Central Michigan University
Navy
Navy Rolls To 63-34 Win Over Football
11/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy's high-powered offense put up 644 yards of total offense as the Central Michigan University football team fell to the Midshipmen here in its regular season finale this afternoon, 63-34.
Navy's (7-4 overall) option offense was unstoppable. Quarterback Craig Candeto manned the offense for only eight series and led his team to the endzone each time. Candeto rushed for 150 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns. The signal-caller also threw two passes for another 105 yards and one TD.
Kyle Eckel was Navy's top rusher. The fullback collected 167 yards on 18 carries. He also scored two touchdowns.
"Navy's offense is hard to defend," said CMU head coach Mike DeBord. "And we didn't defend it."
The Chippewas (3-9 overall) found pay dirt first. Derrick Vickers led the Maroon and Gold on an eight-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a nine-yard TD pass to Steven Messam. CMU was up 7-0 with 12:23 left in the first quarter.
After knotting the game at seven, Navy's offense got a spark from back-to-back Chippewa turnovers. Tight end Joe Staley fumbled at 8:16 of the first quarter. That led to a one-play, 86-yard Navy passing score. On the ensuing CMU possession, Vickers threw an interception that led to another one-play, 47-yard rushing score. Navy was now up 21-7 with 6:39 left in the first stanza. The Midshipmen went into the half up 42-21.
"The two turnovers in the first quarter are what turned the momentum over to Navy," DeBord said. "I thought that our team did some good things today but Navy's offense was more than we could handle."
While Navy's offense overshadowed CMU, the Chippewas did not have a poor showing on offense. Led by Vickers and his 261 yards of total offense, the Chippewas finished with 516 yards. Vickers completed 20-of-28 passes for 233 yards and three scores. That is the second time that the senior QB has thrown three TD passes in a game this season, tying his career-best effort.
"Vickers had an unbelievable game this afternoon," DeBord noted. "In fact, this might be his best game ever. I am happy for him and the way he finished his career here at CMU. He fought adversity this season and finished with four strong games."
Vickers ends his college career with 34 touchdowns, third best all-time, and his 5,747 total yards of offense ties him for second with former teammate Pete Shepherd.
Jerry "Bam Bam" Seymour had a stellar afternoon on the ground. The true frosh rushed for 155 yards on 33 carries. That is the fifth straight 100-yard game and he finishes the season with 1,117 rushing yards. Seymour is the first true freshman to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and broke the freshman rushing mark set by Silas Massey, a redshirt freshman, in 1995 (1,089).
Notes:
Freshman Doug Kress blocked a Navy punt at the 1:46 mark of the second quarter. Scott Gibson picked it up for CMU's third score of the game ... Anthony Tyus led the team with 10 tackles ... James King had nine tackles for CMU. He finished with 143 tackles this season. The junior safety finishes with the seventh-best single-season effort in tackles ... Seymour rushed for 100-plus yards in seven of the nine games he played in this season ... The Chippewas open the 2004 campaign at Indiana (Sept. 4) and at Michigan State (Sept. 11).
