Photo credit: Navy Athletics
Saturday was a debacle, not really any way to sugarcoat that performance. Charlotte ended up turning the ball over 5 times, not including turnovers on downs. The defense was repeatedly put in bad situations due to the turnovers, with Navy's offense repeatedly facing short fields to try to score (which they did at-will).
Quick thoughts
Quarterback play, woof
Max Brown was rusty, which was to be expected, but the amount of rust seemed extreme. Brown went 7/18 (39%) for 152 yards, 2 TDs, and 3 INTs, including a pick-six. Brown did run for 67 yards, giving a glimpse into his dual-threat capabilities, and with another week of healing, perhaps the legs will be used more often against Memphis. Trexler Ivey briefly spelled Brown, going 1/3 with an INT for a pick-six. In case you didn't watch the game, DeShawn Purdie was sidelined with an injured non-throwing hand (broken thumb) and was in a brace. Biff Poggi had this to say postgame.
Biff Poggi on DeShawn Purdie:
— Hunter Bailey (@Hunter_Bailey45) October 19, 2024
“We weren’t going to play (Purdie). He’ll be ready to go with another week.”
“The reason he couldn’t play today is because he has a brace on it. But that will come off this week and then we’ll make a decision on who will play QB.”
Not so Special Teams
For the majority of the season Charlotte's special team's unit had performed well, but Saturday at Annapolis was another story. A botched punt led to Charlotte changing punters (we'll see who punts Saturday for Poggi and Co.), and several kick returns were smothered inside the 20.
The Randy Franklin
The former Navy athlete was all over the field on defense, while playing a career high number of snaps (40). I'll be intrigued to see if Franklin has earned more reps vs Memphis, as he flashed multiple times.
The OL
PFF loved Charlotte's OL vs Navy in pass protection, posting an 85.2 grade as a unit. On the year, Charlotte's pass blocking grade is #20th overall in the country, but just #105 in run blocking. Biff Poggi wants his offensive identity to be defined by their ability to run the ball, but as currently constructed, Charlotte's strengths are elsewhere (pending QB play).
Run Defense
We all know that Navy we given multiple short fields, but as I tried to look for a positive's takeaways, I came up with this: 4.1 yards per carry to a Navy offense that had been absolutely humming and puts up over 6 yards per carry on the season.
