Delaware Defeats Navy Football in Home Opener (PHOTOS)

It was a disappointing afternoon of football for the Navy Midshipmen yesterday as the University of Delaware handed them a 14-7 loss, the first of the season.

Delaware got their break on the first play of the game when Navy fumbled the ball allowing Delaware to use that drive to put the first points on the board.

In a post-game press conference, Navy Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo said “Obviously, this is a disappointing loss. You can’t beat anybody turning the ball over three times. Our big emphasis this whole camp was to get off to a fast start, and then we fumble on the first play. We made too many mistakes, and they were all self-inflicted.”

Navy finally saw the season’s first touchdown deep in the 3rd quarter with QB Tai Lavatai running across the line for a 2-yard rush. This narrowed Delaware’s lead, and the Mids had a chance deep in the fourth to tie up the game, but the very strong Delaware defense shut them down.

“Again, I thought our defense played really, really well. The defense gave us a chance to win. I’m just disappointed in how we came out and failed to do what we had practiced on the offensive side of the ball,” continued Niumatololo.

This is only the fourth loss of the fifteen home openers under Coach Niumatololo.

Of note, Nolan Henderson, Delaware’s QB had an outstanding game. Navy’s defense held him for the most part, but with each play, Henderson was able to read the Mids and understand when he was in trouble (or about to get into trouble) and successfully get rid of the ball.

On playing Navy, Delaware Head Coach Ryan Carty remarked, “My God, to be able to do it in a place like this and against such a good football team. Man, did they play hard and gritty, but luckily so did we. I told the guys pretty early in this process that if we believed in each other and we played together, we were going to be just fine.”

Next up for Navy is American rival Memphis at 3:30pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, September 10, 2022.