Category: navy football

PJ Is Annoyed

On By MikeIn army-navy, navy football, Paul Johnson8 Comments

I told you about Stan Brock’s comments regarding Paul Johnson’s offense, and how I think that they provide a little extra motivation this week (not that you need much additional motivation for Army-Navy). Other than running the option, the other hot topic in Army football is scheduling. Both Brock and AD Kevin Anderson have said repeatedly that they need to change their scheduling to mirror Navy’s, to the point where it’s starting to sound like they think the schedule is the only reason why Navy’s been any better than Army over the last 5 years. Apparently, PJ is sick of hearing about it:

Johnson sounds off on scheduling

Army’s football scheduling is a hot topic these days.

Army athletic director Kevin Anderson has said he would like to model Army’s schedule after Navy’s.

Here’s Navy coach Paul Johnson’s take on scheduling:

“I don’t know what’s the difference in our schedules is now,” Johnson said. “Can somebody point it out to me? What’s the difference? We played Rutgers, Pitt, Wake Forest,
Notre Dame and Duke. Which five BCS schools did they play?

I replied “Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Rutgers…

Johnson says, “And?”

“They played four. We played five. They played teams in the MAC. We played teams in the MAC. They played Air Force. We played Air Force.
They played Rhode Island. We played Delaware. So what’s the difference?

The difference maybe isn’t in the schedule but in the systems and coaching.

You got that right.

In other news, don’t miss Bill Wagner’s update on Kaipo’s health on his blog. Also, while the Poinsettia Bowl is locked up this year, Navy still doesn’t have a deal in place for a bowl game next year. There are a few things in the works, though, as Christian Swezey tells us that the proposed D.C. bowl game is still a possibility. It could use a better name, though.

Army Week

On By MikeIn army-navy, navy football6 Comments

It’s that time of year! It is time for the game of games. Time for the last bastion of true amateurism in major college football. Time for the greatest rivalry of them all.  It’s time for the Army-Navy Game.

There really is nothing like it. Every school has its rivalry games, and those fans all think theirs is the best. But are they any different than every other rivalry? We hate you, you hate us, blah blah blah. Let’s be real here. You have these state schools with 30,000 students. How many of them never set foot in the football stadium? How many don’t really care about the “big game?” At Army and Navy, it’s different. Every one of the 4,000 students at each school is at the game. And the moment those 8,000 students take their first step onto the grounds of West Point or Annapolis, they let out their first of countless “Beat Army” or “Beat Navy” yells. At some schools, you can go all 4 (or 5 or 6) years without having anything to do with their rivalry if you wanted to. That’s impossible to do at Army or Navy. Hell, not only is Navy’s fight song all about beating Army, but we yell “Beat Army!” at the end of our alma mater. Beating Army is at the heart of the Naval Academy experience. If that doesn’t take the cake, I don’t know what would. There was a lot of talk before the Notre Dame game, as there is every year, about how some players say that they want to beat Notre Dame even more than they want to beat Army. I don’t doubt it, at least at the time they say it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Army’s players felt the same way before their game in South Bend last year. But after the Army-Navy game, when the teams line up for each school’s alma mater, ask the same question– especially to the team who sings first. There won’t be any doubt then.

Army week has supposedly been put on hold at USNA as this mideast peace conference takes place. I guess we don’t want to set off an international incident by doing a wildman on some Palestinian diplomat. West Point doesn’t have the fetters of world peace with which to be burdened, however. Their antics are apparently in full swing as a Youtube slideshow shows that they have either stolen Bill or put together a pretty good hoax. Assuming it’s a hoax, I have to tip my cap to the Woops. That’s a level of creativity that we’ve never seen from Hell on the Hudson before, considering that their typical spirit spot consists of some random Army unit gathered around a sign and yelling, “We’re the X platoon in some company in some random part of the country! Go Army! Beat Navy! Hooah!” Hey, the submarine force might be nerds with their animated goats-from-under-the-sea cartoon every year, but at least they’re creative nerds.

(My personal favorite goat-napping came in 1995. The Pentagon told the two schools to back off on the mascot capers in 1991 after a Navy raid to take Army’s mules resulted in two people going to the hospital. Army cadets ignored the order and stole Bill 4 years later. Bill was unguarded because of the mascot-stealing cease-fire, and the Navy SID at the time, Tom Bates, made a great comment about the heist: “We knew Army cadets were involved because they cut through two fences to get to the goats, when 15 feet away there was an unlocked gate.” Priceless.)

Anyway, back to business. As important as that whole peace thing is, I hope it doesn’t hinder football practice. Israel and the rest of the Middle East will still be a powder keg no matter what comes of this conference. But the Army-Navy game? Those are bragging rights that last forever. Priorities, people. And the first priority for Navy is getting Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada back on the field. PJ said after practice last Wednesday that Kaipo should be back and ready to go versus Army. Kaipo has a lot of rust to knock off. By the time he takes the field on Saturday, it will have been three weeks since he played. He also missed a week of practice. He’ll need to be at 100% for Paul Johnson to be able to unleash the kind of game that I think he wants to. You might have seen this quote from Army head coach Stan Brock:

“I don’t think a 100-percent triple option is the answer,” Brock said. “If it was, Navy would be national champions because there’s nobody that runs it better than Navy, nobody. …

“There’s a lot of positive things that are part of that offense and some other things, you have to be able to do when the situation arrives,” Brock said. “You have to be a well-rounded offense.”

At first, it seems like Brock is trying to be complimentary. And he is, in a way. He says that Navy is well-coached. Fine… but it isn’t his point. What he’s really saying is that Paul Johnson’s offense has limitations. That it can’t win at the highest level. That it holds Navy back. Bad move, Stan. The last time we heard something like this it was from UConn coach Randy Edsall, who made a few comments after the 2002 game that hinted that maybe he had “solved” PJ’s offense. When the two went against each other 4 years later, Navy piled on 605 yards of offense in a 41-17 win. I don’t think anything motivates Paul Johnson more than when someone gives his offense a backhanded compliment. Brock might as well have told a yo momma joke.

Motivational hoopla aside, Army probably feels as if this is the best shot they’ve had to knock off Navy in a few years. Kaipo might not be at 100%, and the Black Knights’ defense played a pretty decent game against him last year. Kaipo did have a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look about him in the 2006 game, but in case his crowd-pumping at the Notre Dame game didn’t tell you, that isn’t really an issue this year. That doesn’t mean he’ll be sharp after sitting for so long, though. And to top it all off, the much maligned Army offense is coming off of its best performance of the season.

Army is 115th in the country in total offense, averaging a meager 280 yards per game. Against Tulsa, though, the Black Knights came alive to the tune of 491 yards and 39 points. Quarterback Carson Williams was 26 of 38 through the air for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns. The primary beneficiary of Williams’ performance was wide receiver Jeremy Trimble, who caught 11 of those passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Even the Army running game managed to almost double its usual output, churning out 163 yards. One look at that performance and Army fans have to be wondering where the hell that offense had been all year.

I’m not sure what the answer is. I have a guess, though. The strength of Army’s team this year is its defense. Their strategy has been to play conservatively on offense and limit mistakes, using their defense to keep games close and hoping to pull out close ones in the 4th quarter. It worked in a few games. That’s how Army beat Rhode Island and Tulane, and they played tough contests with Akron and Wake Forest. They also managed to hang with Georgia Tech for a half, and defense & special teams were what won the Temple game. But for the most part, Army’s offense was so conservative that they ended up with a bunch of 3 & outs that kept their defense on the field too long. They would get tired, and the game would slip away. After a 3-3 start, Army’s defense has worn down and given up at least 30 points in each game of the Black Knights’ current 5-game losing streak.

When Tulsa rolled into Michie Stadium two Saturdays ago, I think Stan Brock felt he had to try something different. With his defense reeling and the #1 offense in I-A coming to town, Brock probably didn’t feel like he could stop the Golden Hurricane. My guess is that he figured his best bet would be to turn the offense loose and try to outscore them. And it worked better than just about anyone could have hoped. Army’s usual offensive game consists of passes to the flats and running between the tackles, with stud fullback Mike Viti leading the way. Against Tulsa, Army came out with a completely different look. They stretched the field, both vertically and sideline-to-sideline. Trimble was able to finally use his speed on something other than a kickoff return, bringing in a 57-yard reception and a 35-yard TD catch. Army’s running game was a lot more horizontal, as the offensive line did a good job with zone blocking on “stretch” plays.

Army defensive coordinator John Mumford has gone with a 4-4 scheme against Navy each year since he was promoted to the position in 2004. In 2004 and 2005, it resulted in 42 points apiece for the Mids. Last year Army played much better, but Kaipo also had his worst game since taking over as starting quarterback. The Woops went after the then-sophomore in much the same way that Rutgers did earlier in the year. But Kaipo is not the same quarterback he was that day. It will be interesting to see if Mumford takes the same approach. My guess is that he will, and I think he will pay for it.

So what does it all mean? Navy shouldn’t have much of a problem moving the ball, but Army does have a legitimate I-A defense. If Kaipo is shaky after his time off, Army is good enough to capitalize and force turnovers. Execution is the key to the game for the Navy offense. As for Army, it really all comes down to how Stan Brock sees this game. Navy is second only to Tulsa in total offense among Army’s opponents this year. Does Brock recognize this and choose to open up his own offense the way he did against Tulsa? Will Jeremy Trimble be cut loose in the Navy secondary? If so, it could be a very interesting game. On the other hand, if Brock has confidence in his defense after the way they performed last year, and if he really feels that Navy’s offense isn’t “well-rounded” enough to be a threat, then we might see the same conservative game out of the Army offense that we’ve seen all year. And if that happens, then Navy will have the first 6-game winning streak in the history of the Army-Navy series.

Here’s hoping it happens. Beat Army!

ZZZZZzzzzz z z z z z

On By MikeIn navy football13 Comments

If you tuned in to CSTV on Saturday hoping to see wide-open, exciting football, you probably came away disappointed.

But if you wanted to see a Navy win, clinching a 5th straight winning season and sending the seniors out on top in their last appearance at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, then you got your money’s worth.

It wasn’t the kind of game that’ll win CSTV any ratings wars, but that’s hardly what matters in Navy’s 35-24 win over Northern Illinois. Navy’s defense was reeling after hitting rock bottom against North Texas, and the offense had to keep pace with starting quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada sidelined with a knee injury. It looked like the perfect formula for disappointment, but the Mids came through. 

Reading most of the postgame accounts and watching Coach Johnson’s press conference, the story of the game seems to be the performance of the defense. Am I the only one who wasn’t all that impressed? I mean, yes, it was better than North Texas. It was impossible not to be better than the North Texas game. But NIU was banged up and starting their backup quarterback. They were a running team anyway, so with their QB out it was pretty obvious what to expect. And when they did throw, we knew it wasn’t going to be downfield. We knew what was coming, yet Justin Anderson still ran for 140 yards and a touchdown. The Huskies were a ridiculous 7-7 on 4th down conversions. Maybe it was an improvement over last week, but I don’t think that the defense was any better than they had been the rest of the year. NIU just wasn’t very good offensively.

OK, maybe that’s a little harsh. There were some good things that stood out. First and foremost are the two sacks. There was better pressure on the quarterback overall even when it didn’t result in a sack. And despite allowing NIU to convert on all 7 of their 4th downs, they were only 7-21 on 3rd down– a HUGE improvement over weeks past. Hell, even having that many 3rd downs felt unusual. Ross Pospisil had 20 tackles, which he should have had the way NIU was running the ball; that means that he wasn’t out of position.

So maybe those praising the defense have a point. I’m not ready to hop on the bandwagon yet, though. NIU was a wounded team with a conservative, predictable gameplan, and still moved the ball pretty easily. If you’re optimistic, I hope it’s cautious optimism. The last time we were optimistic about the defense was after the Notre Dame game, and we know what happened the following week.

Moving right along, the other story of the game was the offensive game plan under Jarod Bryant. To say that it was conservative would be an understatement. We knew that was coming, though. I said on Friday to expect the offense to consist of a lot of midline option and a lot of toss sweeps, and that’s pretty much what we got. Jarod has trouble with triple option reads, so PJ just called plays that gave him the best chance to succeed. It worked.

Let’s take a look at the plays that were called, shall we? I was very intersted in how PJ would call a full game with Bryant at the helm, so I took note on each of Navy’s 11 drives. Here’s what I saw. Keep in mind that there are probably some mistakes in here, since I don’t know what was called in the huddle. Sometimes we’ll run a designed handoff showing an option look, and it’s hard to tell the difference. I took my best guess. Usually you can tell by looking at the quarterback’s eyes on the replay, but they didn’t show one for every play.

1st Drive

  1. Designed handoff to FB
  2. Toss sweep
  3. Triple option, Bryant pitches, gain of 7
  4. Give to Ballard, I think off the triple option
  5. Triple option, Bryant pitches
  6. Toss sweep
  7. QB keeper for a 1st down
  8. Give to FB (looked like it was by design and not an option)
  9. QB keeper, stopped short of goal line
  10. Toss sweep, Zerb TD

3 triple option plays, 7 predetermined runs (2 FB, 3 toss sweeps, 2 QB keepers)

2nd Drive

  1. Toss sweep
  2. Toss sweep (and a little awkward. It looked like Bryant called an audible, but Kettani didn’t hear it and ran to the wrong side. Play still worked, though)
  3. Triple option give. (I think it was a triple option, anyway, although it might have been the midline)
  4. Toss sweep, Zerb TD again.

1 triple option play, 3 predetermined runs (3 toss sweeps)

3rd Drive

  1. Designed handoff to FB
  2. Midline, Bryant keeps
  3. Triple option, trainwreck. Mesh problems. Chop block penalty called, declined. Navy punts.

1 triple option play, 1 predetermined run ( FB), 1 midline option

4th Drive

  1. Double/speed option
  2. Double/speed option
  3. PA pass, huge gain to Zerb
  4. Double/speed option
  5. Give to fullback (I think designed) w/option motion
  6. Shun White on end around/counter play that I’ve never seen before. 3rd & 8, timeout
  7. Midline, Bryant keeps for huge gain
  8. False start penalty; next play, double/speed option, Shun White TD

0 triple option plays, 2 predetermined runs (1 slotback counter, 1 FB give), 1 midline option, 4 speed option, 1 pass

5th drive

  1. Designed give to the FB
  2. Triple option, give to FB
  3. 3rd & 6, pass broken up. Navy punts.

1 triple option play, 1 predetermined run, 1 pass.

6th Drive (last drive of the 1st half)

  1. QB draw
  2. FB screen. FG attempt was short

0 triple option plays, 1 predetermined run (QB draw), 1 pass

7th Drive (opening drive of the 2nd half)

  1. Midline, FB give
  2. Midline, QB keep
  3. Midline, QB keep
  4. Midline, QB keep
  5. Midline, QB keep
  6. Pass, slotback in the flat
  7. Midline, QB keep
  8. Toss sweep
  9. Midline, QB keep
  10. Midline, QB keep
  11. Toss sweep. 4th & 2, drew NIU offside.
  12. Toss sweep
  13. Toss sweep
  14. Designed QB keeper, TD

0 triple option plays, 5 predetermined runs (4 toss sweeps, 1 QB keeper), 8 midline option, 1 pass

8th Drive

  1. Counter option, pitch
  2. Midline, QB keep
  3. Toss sweep (stuffed)
  4. Pass
  5. 4th & 5. Rollout pass, dropped.

0 triple option plays, 1 predetermined run (toss sweep), 1 midline option, 1 counter option, 2 passes.

One quick note: the counter option was good for 15 yards and was set up by all the midline option runs on the previous drive. Running up the middle that much causes the defensive ends to cheat towards the inside, which makes them easier to block on the counter option.

9th Drive

  1. Midline, QB keep
  2. Midline, QB keep
  3. Triple option, pitch (looked like misssed read)
  4. Midline, QB keep
  5. I have no idea what I just saw… looked like designed QB keep
  6. Designed rollout QB keep
  7. Same crazy play I hadn’t seen before, QB keep
  8. Midline, QB keep
  9. Designed rollout QB keep
  10. Counter option, pitch to Zerb, TD

1 triple option play, 4 predetermined runs (QB keepers), 4 midline option, 1 counter option.

This was the most interesting drive of the game for me. I’ve watched a lot of Paul Johnson football going back a long way, and I had never seen the QB keeper he called here. The play looked like it was an option play, only it couldn’t have been because Bryant wasn’t facing the direction he would end up running. On the triple option play, I said it looked like a missed read but I’m not sure that it was truly a triple option. I think that PJ ran those two midline options to start the drive and saw that the DE was taking the fullback. It looked like he called the triple on the next play but told Jarod to not to give to the fullback, expecting the DE to play the dive again. I might be out to lunch on that one. Also, once again the counter option is set up by the midline.

10th Drive

  1. Midline, QB keep (Holding)
  2. Midline QB keep (Personal foul)
  3. FB trap
  4. 3rd & 23… Midline, FB give.

0 triple option plays, 1 predetermined run (FB trap), 3 midline option.

11th Drive

  1. Midline, QB keep
  2. Midline, QB keep
  3. Troy Goss in to take a knee

0 triple option plays, 2 midline

OK, so let’s tally it up. That’s 65 plays, including penalties and not including taking a knee. Only 7 out of our 65 plays were the triple option– roughly 11%. 26 were predetermined runs, or 40%. There were 6 pass plays, or 9%. That leaves 26 plays, another 40%, for a combination of midline option, counter option, and speed option; those are all option plays with only one read, as opposed to triple option plays which have 2 reads. So on our running plays the ratio of non-triple option runs to triple option runs was 8:1. Jarod has trouble with his reads. PJ knows this, and didn’t put him in a position to make a mistake.

Birddog Game Balls

— The offensive line: When the offense is as conservative as we saw on Saturday, you had better execute. The line did, and Navy ran for 359 yards.

— Jarod Bryant: He had 27 carries for 139 yards, and most importantly he didn’t turn the ball over. The playbook might shrink when he’s in the game, but Jarod did his job.

— Ross Pospisil: 20 tackles. Yo.

— Corey Johnson: Corey appeared to have found a niche on special teams, covering kicks and using his basketball ability to serve as a jumper on field goal & extra point attempts. The coaches must have seen something last week, because he got even more playing time against Northern Illinois. Coming in at linebacker, Johnson didn’t have the most incredible game statistically (4 tackles), but he made a very athletic play to deflect a pass that Greg Thrasher was able to pick off. He also was able to generate a little bit of pressure on the quarterback. Corey isn’t graduating until next December, so there is a chance that he could be back for another season. With the progress that he’s made so far this season after not having played for years, maybe there’s a potential playmaker in Johnson.

— Zerbin Singleton: Duh.

Game Week: Northern Illinois

On By MikeIn navy football9 Comments

The 2006 Poinsettia Bowl runners-up take on the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl champions on Saturday as the Northern Illinois Huskies make the trip out to Annapolis to take on the Mids on Senior Day. NIU enters the game with a 2-8 record, 1-5 in the MAC. The game is a 3:30 start this week, so don’t be surprised if you tune into CSTV at 1:00 and get the second quarter of the VMI-Citadel game. If you like option football, you might want to tune into that game anyway. VMI’s offensive coordinator is Brent Davis, who coached running backs for Paul Johnson at Georgia Southern. When Johnson left for Navy, Davis stayed on as GSU’s offensive line coach under Mike Sewak. He runs an offense that’s based on what he did in Statesboro.

Anyway, moving right along… Northern Illinois has hit some hard times this season, but they’ve been a solid team for years under head coach Joe Novak. The Huskies went 3-30 in Novak’s first three years, but NIU’s patience paid off and he was able to turn things around after that. His 2003 team went 10-2 with wins over Maryland, Alabama, and Iowa State, and there were a lot of people at the time who felt that NIU should have received the at-large berth in the Houston Bowl that was instead given to Navy. Records are, of course, secondary to ticket sales when it comes to bowl games, but that’s beside the point. Novak is a good coach, and he puts together solid teams.

So what gives this season? Graduation losses– especially that of all-world RB Garrett Wolfe– meant that the Huskies figured to take at least a little bit of a step backward. Not this much, though. No, this year almost seems cursed as Novak’s team has been hit hard by injuries. You think Navy is banged up? As of last week, 26 NIU players have had to sit out at least one game due to injury. Fourteen of those players were starters. Ten of them are out for the season. It’s as if Shaun Carney decided to make a proclamation that he just can’t see Northern Illinois players getting hurt. And if you think that Navy’s secondary has issues, check this out: six NIU defensive linemen are out for the season. Six! Like Navy, NIU has also lost their defensive captain for the year, linebacker Tim McCarthy. So when you see stats like Northern Illinois being ranked 108th in rushing defense, you know why.

EnglishOne player to watch that has thus far avoided the injury bug is DE Larry English. English, a 6-3, 255 lb. junior, is on the watch list for both the Lombardi and Nagurski awards and leads the MAC in both sacks per game and tackles for loss per game. Against Idaho he had 12 tackles, 5 sacks, and returned a fumble for a touchdown. The 5 sacks English had in that game are more than half of what the entire Navy team has all year.

Last week against Kent State, it looked like NIU might have finally turned things around. The Huskies put up 510 yards of offense in a 27-20 win over the MAC’s top rushing team. NIU has become a poor man’s Tailback U under Novak, with running backs like Wolfe and Michael Turner topping the 1,000-yard mark in each of the past 9 seasons. Justin Anderson made this the 9th consecutive season last week, as his 19 carries for 98 yards and 2 TDs in the first half gave him 1,096 yards for the year. Just as things looked like they were going OK, though, the curse struck again. Anderson, a redshirt sophomore, sat out most of the second half of the game with an injury. But the Huskies wouldn’t be denied, as David Bryant picked up the slack with 28 caries and 110 yards of his own. NIU quarterback Dan Nicholson had his most efficient game of the season, throwing for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21-28 passing.

But it was just too good to last. Anderson is expected to play this week, but Bryant is questionable. If Anderson goes down again, NIU is left with a couple of safeties as their emergency running backs since their other tailback, Montell Clanton, is already out for the year. And now Nicholson is out with his second concussion of the season, meaning backup Ryan Morris will probably get the start at quarterback. If there was ever a week for Navy’s defense to come alive, this is it. At least on paper, anyway. Not that paper matchups have meant much up to this point.

Injuries are the big news out of Annapolis too, as Jarod Bryant will get the start at quarterback instead of Kaipo. Kaipo’s knee was banged up against North Texas, and he was unable to practice all week. Hopefully he’ll be healed enough to be back for the Army game, but for now he’s tossing the keys to PJ’s steamroller over to Bryant. Jarod ran well against the Mean Green last week, running for 57 yards and a touchdown in the second half. He seems to get better every time he gets in the game, as that performance followed up another good relief appearance versus Delaware. Whether it’s in an effort to accentuate Jarod’s strengths or hide Jarod’s weaknesses, PJ likes to run between the tackles more, at least in the option game, when Bryant is behind center. Bryant is considered by most to be a better inside runner than Kaipo, and he’s had trouble reading the pitch key on the triple option in the past. Expect to see a healthy dose of the midline option this week, with some toss sweeps for good measure. This will be Jarod’s first career regular season start, with his only other start coming in the first series of the Meineke Car Care Bowl last season.

And so, the matchup is set. Since 2003, Navy has averaged 49 points per game on Senior Day. Hopefully we’ll see a similar performance this year so those seniors that don’t always get a lot of playing time can have one last chance to take the field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Don’t Miss: If you haven’t already seen it, Bill Wagner’s piece on the defense this week is a must-read. I don’t see it posted on the Capital’s site yet, but keep checking.

EDIT: Here it is.

Service Selection: Speaking of the seniors, service selection was this week. Congratulations to the entire class of 2008! Here’s the list of football seniors as sent out by Navy SID Scott Strasemeier:

Jonathan Alvarado (Baton Rouge,La.)-Marine Corps Ground, Adam Ballard (Lewisville, Texas)-Marine Corps Ground, Paul Bridgers (Gaithersburg, Md.)-Navy Pilot, Joey Bullen (St. Simons Island, Ga.)-Intelligence; Reggie Campbell (Sanford, Fla.)-Navy Pilot, Ben Gabbard (Arnold, Md.)-Naval Flight Officer, Troy Goss (Shelby, N.C.)-Marine Corps Ground,  Antron Harper (Eastman, Ga.)-Surface Warfare. Matt Humiston (Kennedale, Texas)-Marine Corps Ground, Reyn Kaupiko (Honolulu, Hawaii)-Surface Warfare, Chris Kuhar-Pitters (Spokane, Wash.)-Navy Pilot, Josh Meek (Flower Mound, Texas) Submarine (Nuclear), Matt Oberlander (Pickerington, Ohio)-Naval Flight Officer, Jordan Reagan (Carrollton, Texas)-Surface Warfare, Dell Robinson (Lindenwold, N.J.)-Marine Corps Ground, Zerbin Singleton (Decatur, Ga.)-Marine Corps Pilot, Irv Spencer (Oakwood Village, Ohio)-Surface Warfare, Greg Thrasher (Carrollton, Texas)-Surface Warfare, Greg Veteto (Corpus Christi, Texas)-Marine Corps Ground, OJ Washington (Tacoma, Wash.)-Surface Warfare, Matt Wimsatt (Raleigh, N.C.)-Marine Corps Ground, Jordan Young (Zanesville, Ohio)-Naval Flight Officer.

Don’t Do It

On By MikeIn navy football2 Comments

You know you let it creep into your mind, Navy fan. You know that when North Texas scored to take a 21-3 lead, you thought that Navy was just having a “letdown” game after finally beating Notre Dame. You figured that Navy had a hard time getting focused during practice this week, and that coming out flat was a result of that. Fight it back. Don’t let yourself think that. You’ll just be setting yourself up for disappointment the rest of the year.

Records were falling left and right yesterday as Navy outlasted North Texas, 74-62, before 26,000 people at Fouts Field in Denton. Among the records set: the I-A record for most points in a game (136), the Navy school record for rushing yards in a game (572), and the most combined points scored in a half (94) and a quarter (63). Mean Green quarterback Giovanni Vizza’s 8 touchdown passes are a record for the most ever thrown in a single game by a freshman, and the 7 he threw in the first half tied the record for most in a half thrown by anyone.

Coach Johnson was noticeably irritated after the game. This isn’t the first shootout that the Mids have been a part of this year. After those wins, PJ would usually say something like, “It doesn’t matter if we win 6-3 or 46-43 as long as we have more points than they do.” Not this week. Bill Wagner asked Coach what he thought about being a part of such a record-shattering game:

Wagner: So a game like this is historic. Is this the kind of historic game you want to be a part of?
Johnson: Nope. Nope. I don’t want to be a part of it. I’m happy for the kids that they won, and I’m happy that they’re resilient and they came back, but we’ve got to do something. We’ve got to make some changes, do something.

That wasn’t all.

Wagner: How about their freshman quarterback setting like 5 records tonight?
Johnson: Who hasn’t set a record against us?

We’ve heard him talk like that after a loss before, but not really after a win. Usually he’ll point out some mistakes, but follow that up with, “but they found a way to win.” After the North Texas game, Johnson didn’t mention anything along those lines unless he was prompted to. And even then it didn’t last. PJ was pissed.

It’s hard to blame him. Maybe you could dismiss the defense’s performance as a post-Notre Dame hangover if it wasn’t consistent with everything we’ve seen so far this year. Navy gives up 40 points and 469 yards per game. Navy is still last in I-A in pass effeciency defense. Notre Dame came into last week’s game averaging about 30 rushing yards per game, but put up 235 against the Mids. It doesn’t matter how the offense wants to attack; it’s going to work.

I don’t want to rattle off any more about the defense’s futility because you’ve heard it all before. The story here really isn’t that the defense stinks– and whatever momentum they might have had against Notre Dame is toast– it’s PJ’s postgame reaction. He says that changes need to be made, but the nature of those changes are unclear. The defense can’t really be simplified any more than it has been. Todd Dodge was a high school coach last year, and Navy put up a high school defense against him. He did to Navy what he did every week at Southlake Carroll. Fortunately, he was using a high school defense against Paul Johnson, and PJ ripped it to shreds.

It’s really a shame that the defense is so bad, because it overshadows the best Navy offensive performance in generations. The Mids piled up 680 yards of offense. Shun White and Zerbin Singleton both topped 100 rushing yards. Eric Kettani– a fullback, mind you– averaged 12 yards per carry. Adam Ballard had 87 yards and a touchdown in front of friends & family. Kaipo threw for 108 yards and a wide-open touchdown to Tyree Barnes, and he was relieved by Jarod Bryant, who ran for 57 yards and a touchdown of his own in a little less than a half of work. Eight different mids scored a touchdown. Zerb had three. But instead of marveling at the awesomeness of the offense, we’re stuck worrying about the defense. Ten games into the season, we should be used to it by now. But if you’re like me, you aren’t.

I did mention that we won though, right? At 6-4, Navy is now officially Poinsettia Bowl bound. Hopefully the weather is better than what I’m seeing at the Chargers game right at the moment. Charlotte spoiled me last year, since I was able to drive. I forgot how friggin’ expensive airline tickets are around Christmas. Chet said in his pregame show interview that he expects Utah to be the opponent, with an outside shot at BYU or New Mexico. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Play of the game: Navy actually forced a 3 & out late in the 2nd quarter, trailing 49-38. After the punt, Navy got the ball at midfield with 24 seconds left in the half. The offense lined up in an unbalanced formation, and it left Reggie Campbell with one on one coverage on the short side of the field. Kaipo hit Reggie with a 47-yard pass down the sideline, and Zerbin Singleton punched it in on the next play. That cut the lead to 49-45 and allowed Navy to take the lead after they got the ball to start to the second half.

Birddog Game Ball: Greg Veteto. He got all of one punt in the game, but he made it count. Greg kicked a 51-yarder that was downed at the 2 yard line. Pinned back against their own end zone, the Mean Green were forced to call a couple of conservative plays that left them with a 3rd & 6. Vizza went back to pass, and completed it for what appeared to be a first down (shocking). But there was a flag on the field; holding in the end zone. That’s a safety. Reggie Campbell blasted past everyone and returned the ensuing free kick for a touchdown. That’s 9 points that were made possible by Veteto’s punt.

The Pink Elephant

On By MikeIn navy football, Paul Johnson11 Comments

It’s on the back of everyone’s mind.

It has been generations since Navy football has been the recipient of this much national attention. A week after the Mids ended their 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame, the stories are still pouring in. We hear Roger Staubach’s take, Phil McConkey’s take, and reactions from random Navy fans. Feinstein believes in miracles, Ram Vela is E.J. Henderson’s inspiration, and bloggers are reveling in Notre Dame’s 1-8 record. It’s fun to be the talk of the college football world… mostly. Not all of the attention is welcome.

We’ve heard one or two people a year ask why Paul Johnson doesn’t get more mention when the annual coaching carousel begins. We’ve heard his name tossed around here and there, but never very seriously. Ole Miss was rumored to have a little bit of interest a couple of years ago, and Johnson was also said to have turned down East Carolina. Last year, several newspaper reports claimed that Johnson was on the short list at North Carolina, NC State, and Alabama. As it turns out, none of those schools were as interested as they were alleged to be. But now that Navy has been put in the national spotlight, more and more people have started asking the question: when will some BCS school take notice and hire Paul Johnson away from Navy?

Half of the traffic on this blog consists of Nebraska, Georgia Tech, and Clemson fans who, apparently lacking any original thought of their own, link my posts on their blogs and message boards to use as propaganda in their campaigns to convince fellow fans that Paul Johnson is their man. Those of you who have been reading The Birddog from the beginning might have noticed that my “Five Myths of Paul Johnson’s Offense” post has disappeared, along with the video that I made to honor PJ on his 100th win. Those were the top choices for visiting scrounges to pilfer. After the Notre Dame win, though, my blog isn’t the only source for content anymore. Media voices around the country are seemingly counting down the days before Paul Johnson gets scooped up by some State U.

It’s sort of funny how people think that Paul Johnson is all of a sudden on the map because he led Navy to a win over Notre Dame. Nothing has really changed. Athletic directors have always known who Paul Johnson was. They still have the same reason for not hiring him; namely, his offense. Being an “option” team carries a stigma that a lot of ADs apparently just don’t want to deal with. I’m not sure why, exactly. It might be because some people think it’s boring and would drive fans away. Some look at the lack of option offenses in college football today and figure that it just doesn’t work anymore. And if you do run the option, but it doesn’t end up working and you have to find yet another coach, you’ll end up screwing that guy because he’ll be stuck trying to implement something new on a team full of option players.

Despite the perceived risks in hiring him, I really thought that Coach Johnson was history after last year. I was certain that UNC or NC State would have gone after the North Carolina native. Neither did, though, and Johnson returned for his 6th year in Annapolis. Looking forward, there are a few other schools that might consider him. The popular names to talk about are Nebraska, Clemson, and Georgia Tech. Nebraska is ridiculous, in my opinion. The only reason he gets any mention there is because of the whole “option” thing, even though Paul Johnson’s offense looks like nothing that Nebraska ever ran. If he ran any other offense, nobody would make the connection. Tommy Bowden may have earned a reprieve at Clemson with their play the last couple of weeks, and who knows what’s going on with Georgia Tech. And now people are starting to talk about SMU? It’s hard to predict who the next competitor for PJ’s services will be.

When Paul Johnson was initially approached by Chet Gladchuck about the possibility of taking the Navy job, he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until he heard people saying that he couldn’t win there that he began to come around to the idea. There was a long list of things that people said couldn’t be done at Navy, but one by one, Johnson accomplished them all. Winning seasons? Bowl games? Commander-In-Chief’s Trophies? All done. And now, Johnson has accomplished the holy grail of Navy football impossibilities: beating Notre Dame. Media speculation has centered around how the Notre Dame win might have affected Johnson’s marketability. I don’t think it’s much different than it was before the game. What I wonder about is if the win has made Johnson himself feel more comfortable about moving on, that he’d be able to leave without feeling like he had unfinished business. Does Paul Johnson feel he has more to accomplish at Navy? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question.

There are several factors that make Navy an appealing job for Coach Johnson. He has plenty of reasons to stay. I can’t help thinking, though, that now he has one less.

Game Week: North Texas

On By MikeIn navy football5 Comments

OK, this is getting a bit ridiculous.

Yes, Navy finally beat Notre Dame. But holy cow, you’d think that World War II just ended. Classes cancelled? The Governor declares November “Navy Football Month?” Come on now. I agree that it’s hard to overstate the significance of this win, but the season isn’t over yet. Yes, as fans we can revel in the victory as long as we want, but the team really doesn’t need any more distractions than they are already getting from the media and their fellow mids. I can’t even imagine how hard it is to remain focused after such a landmark victory. It might be hard, but Paul Johnson is doing his part to keep his team facing forward. On Monday he made it known that he wouldn’t be talking about Notre Dame anymore. “Today is the last day we will talk about Notre Dame,” he said at his daily practice press briefing. “This is it. Starting tomorrow we are only talking about North Texas.”

Distraction is the theme of the week as the Mids hit the road once again, this time to Denton, Texas, and the University of North Texas. While the Mids are fighting off the dreaded “letdown” game, UNT is facing some issues of its own. Three Mean Green players have filed a complaint with the NAACP, claiming racial bias from the team’s coaching staff. I have absolutely no insight into the validity of these claims and don’t really want to get into the specifics very much. Regardless of the veracity of the allegations, this has to be driving a wedge into the UNT football team.

For the most part, I think that off-field distractions are overrated. When a player is having legal problems, he’s usually as focused as ever on the field. After worrying about his problems all day, getting into the game is probably the guy’s only way to escape them, if only for a while. This is different, though. UNT’s problems aren’t off the field. Instead, they are at the very core of what makes up a team: trusting your coaches and trusting your teammates. It would be impossible for this not to disrupt practice. But for North Texas, it’s really just one more problem to add to the list.

Once upon a time, North Texas was the Sun Belt Conference. From 2001-2004, Darrell Dickey’s team went 24-1 in conference play, with four Sun Belt titles and the New Orleans Bowl berths that went with them (including a win over Cincinnati in the 2002 game). Dickey’s power running offense made Division I-A rushing leaders out of Patrick Cobbs in 2003 and Jamario Thomas (as a freshman) in 2004. But the wheels fell off the wagon in 2005, and after consecutive 9-loss seasons, Dickey was fired the following year. UNT didn’t have to go very far to find Dickey’s replacement. About 30 minutes south of campus is Southlake, Texas, home of Carroll High school and its coach, Todd Dodge. Dodge was named head coach of North Texas on December 12th.

Hiring a high school coach seems like a risky move, but it isn’t without precedent. It isn’t even the first time that North Texas has done it; in 1991, they hired Dennis Parker from Marshall High School. Notre Dame’s hire of Gerry Faust in 1981 is the most famous example, but it is the success of Art Briles at Houston that really paved the way for North Texas to hire Dodge. Briles came to Houston after a 3-year stint as Texas Tech’s running backs coach. What interested Houston, though, was the 12 years Briles spent prior to that as the head coach of Stephenville High School. Stephenville won 4 state championships under Briles. Over one 6-year stretch, Briles and the high-octane offense he developed posted a 91-11-1 record. He brought that offense with him to Houston, where he has led the Cougars to 3 bowl games in 4 years and the 2006 Conference USA title.

Dodge can boast similar success during his time at Southlake Carroll. Recognized as one of the top high school programs in the country each year by several publications, Carroll won four 5A state titles with Dodge at the helm. Since taking over the team in 2000, Dodge compiled a 98-11 record and ended his stint as the Dragons’ head coach on a 48-game winning streak. Dodge had his own high-flying offense that set the Texas 5A record for most points in a season, scoring 764 in 2005.

(A tangential story– I had a layover in Dallas when I was flying home from the 2004 Emerald Bowl. While my plane was on final approach to DFW, I looked out the window and saw a very nice football field/stadium with “Dragons” written in the end zones. I kept thinking to myself, “what I-AA team with the nickname ‘Dragons’ is near Dallas?” Then it hit me; that wasn’t a college stadium. It was Carroll High School. I think one of the Under Armour commercials was filmed there. They sure take their football seriously in Texas, not that you didn’t already know.)

For a friggin' high school??

Todd Dodge has a similar backgroud to Briles, but his results at the college level haven’t kept the pace. North Texas is 1-7 this year, including a 1-4 mark within the Sun Belt Conference. It isn’t all too surprising, considering that he’s attempting to install a wide-open passing game on a team full of players recruited for Dickey’s running game. At least, that’s what you’d think. A closer look reveals that their offense has been able to move the ball. North Texas is ranked 12th in Division I-A in passing offense, averaging close to 300 yards per game. This, despite playing a schedule that includes Oklahoma and Arkansas. In fact, in 4 of the Mean Green’s 7 losses this year, they’ve outgained their opponent. They had 527 yards of offense against Louisiana-Lafayette and a whopping 613 yards against SMU. Wide reciever Casey Fitzgerald had 18 catches for 327 yards in that game. Navy will be challenged to limit the big play this week. Through 8 games, North Texas has 7 more plays of 20 yards or more (41) than they did in all 12 games last year. With an offense this explosive, what could possibly be the problem?

For starters, the Mean Green offense implodes just as often as it explodes. Freshman quarterback Giovanni Vizza assumed the starter’s role in the 5th game. He plays behind a line that starts two freshmen, two sophomores, and only one returning starter from 2006. That combination of a freshman quarterback and young linemen means sacks and turnovers. Whether it’s Vizza or junior Daniel Meager, North Texas quarterbacks have found themselves running for their lives. The North Texas line has given up 31 sacks this year through 8 games. With that much pressure being applied to a freshman quarterback, it’s no surprise that Vizza has thrown 9 INTs in 4 games as a starter. So while North Texas has some pretty impressive numbers in total passing yards, their passing efficiency is ranked 98th in the country. Navy had a season-high 4 sacks against Notre Dame. If that was a sign of progress instead of just a flash in the pan, then the Mids have a good chance of adding to their meager total of 9 takeaways on the year.

As hot & cold as the offense has been, those problems pale in comparison to the struggles that the Mean Green defense has faced this year. North Texas is ranked 116th in total defense, giving up almost 500 yards per game. Of course, playing Oklahoma and Arkansas doesn’t help the numbers. It might help to take a look at another game, though. Louisiana-Lafayette doesn’t run Paul Johnson’s offense, obviously, but it does run a different kind of spread option attack. The Ragin’ Cajuns lead the Sun Belt in rushing offense and are 8th nationally, averaging 241 yards per game. Against North Texas, they averaged 8.3 yards per carry, running the ball 36 times for 300 yards. North Texas dominated time of posession in that game, holding onto the ball for 40:36. UL-Lafayette just didn’t need that much time to score, with 116 of their 300 rushing yards coming on touchdown runs of 43 and 73 yards. Five of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 6 scoring drives took less than two minutes.

An interesting twist to this game is that Chuck Petersen, a Fisher DeBerry assistant for 17 years, now coaches safeties at North Texas. Petersen was Air Force’s offensive coordinator for seven years. Having run an option offense himself, it will be interesting to see what kind of input he has in how to defend Navy.

Like always, this is a big game for Navy. North Texas is by no means a world-beater, but they play a style of offense that has ripped Navy’s defense to shreds this year. For the defense, it’s a chance to prove that last week’s performance was genuine improvement and not a one-hit wonder.