University of Virginia Library

Cavaliers Easily Romp Over Navy, 24-0

Arnette Tosses For 2 TDs;
Defense Undermines Middies

By Ted McKean
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

illustration

From Above, And From Below

Photo By Bob Gill

Defensive End Tom Patton (88): He Made Saturday Unpleasant For Navy Quarterback McNallen

illustration

Photo By Bob Gill

It was a long time coming, 59
years to be exact, but Saturday the
Cavaliers prevailed, soundly
trouncing Navy, 24-0. Yes, this was
Virginia's first win over the Naval
Academy in over half a century,
and it could not have come at a
more opportune point in the
season.

Not only does the victory up the
Cavalier record on the season to
four wins against two losses, but it
also counts as a win in the
conference standings, keeping
Virginia in contention for the title.
The in-conference mark now stands
at two wins and one loss.

Although quarterback Gene
Arnette had a fine afternoon,
tossing two touchdown passes, the
real credit for the triumph over
Navy must go to coach Don
Lawrence's defensive unit. Middie
quarterback Mike McNallen found
himself harassed continually by the
Virginia front four of Tom Patton,
Rick Brand, Rick Constantine, and
Al Sinesky.

The adept Cavalier defense
limited Navy to only 67 yards
rushing and 173 yards through the
air. The relatively high amount of
yardage gained through the air may
be attributed to the number of
passes Navy attempted, 43. They
only completed 12 of those tries,
and Wahoo defensive backs picked
off three interceptions of rant
McNallen tosses.

The game started off slowly for
the Virginians, as the offense
appeared able to move the ball
fairly well, but simply could not
register a score. At the half, the
score stood in favor of the Wahoos,
but only by the slim margin of 6-0.
Those six points came as the result
of an alert play by defensive back
Bob Rannigan.

Navy had, in an attempt to open
up the Virginia defense, gone to the
airways to begin the second
quarter, and with 2:58 gone
Rannigan picked off a Middie pass
and lugged it back 62 yards for the
Cavalier score. He was aided on this
run by a key block by defensive
end Sinesky. Jim Carrington's point
after placement attempt was
blocked.

The running of backs Jeff
Anderson and Frank Quayle was
not up to its usual standard, and
this was evident to Virginia fans as
the game progressed. Together in
the first half, they accounted for
only 33 yards in 15 tries. Navy had
seemingly arranged its defense to
guard against the powerful Virginia
running game, and succeeded to a
certain extent. In realization of this
fact, the Cavaliers came out
throwing in the second half, and
proceeded to roll up the score.

Virginia kicked off to Navy to
open the third quarter, and the
Middies found themselves unable to
move the ball, after Sinesky and
Patton dropped McNallen behind
the line for an 11 yard loss.

Navy's Detweller got off only a
nine yard pint, giving Virginia
excellent field position at the Navy
33. From here it took only three
plays before Arnette found tight
end Joe Hoppe in the open and
threw him a touchdown strike.
Arnette attempted to pass for the
two point conversion and failed,
making the score 12-0, Virginia.

Navy, following Pete Schmidt's
kickoff, could not move the ball,
and was forced again to punt. The
Middies then stopped the Cavaliers,
and Hunter Richards entered the
game for Virginia and promptly put
Navy's back to the wall with an
amazing 71 yard boot to the Navy
11.

The strong Cavalier defense held
again, and following a Middie punt,
Virginia took over at the Navy 48.
Following a first down pass from
Arnette to Jeff Calamos, the
visitors were penalized for clipping,
which necessitated a field goal try
by Schmidt. His kick fell short,
despite a 25 mile an hour wind
behind it.

The ball changed hands several
times before linebacker Ed Kihm
picked off a McNallen pass at the
Navy 26 and returned it 12 yards to
the Navy 14. From here, Calamos
carried 7 yards, and Quayle got the
first down at the Navy six yard line.

On the next play, Quayle found
a hole through the middle of the
Navy line, and went in for the score
to make it 18-0 in Virginia's favor.

The point after attempt failed when
Quayle was stopped short of two
point pay dirt, and the third quarter
came to a close.

Now somewhat out of
desperation, Navy began to throw,
but to no avail, as the Virginia
secondary proved able to respond
to the challenge. Following
Schmidt's kickoff, three McNallen
passes were off the mark, and
Detweiler punted to the Cavaliers'

Moser.

Quarterback Arnette then
engineered a scoring drive of 69
yards from his own 31 yardline.
Alternating passes to Quayle and
Calamos with Quayle's rushing, the
Cavaliers took the ball down to the
Navy 16 where on a third down
play Arnette hit Calamos for the
score. Again, the point attempt
failed, and so the score stood 24-0
in Virginia's favor.

Schmidt then surprised the
Middies with an onside kick which
the Wahoos alertly recovered on the
Navy 40. A complete pass to
Quayle and a Quayle run of ten
yards put the ball on the Navy one.
With another Virginia score
imminent, Arnette had a pass
intercepted in the end zone, and
the Middies were out of hot water.

McNallen immediately went to
the air, but failed to complete a
pass, and once again Navy was
forced to give up the ball. Detweller
punted and Mooser returned the
ball to the Virginia 41. Danny
Fasslo entered the game for the
Cavaliers at Quarterback. Using the
running ability of Dave Wyncoop
and Anderson, Fassio took the
Virginians to the Navy 35 where
they were forced to give up the
ball.

McNallen's first pass was
intercepted by Paul Reeve, and
once again Virginia had the ball in
excellent position to score with
5:31 remaining in the game. The
Middies however buckled down,
and the game ended after several
turnovers with the Cavaliers the
winner in the lopsided contest,
24-0.

Although the Statistics do not
really bear out the fact, the game
belonged to Virginia from the
outset.