The first pressure-filled kick that Navy junior Joe Buckley attempted this week came on Wednesday evening, a full three days before the Midshipmen hosted rival Air Force. He needed to make a 42-yard field goal at the end of practice to win back the kicking job he lost a week earlier and earn the right to take the field Saturday.
Buckley made that kick, showing a glimpse of the steely nerves that would serve him so well against the Falcons. In front of a capacity crowd of 37,820 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Buckley made three field goals, including one from 38 yards out in overtime, to give Navy a 16-13 edge.
His Air Force counterpart, sophomore Erik Soderberg, missed a 31-yard attempt that brought the first overtime game between two service academy teams to an end.
"Obviously I'm on cloud nine right now," Buckley said. "It's a dream come true."
Buckley's field goals - coupled with a gritty defensive performance - helped Navy (3-2) extend its winning streak over service academy teams to 14 games, including seven straight against Air Force (3-2). The victory also gives the Midshipmen a leg up in their quest to win the Commander in Chief's trophy for an unprecedented seventh straight year.
"It sets the tone for the rest of our season. We knew this was going to be a fight," junior quarterback Ricky Dobbs said. "I think we took advantage of the opportunity."
This rivalry has been marked by hard-fought games, and Saturday's was no exception. For the third straight year, Air Force out-gained the Midshipmen on offense; the Falcons had 240 yards and 14 first downs to Navy's season-low 209 and 10.
The Mids struggled to move the ball throughout the game. Their opening possession was the only one that ended inside Air Force's 20-yard line, and that drive began on the Falcons' 35. Dobbs converted a fourth-and-1 with a tough five-yard run up the middle, and then three plays later, he ran 13 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
That was Navy's longest rush of the game; Dobbs and fullbacks Alexander Teich and Vince Murray combined for 52 of the Midshipmen's 56 carries for the game, and they averaged just 3.4 yards per attempt. Dobbs completed 3 of 4 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception that was returned 67 yards for a touchdown by sophomore cornerback Anthony Wright Jr. Dobbs also fumbled while trying to fight for extra yardage in the fourth quarter.
