the same defeatist talk of maximizing the limited possessions the offense will have, which is effectively an acceptance that his defense will fail -- as it historically failed last year (Time of Possession: Navy 42:42; ND 17:18 and only 1 punt by Navy) -- to get off the field. (I was stunned last year when self-styled "experts" said the ND defense played well against Navy, when the goal of the Navy offense is to minimize the mismatch of its defense against the ND offense. That is the only way Navy can stay in the game against ND. So how can the defense be said to play well when the opponents offense is historically successful at achieving what it sets out to do? It's ridiculous to evaluate the defense against Navy conventionally. It was because of the performance of the defense in that game that I didn't care whether Elko stayed or not. That defensive performance was clueless.)
If I was Kelly and my defense couldn't get off the field but my offense was scoring easily when it did get the ball, then I would only onside kick and not punt outside my own 25 yard line. I would not have my defense on the field all game getting tired and susceptible to injury from all the cut blocking. Navy can start its drives on the ND side of the field and the defense will play extremely aggressively, prioritizing time of possession. If the Navy offense plays with its un/usual efficiency against ND -- and we all know which game is most important to the Navy players and coaches, if not the institution, the latter of which cares more about its game against that other murderous outfit -- and ND takes a conventional approach then we'll see the same old ridiculous struggle to survive against this team we've seen for years. F with Navy for a change instead of being F'd by them.