The Midshipmen made dramatic improvement on that side of the ball, ranking top third in the Football Bowl Subdivision in every key statistical category after finishing near the bottom across the board in 2018.
Navy allowed an average of 314.2 total yards and 22.3 points, placing 16th and 34th among 130 FBS programs. It was an almost miraculous turnaround from the previous season when the Mids gave up 426.4 yards (86th) and 33.5 points (103rd) per game.
One specific category truly spelled the difference. In 2018, Navy could not get stops on third down, ranking 121st nationally.