Bill's Bowl Blog

Midshipmen blank Northern Illinois 16-0

Newly minted starting quarterback Ricky Dobbs’ much anticipated first start didn’t open up the way he or Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo would have like with a fumble on the first snap in the shadow of Navy’s endzone.

Dobbs fell on the ball, though, and regrouped to lead the Midshipmen to a 16-0 win over Northern Illinois on a frigid Tuesday night in DeKalb, Illinois.

The shutout was Navy’s first since it blanked Tulsa 29-0 in 2004.

Dobbs finished the night rushing for 124 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. Fulback Eric Kettani ran in the second touchdown from one yard out in the third quarter rushing for 92 yards on the night.

But it was Navy’s defense that led the Midshipmen to a win that clinches their sixth straight winning season and keeps them alive to reach the nine-win plateau with wins over Army on Dec. 6 and the Dec. 20 EagleBank Bowl game in Washington D.C.

Down 16-0, Northern Illinois marched down to Navy’s three on a 20-play drive that ate up 10 minutes of clock in the fourth quarter. Running out of time and still trailing two touchdowns along with two 2-point conversions, Navy’s constantly improving pass defense stood strong on fourth down causing an incompletion in the endzone forcing the Huskies to turn the ball over on downs.

“The key stops allowed us to settle down and take our time to score,” Dobbs said.

Navy’s defense will now prepare for a Army team still trying to master the triple-option offense that has been installed this year.