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point East Carolina had established a 42-10 advantage.
It was close but no cigar for the Midshipmen as they fell 38-35 to the Pirates when the two teams previously met in November of last year. Can Navy avenge their defeat, or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll soon find out.