Skinner then hooked up with tight end Ben Wooster for an 8-yard touchdown pass to take the lead. Wake converted on the two-point conversion.

Navy needs to come back with another drive. Lets see if Enhada has any tricks left. Navy coach Niumatalolo won’t bench him, but sophomore backup quarterback Ricky Dobbs led Navy back against Temple and almost against Notre Dame. Just a thought, but again there is no way Enhada gets benched for all the reasons I wrote about earlier. But, Dobbs does have the better arm if it comes down to the end.

Enhada ran for 35 yards on Navy’s first play after Wake’s punt retaking the momentum Navy had lost. He then ran in the touchdown from two  yards out on third and goal to go.

Navy coach Niumatalolo gambled going for the two-point conversion, which failed when a Wake defender broke up a pass to slotback Shun White. Navy might regret not having that extra point.

Wake running back Josh Adams just ran in his second touchdown on the day. Skinner connected with fullback Kevin Harris on a 32 yard pass after Skinner extended the play by evading the rush and found Harris who snuck behind his defender. Navy isn’t bringing any blitzes so Navy will have to depend on its defensive line to pressure Skinner.

On their next possession after the touchdown Navy moved the ball to around midfield, but slotback Shun White couldn’t convert a third down and four forcing Navy to punt the ball back to Wake. Luckily for Navy, punter Kyle Delahooke delivered and pinned Wake on it’s own six-yard line. Last week, coach Ken Niumatalolo said Delahooke was a key to the win against Army. High praise for a position that often gets overlooked, but Delahooke is again coming up large.

Navy’s defense now needs to stop Wake and get the ball back for it’s running attack. It might be time for coach Niumatalolo to get sophomore sensation Ricky Dobbs involved at slotback possibly and provide Navy’s offense a spark because it looks like Wake has figured out how to contain White on the wide pitches.

Wake Forest started the drive in the shadow of their own end zone at the two yard line. Wake fullback Kevin Harris appeared to have fumbled the football which King scooped up and returned for a touchdown. However, after the officials reviewed the play it was ruled Harris was down before he fumbled.

Wake quarterback Riley Skinner led the previously punchless Wake attack for a 98-yard drive for a touchdown. He hooked up twice with wide receiver D.J. Boldin for large chunks of yardage. Wake tailback Josh Adams then punched in the touchdown from four yards out to make this a game.

If King’s second touchdown of the day would have stood this one would have been over before halftime, but Navy let Wake sneak its way back into it after dominating most of the first half.

11:51: Wake still running between the tackles and trying to establish the running game. Seems odd. Has Jim Grob lost faith in Riley Skinner’s right arm?

11:56: Now we have established that Matt Harmon is even better than the “Jan Stenarud of today” Sam Swank.  Jim Grobe looks like he would rather be in a Guantanamo maximum security cell.

11:59: Things seem to be getting chippy between the players after tackles. I have to imagine that Navy guys are even winning the smack talk battle. “I took calculus, thermodynamics and electrical engineering this semester, and I still have time to school you guys 13-0.”

12:01: Tyree “Throw me the damn ball” Barnes gets another ball thrown in his direction.  No, not David Tyree….Its Tyree Barnes.

12:06: A very bad INT thrown by Kaipo. Trying to force feed Tyree Barnes. Why?

12:11: Riley Skinner has 7 passing yards. Wow.  That’s only 7 more than I have, and I’m nursing a snow shoveling injury on my couch. 

12:25: Halftime breakdown, which I’m sure will be 10 times more exciting than David Norrie’s breakdown.  Kaipo’s INT at the end of the half was a huge momentum-changer. Instead of going up by three scores, Navy sinds itself holding a tenuous 6-point lead.  Navy needs to shake off the last 98-yd drive from Wake and re-establish the option. Less throwing to Tyree Barnes!  It certainly appears that this game will come down to the very end. 1 turnover or big play might be the deciding factor. Also, everyone wants to know what it will take for Mark Teixeira to sign with the Orioles.  Come home, Mark! Come home.  I hope the ESPN producers are able to find David Norrie a personality during the halftime break.

Wake Forest’s first drive with a sack on Riley Skinner as the Demon Deacons continue to strugle on offense.

Meanwhile, Navy slotback Shun White took his first carry over 38 yards down the sideline on a nice pitch by quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada. Navy’s drive stalled, but Navy kicker Matt Harmon booted a 40 yard field goal to put Navy up fist by three.

Senior fullback Eric Kettani has been invited to the 2009 Senior Bowl on Jan. 24 in Mobile, Ala. and the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 17 in Houston, Texas.

Kettani needs only 68 yards to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark, which his teammate, slotback Shun White has already accomplished this season.

These all-star games are packed with NFL scouts as many middle-round draft picks play in these games. The first round picks tend to bow out and wait for their personal workouts.

It’s just a shame that Kettani will not have a chance to play in the NFL next year after the Defense Department decided academy graduates will have to wait atleast two years before they can play. This came to light after all the attention West Point graduate Caleb Cambpell was drafted by the Lions last year.

Kettani would have a great chance to make an NFL roster and he could bring a lot of positive attention to the Navy. As writer John Feinstein pointed out when he spoke to Navy Times before the Army-Navy game: The two best Navy recruiters ever were NBA star David Robinson and NFL quarterback Roger Staubach. Both graduated from the Naval Academy.

Navy will again wear the Nike “Enforcer” jerseys this Saturday after they were unveiled two weeks ago at the Army-Nave game. The jerseys feature the traditional blood stripe from the Marine Corps elegant dress uniform pant and the symbols of the Navy and Marine Corps.

After Saturday, though, the jerseys will not be worn again. Navy players will be allowed to keep the jerseys as the team will return to their previous jerseys.

But why kill the jerseys that players and alums, who spoke to me at the Army-Navy game, seem to like? They are flashier, but not over the top like the Army uniforms with the digital camouflage pants and helmet. The blood stripe on the uniform pants is especially classy.

What with all the whirlwind changes in blogs and football what-not these days, many of our millions of online readers may’ve found themselves confused about the name change from “America’s Game” to “Bill’s Bowl Blog.” Wake Forest readers especially may not understand whence came this name “Bill,” and as such, permit us to elucidate: Bill the Goat is the long-beloved, occasionally kidnapped mascot of the Naval Academy midshipmen, who has a long tradition of representing Navy football. Back in what’s known as “the day,” sailing ships traveled with live animals, including goats and sheep, to provide fresh meat for the crew members. The young officers in training, known as midshipmen, took care of the animals as their jobs onboard. Thence, down the mists of the ages, Bill became the mascot of the academy and its football-playing men.

Firstie Derik Rothchild (#94) served four years as an enlisted sailor before getting accepted to the Naval Academy and joining the football team. He played nose guard through his junior year. This year you can find Rothchild with his signature mullet wig on the sideline firing up fellow midshipmen.

Still close to a lot of Navy’s players, Rotchild took a few minutes to break down the rematch with Wake Forest on Saturday.

Bill’s Bowl Blog: Who has the edge in the rematch?

Derik: “Really, I think we have the upper hand due to the fact we already beat them earlier in the year. But, we did have a lot of turnovers go our way. So either Wake is going to think: ‘Oh no, not this again, or if we just hold onto the ball we can beat these guys.”

“I have a lot of faith in our defense too. It’s a hard hitting defense and I love how they are playing right now.” (Editors note: Navy’s defense has shut out their last two opponents so that might be a bit of an understatement at how well they are playing.)

“With Kaipo back that really helps to. He’s healthy again, and with him leading the triple option we’re really running well. It also allows Jarod Bryant to go back to slot back and he’s got wheels.” (Editors note: With quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada running the team before he got injured and didn’t play in the second half against Wake Forest, Navy led 17-0 at halftime.)

Bill’s Bowl Blog: How does the team feel about playing Wake again?

Derik: “Since it’s a local venue at RFK I know a lot of people were gunning to play Maryland, but they turned it down because they have finals, which I don’t buy because our guys had finals this week too and we can somehow play.  I know some guys wanted to play a MAC team. I was hoping to play Miami, but no on really wanted the rematch.”

Bill’s Bowl Blog: Who has the advantage with the early kickoff time of 11 a.m.?

Derik: “The advantage will definitely go to us on that end. Knowing the Navy schedule, we practice early in the mornings on Saturday. I bet most of the Wake players don’t have classes that start some days until 1 p.m. We are up at 7 a.m. every morning so we’re used to it. We’ll finish the game and then go eat lunch. It’ll be normal.”

Bill’s Bowl Blog: You played in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, do you think some guys were disappointed to stay in the local area?

Derik: “From a players standpoint they don’t care. They don’t have that much free time with the game and everything else. I think most of the grouchiness came from the student body because they wanted to go somewhere nice. About a quarter of the student body will still go to the bowl game. Most students finished finals by Thursday so they went home after that and not many will want to just come back here.”

Bill’s Bowl Blog: How has the team responded to new coach Ken Niumatalolo?

Derik: “I think it’s working fairly well. He’s definitely different than coach [Paul] Johnson. Everyone responds differently though. Everyone likes coach Niumat (sic) like when he was the offensive coordinator. I think you could call him a player’s coach, but there are always times the nicest coaches, if you do something wrong, will make you feel the pain.”

Who knows if anyone is reading considering Navy Times isn’t exactly THE destination for sports news, but myself (Michael Hoffman) and Phil Ewing will be cranking the football blog back up to cover Navy’s trip to the inaugural EagleBank Bowl to play Wake Forest.

Both of us will be attending the game tomorrow at RFK stadium in Washington D.C. bright and early at 11 a.m. We plan to blog through the game for all those sailors who might have ESPN blocked on their work computers but hopefully not Navy Times’ site.

For the rest of the day we’ll be breaking down the rematch against Wake Forest including insight from former nose guard Derik Rothchild.