Quarterback Ricky Dobbs recovered nicely from last week's poor showing against Pittsburgh, leading Navy to a 38-22 victory over Western Kentucky in front of 29,009 on the 50th anniversary of the first game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. He had a hand in all five Navy touchdowns and reached at least 100 yards in both rushing and passing.
"I thought Ricky did some great things," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "That's the nature of being a quarterback. When things are going good, he gets a lot of the credit, and deservedly so. When things go bad, he gets a lot of the [blame]."
Navy's offense, which was held to 218 total yards last week, gained 473, including 373 on the ground, both season highs. The defense gave up 434 yards but made big plays, including a fumble recovery by nose guard Shane Bothel on his own 1-yard line, a third-down interception by linebacker Tony Haberer and a third-down sack by linebacker Craig Schaefer.
The Midshipmen (2-2) needed to get back on track after the poor performance at Pittsburgh, especially with rival Air Force (3-1) coming to Annapolis next week. The Hilltoppers (0-4) appeared to be the perfect foil, having lost their first three games by a combined score of 126-27. On Saturday, the Hilltoppers started 12 players in either their first or second year of college.
But two of them - redshirt freshman quarterback Kawaun Jakes, who was making his first start in place of senior Brandon Smith (shoulder sprain), and sophomore running back Bobby Rainey - caused problems for the Midshipmen.
Jakes completed his first 10 passes for 116 yards; the eighth completion went to Rainey for a 13-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter that cut the Midshipmen's advantage to 10-7. Then, after Navy slotback Gee Gee Greene fumbled, giving Western Kentucky the ball on the Navy 47, the Hilltoppers drove for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead, their biggest this season. Rainey (99 yards on 14 carries) darted through a big hole to pick up 18 yards and set up Jakes' 1-yard touchdown run with 5:19 left in the half.
"He made some great throws, and his athleticism in the pocket kept them alive and caused us some trouble," Niumatalolo said of Jakes, who completed 22 of 28 for 276 yards.
The Midshipmen quickly retook the lead, driving 69 yards in six plays. After running the ball 31 straight times, Dobbs finally attempted a pass, finding slotback Cory Finnerty on the left side for a 29-yard touchdown.
