Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News
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BALTIMORE
It was a neighborhood get-together. It was a clash of cultures.
The buses from Annapolis rolled into Camden Yards along Russell Street and handsome men and women of the Navy Brigade filed out in orderly and precise fashion, where their discipline and control would continue to be tested, as, dressed in their Summer Whites for a pep rally/concert on Eutaw Street, they were fed barbecue and baked beans.
Meanwhile, in the parking lots south of M&T Bank Stadium, buses from College Park rolled in and in some cases it was as though the gang from Faber College had just hit town. Spring break would be revisited on a gorgeous late afternoon Labor Day in Charm City.
A neighborhood rivalry would resume for the second time in 45 years, and what played out was a fierce, down-to-the-final-seconds contest, decided on a Maryland goal-line stand at the foot of the Brigade amidst the roar of nearly 70,000 fans. Yet for the entire day and early evening, animosity did not exist between the teams and the communities of the University of Maryland and the United States Naval Academy.
It was a wonderful day, likely more so for the Terps, 17-14 winners over the Mids, and it was a great event — competitive but unifying. It was a day that made you proud to be a Marylander and, more than anything, an American.
If you were there and did not experience chills and a wave of emotion when the Brigade marched on to the field or when both teams honored each other at the end of the game by standing together for the playing of both schools’ alma maters and fight songs, you need to see a doctor. Immediately, if not sooner.
This football game must be played every year.
For Maryland, it was a great way to open the season as the Terps now have exactly half the number of wins that they had all of last season. And it came over a quality opponent, who will win nearly 10 games or more and play in a bowl this season. In the end, it could be a far more beneficial win for Maryland than it will be a damaging loss for Navy.
Perhaps if Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs had pitched on the climactic fourth down, rather than follow his fullback over left guard, or if Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo had elected to attempt a field goal that could have sent the game to overtime, the outcome would have been different. But when you lead the nation with 27 rushing touchdowns and are said to be a Heisman Trophy candidate, which Dobbs did and is, you keep it yourself and you tip your hat to Maryland and safety Kenny Tate, who had the play diagnosed and stuffed it roughly a foot short of the goal line.
When you are Niumatalolo, you put the game on your Heisman Trophy candidate’s shoulders and you go for the win because that is what Navy does. Fresh in your mind is the field goal you missed in the first half, as well as not being able to get your field-goal team on to the field at the end of the half, which could have changed the entire tone of the second half as well. And when it doesn’t work you second-guess yourself, which is what Niumatalolo did, but your players understand and appreciate the trust you put in them and it will reward you for the rest of the season.
As exciting as the game was, it was not a thing of beauty. Maryland seemed to be on the brink of complete control early as Navy had no answer for the Terps’ running game. But on one of his rare passes, quarterback Jamarr Robinson threw an interception at the Navy 4 to prevent Maryland from taking a two-touchdown-plus lead, and an unwise decision to try to pick up a Navy fumble rather than simply fall on it proved costly in that it kept Navy in the game and the ball out of Maryland’s hands. A fourth-quarter fumble immediately after a 57-yard punt return appeared it would be damning as well.
Navy, too, was guilty of missed opportunities, many more than Maryland, in fact. Five times inside the 20 the Midshipmen did not score and they lost two fumbles. While many in attendance had no idea what Maryland was attempting to do with its defensive alignment, the unit ended up winning the game for the Terps, despite being on the field for over 39 minutes.
This will never be the rivalry game Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen desires it to be, because Army will always be Navy’s arch-rival. But why does it have to be a rivalry game? An annual game for state bragging rights is more than enough.
No, Monday’s game was certainly no thing of beauty. But, without a doubt, when Maryland and Navy get together for a football game in Baltimore, it is a beautiful day.
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at mburke@times-news.com
