A sinking feeling

After last week's main-course victory at Florida State, No. 15 Wake Forest got its dessert yesterday against unranked Navy.

Only it wasn't as palatable as expected.

"It was a slice of humble pie," said defensive tackle Boo Robinson.

Eric Kittani rushed 19 times for a career-high 175 yards, Navy's defense intercepted Riley Skinner four times and recovered two fumbles and the Midshipmen rolled to a stunning 24-17 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 33,173 at BB&T Field.

The sputtering Deacons, who were out-rushed 292 yards to 43, had to score with 1:14 remaining to make it that close. Navy's Corey Johnson recovered the ensuing onside kick and the Midshipman ran out the clock on their first victory over a ranked opponent since 2003.

Wake Forest tumbled to 3-1. Navy, which lost 41-31 to Duke on Sept. 13, improved to 3-2 with its second straight victory.

"We didn't do anything very well," Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest said. "We thought we would be able to run the ball a little bit. We didn't do that very well. We felt like we had some throws we could make, and we obviously didn't do that very well.

"So I think it was just really a situation that we couldn't find anything that really felt good to us for four quarters."

Grobe said during the week that Navy's confounding Triple Option is the kind of offense that a coach spends 12 months worrying about. And even despite losing quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada against Wake Forest for the second season in a row, the Midshipmen won the line of scrimmage, averaged 4.9 yards a rush and controlled the clock for almost 37 of the game's 60 minutes.

"They do what they do and they do it really good," Robinson said.

But it was the Navy defense that really arose to the occasion by thwarting the Deacons' rushing attack and harrying Skinner into what may have been his worst performance of his 28 games at Wake Forest. He completed 26 of 40 passes for 270 yards, but time after time was unable to convert favorable scoring opportunities.

The Deacons, in the first half, had a first-and-goal from the Navy 1, but had to settle for a field goal. In the second half, they had a first-and-5 from inside Midshipmen territory and were forced to punt.

Skinner's four interceptions were a career high. He also lost a fumble, his third in two games.

"This is definitely an eye-opener, especially for me and for our team as well," Skinner said. "A couple of the throws I missed I overthrew them. And you can't have that happen. Bottom line. You just can't throw bad balls.

"Unfortunately I did that a couple of times and really hurt our defense."

Since beating Towson 41-13 in the opener, Navy had given up 35 points against Ball State, 41 against Duke and 21 against Rutgers. But the Midshipmen's defensive game plan against Wake Forest of dropping eight men into pass coverage and blitzing just often enough to keep Skinner off balance was brutally effective.

"Our defense played phenomenal -- fighting, scratching and clawing" Coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "Every situation we put them in, our defense just stepped up."

Kaheaku-Enhada rocked Wake Forest early by directing touchdown drives of 51 and 74 yards on Navy's first two possessions for a 14-0 lead. A penalty for chop blocking led to a punt on the third possession, but the Midshipmen extended the lead to 17-0 with Matt Harmon's 35-yard field goal with four minutes left in the half.

The Deacons saw it as a good sign when Kaheaku-Enhada was forced from the field with an injured hamstring just before the field goal. In his seven possessions against Wake Forest over the past two seasons, Kaheaku-Enhada had directed four drives for touchdowns and two for field goals.

"I hope he's all right after this game, but I was happy he was out," cornerback Alphonso Smith said. Kaheaku-Enhada's replacement, Jarod Bryant, wasn't as effective. But thanks to the play of Navy's defense, he didn't have to be.

Wake Forest grabbed the momentum early in the second half when Anthony Williams recovered a fumble forced by Alex Frye on the kickoff and drove 16 yards for Josh Adams' 1-yard touchdown run.

Skinner's 36-yard pass to D.J. Boldin gave the Deacons and first-and-goal from the 1-yard line on the next possession, but Navy stuffed Wake Forest three straight plays. The Deacons had to settle for Sam Swank's 23-yard field goal that sliced the lead to 17-10.

Navy then reasserted itself by forcing punts on Wake Forest's next two possessions. With five minutes remaining, Skinner's overthrown pass to Ben Wooster was picked off by Emmet Merchant.

Navy capitalized immediately. Kettani, a 6-1, 243-pound sernior, barreled through the middle of the sagging Deacons' defense for 57 yards to the Wake Forest 6-yard line. Bryant scored two plays later for a 24-10 lead.

"We just came out flat," receiver Chip Brinkman of Wake Forest said. "They wanted it more than us. You could just see it on the first series we had on offense, and then they marched right down on our defense. We just didn't play our game."

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.

Navy 7 10 0 7 _ 24


Wake Forest 0 0 10 7 _ 17

First Quarter

Navy--Kaheaku-Enhada 4 run (Harmon kick), 9:57.

Second Quarter

Navy--Kaheaku-Enhada 3 run (Harmon kick), 14:54.

Navy--FG Harmon 35, 4:13.

Third Quarter

WFU--Adams 1 run (Swank kick), 12:45.

WFU--FG Swank 23, 8:12.

Fourth Quarter

Navy--Bryant 4 run (Harmon kick), 3:45.

WFU--Rinfrette 8 pass from Skinner (Swank kick), 1:14.

A--33,173.

TEAM STATISTICS

Navy WFU

First downs 14 16

Rushes-yards 59-292 31-43

Passing 51 270

Comp-Att-Int 3-4-0 26-40-4

Return Yards 34 24

Punts-Avg. 6-39.7 4-36.8

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 3-2

Penalties-Yards 6-43 5-45

Time of Possession 35:35 24:25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Navy, Kettani 19-175, Doyle 1-39, Kaheaku-Enhada 10-30, Bryant 15-29, S.White 11-20, Teich 1-2, Team 1-(minus 1), Finnerty 1-(minus 2). Wake Forest, Pendergrass 7-19, Skinner 10-10, J.Williams 1-6, Adams 11-5, K.Harris 1-3, Rinfrette 1-0.

PASSING--Navy, Kaheaku-Enhada 2-3-0-58, Bryant 1-1-0-(minus 7). Wake Forest, Skinner 26-40-4-270.

RECEIVING--Navy, Barnes 2-32, Finnerty 1-19. Wake Forest, Boldin 8-116, Brinkman 3-34, Brown 3-28, Pendergrass 3-14, Mars.Williams 2-23, Adams 2-11, Wooster 1-14, Belton 1-11, Rinfrette 1-8, K.Harris 1-6, Parker 1-5