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SAN FRANCISCO- Aaron Polanco noticed New Mexico's defense overloading
the outside snap after snap, so Navy's quarterback kept the ball and ran
all day. In his final game, Polanco embarrassed the nation's eighth-best
rush defense. He ran for three touchdowns and passed for another, and
Navy capped the academy's best season in 99 years with a 34-19 win over
New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl on Thursday. Polanco did just about
everything else, too.
Polanco scored on runs of 14, 1 and 27 yards (video) and completed a 61-yard
touchdown pass to Corey Dryden, the longest of the season by Polanco and
the first career score by Dryden. The Midshipmen didn't have a turnover,
and their defense was also impressive, despite the rain-soaked field at
SBC Park. The unit forced two first-half turnovers that led to
touchdowns and staged a goal-line stand late in the third quarter. Then
Navy kept the ball for the next 14 minutes, 26 seconds, and held New
Mexico to only six plays in the fourth quarter.
The Midshipmen (10-2) tied for the most wins in school history, last
accomplished when Navy went 10-1-1 in 1905. It was a fitting end for the
Mids, some of whom will head off to war in the coming year. Less than
two months ago, Navy's players dealt with the death of former teammate
JP Blecksmith in a military operation in Fallujah, Iraq.
"With what's going on in the world, there's just a bond. You witnessed
that today," said Paul Johnson, Navy's third-year coach, who has turned
around a program that went 1-20 in the two years before he arrived.
"This team will go down in the annals as a very special team. I said
after the game that I'm so happy for these players. They've seen the
bottom of the barrel and now found success. Any time you can see hard
work rewarded it makes your job worthwhile."
Polanco, who will head to flight school next summer, finished the season
with 16 rushing touchdowns, a record by a quarterback this year.
Temple's Walter Washington ran for 15. Polanco gained a Navy bowl record
136 yards on the ground for his fourth 100-yard rushing game and threw
for 101 yards. He even caught a 17-yard pass from Frank Divis to set up
his second TD and his two receptions were most by any Navy player.
 New Mexico quarterback Kole McKamey had nearly as big a day after the
Lobos (7-5) lost star tailback DonTrell Moore to a severe left knee
injury late in the first quarter that will require surgery within the
next 10 days. McKamey threw for 207 yards and also rushed for 138, the
first Lobos player to accomplish the feat since Graham Leigh in 1997.
But McKamey had two interceptions and only had a few chances down the
stretch.
"I've never heard of a 14-minute drive," Lobos coach Rocky Long said.
"The strange thing is, we weren't playing bad defense."
Being part of such a long drive is something players on both sides will
remember. Those on the field were exhausted, and those watching also
became tired. "The drive to eat up the whole fourth quarter was huge. It
was a great way to play defense," Johnson said.
Moore, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the past
three seasons and came in averaging 108.3 yards per game, was carted off
the field after catching a shovel pass and taking a hard hit from
cornerback Vaughn Kelley that caused Moore to fumble with 3:52 left in
the first quarter. Linebacker Lane Jackson pounced on the ball for his
first fumble recovery this year, and Polanco scored five plays later.
Jackson also made an interception as time expired in the first half.
The loss of Moore put additional pressure on McKamey. "It was big," the
quarterback said. "DonTrell is so multitalented. He can run and catch
the ball out of the backfield."
Navy built a 21-7 lead eight seconds into the second quarter on
Polanco's 61-yard touchdown pass to Dryden (video). The Lobos couldn't stop
Navy's impressive triple-option offense. The Midshipmen snapped New
Mexico's five-game winning streak and kept the Lobos from their first
bowl victory in 43 years. New Mexico lost in the Las Vegas Bowl the past
two years and hasn't won a postseason game since beating Western
Michigan 28-12 in the 1961 Aviation Bowl.
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Attendance: 30,563
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NM- Hall 17 yd pass from McKamey (W Zunker kick)
Navy- Polanco 14 yd run (Blumenfeld kick)
Navy- Polanco 1 yd run (G Blumenfeld KICK)
Second Quarter
Navy- Dryden 61 yd pass from Polanco (Blumenfeld kick)
NM- Ferguson 4 yd run (PAT failed)
Navy- FG Blumenfeld 27
NM- McKamey 3 yd run
Third Quarter
Navy- Polanco 27 yd run (Blumenfeld kick)
Fourth Quarter
Navy- FG Blumenfeld 22
Individual Statistics
Passing
NM- McKamey 15-24-207
Navy- Polanco 3-6-101
Rushing
NM- McKamey 19-138, Cox 11-32
Navy- Polanco 26 136, Eckel 24-85, Tomlinson 1-31
Receiving
NM- Baskett 5-115, Moore 3-21, Hall 2-23
Navy- Polanco 2 23, Dryden 1-61, Roberts 1-35
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