Depth chart finalized

On By MikeIn navy football7 Comments

Maybe “finalized” isn’t the right word, since the depth chart will constantly change over the course of the season. Still, it’s final in the sense that the time for motivational shenanigans is over. We have a pretty good idea now of who will be getting on the bus for Indiana.

Wags was busy lighting up Twitter last night with some notes and a last-minute change to the depth chart posted over on Navysports.

On the surface it’s a somewhat drastic change, rising from #3 on the chart to supplant last year’s starter. Then again, I’m a firm believer that depth charts are published to give people like us something to talk about, and that the real depth chart exists only in the coach’s head. Maybe this spot was more up for grabs than we realized.

Anyway, some thoughts:

— The offensive line is mostly what we thought it’d be with the exception of Thomas Stone replacing E.K. Binns at left guard. Binns was the only projected starter to have participated in spring camp, but has sat out practice recently with a concussion. I don’t know if it means anything, but I’m hoping that that fact that he’s still listed on the depth chart is a good sign that he’ll be ready to play soon if not this week. Fortunately, Stone is probably the most experienced of all the reserves and might have won the starting job anyway. With Wags’ report that Tanner Fleming and Jake Zuzek are healthy and practicing again, the offensive line should be ready to go.

UPDATE:

So that’s good news if it means Binns is healthy enough to play. My guess is that the two will rotate.

— Also regarding Wags’ notes from last night: I know the coaches are being understandably cautious with Keenan, but I don’t have a warm and fuzzy knowing that he’s being held out of practice in full pads until tomorrow or Thursday.

— Seniority has risen to the top with the slotbacks, which tells me that those who block the best will play the most. I’m sure we’ll see some of the younger guys rotated in on a few plays, but the bulk of the snaps will be going to those who know where to run when they don’t have the ball. As usual.

— We already knew how the outside linebacker situation was going to play out, although A.K. Akpunku has been moved to defensive end.

— DJ Sargenti will be starting opposite Cody Peterson at inside linebacker, which makes for an interesting combination in that neither was recruited as a linebacker. Peterson was originally a fullback, while Sargenti was a strong-armed quarterback. Both were too athletic to remained buried on the depth chart at those positions, though, and have found a home on the defense. Peterson is the team captain who played well last year, so we have a pretty good idea of what he brings to the table. Sargenti is more of a nomad. He was initially moved to outside linebacker, and even led all defenders with 10 tackles in last year’s spring game. Now that Chris Johnson is healthy again, he was moved inside this fall where he quickly played his way to the top of the depth chart. Gap discipline has been an issue for Navy’s ILBs at times over the last couple of seasons, so there’s always that concern when someone has changed positions as often as Sargenti has. There’s certainly no denying his determination to get onto the field, though.

This week in service academy football

On By MikeIn air farce, army football1 Comment

Army (1-0): def. Morgan State, 28-12. This game started out the way you’d figure a game with a struggling MEAC program would, with Army going up 21-0 early in the 2nd quarter. After that, though, Morgan State held their own pretty well, especially running the ball. It was the Bears’ inability to get out of their own way that kept this game from being even closer, with penalties, busted plays, and missed extra points. Statistically, Army was better, but not overwhelmingly so: the Black Knights held a 396-301 advantage in total yards, and a 19-17 edge in first downs. To be fair, you play to win the game, not to pile up statistics. Army took control early, and it never felt like it was getting away from them. There were also some encouraging things from Angel Santiago’s arm. Maybe Army just let off on the gas after getting a big lead. Either way, I don’t know if I’d come away from that game with any warm and fuzzy feelings if I was an Army fan.

Air Force (1-0):  def. Colgate, 38-13. After a surprisingly bad first quarter that saw Colgate outgain Air Force 113-49 on the way to a 7-0 lead, team Howdy Doody eventually wore down our Patriot League friends in predictable fashion. It might have been a Pyrrhic victory, though, as Air Force starting quarterback Kale Pearson went down with a knee injury in the second quarter. Troy Calhoun didn’t want to comment until getting MRI results, but now that those results are in it looks like initial fears of a season-ending injury are confirmed.

The next player to pick up the battle flag is sophomore Jaleel Awini. Pearson and Awini supposedly had an open competition for the starting job this fall, but I don’t know how open the job really was. I suspect that the job was Pearson’s to lose, but the coaches didn’t want him to get too complacent. Pearson was the backup last year for a reason, after all. Regardless, that isn’t an indictment of Awini’s talent. He’s reportedly the better passer of the two and is very highly regarded. It isn’t his talent that’s in question as much as it is his grasp of the offense, which is to be expected from most sophomores. With Utah State’s mile-a-minute offense coming to town next week, you don’t want anything less than your full arsenal if you hope to keep pace.

Let’s watch football

On By MikeIn navy football2 Comments

It’s football season. At some point tomorrow evening, I will ascend to the room over my garage, and my wife will say “see you in January.” If you want to watch what I’ll be watching this weekend, here’s the list. There will be some overlap, but that’s because I have two TVs plus the internet and dammit I use them all.

All times ET

Thursday

North Carolina at South Carolina – 6:00 – ESPN

The best game of the night, obviously, although It’ll be relegated to the small screen after an hour. That’s because…

Indiana State at Indiana – 7:00 – Big Ten Network

I know next to nothing about Indiana State, so I don’t know how much we’ll learn about Navy’s first opponent. But it’s all we’ve got of the Hoosiers before they play Navy, so I’ll be watching.

Southern Utah at South Alabama – 7:30 – ESPN3

I usually won’t concentrate on Navy’s late-season opponents until we get closer to those games, but I’ll be keeping an eye on this one just out of curiosity since South Alabama is a FBS newcomer.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt – 9:15 – ESPN

USC at Hawaii – 11:00 – CBS Sports Network

Not gonna lie, I probably won’t make it past the first quarter.

Other future Navy opponents: Sacramento State at San Jose State, 10:00, MW Digital Network

Friday

Morgan State at Army – 7:00 – CBS Sports Network

Barring an evening monsoon (always a possibility in Florida), I’m putting this game on the DVR and going to the neighborhood high school game instead. If Army has any problem at all with a struggling MEAC program, it’s going to be a very long year at West Point. Just for perspective, Akron was 1-11 last year. Their one win was over Morgan State. They won that game 66-6. Things change, but not THAT quickly. I’m sure Army won’t put anything on film that they don’t have to in this game, and their starters should all be out by the 4th quarter.

Saturday

Elon at Georgia Tech – 12:00 – ESPN3

Meh, it’s the spread option.

Toledo at Florida – 12:21 – SEC Network

I get this on a local channel, but you might have to find it on Gameplan. It won’t take long to find out what the Rockets will be bringing to the table this season.

Colgate at Air Force – 3:00 – ROOT

This will be a better game than Army’s, but not by much. I’ll have to watch, though, since there are only so many Air Force games to take in before they come to Annapolis. Air Force’s defense did have their hands full in their supposed cupcake game last year, so maybe we’ll at least get a chuckle or two.

Temple at Notre Dame – 3:30 – NBC

NC Central at Duke – 4:00 – ESPN3

This is going to be a terrible game, and I’ll probably change over to…

Alabama vs. Virginia Tech – 5:30 – ESPN

…once this game starts, assuming I can get it online. If not, I’m sure I’ll be sick of either the Air Force or Notre Dame game by then.

Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky – 7:00 – ESPNews

This should be a pretty good game, and we’ll get our first look at the new WKU.

Washington State at Auburn – 7:00 – ESPNU

Morbid curiosity.

Georgia at Clemson – 8:00 – ABC

LSU vs. TCU – 9:00 – ESPN

I assume I’ll be sick of Wazzu-Auburn by then.

Boise State at Washington – 10:00 – FS1

Northwestern at Cal – 10:30 – ESPN2

Who doesn’t like Northwestern?

Sunday

Sunday is my wife’s birthday. Ohio-Louisville is interesting, but not THAT interesting.

Monday

Florida State at Pitt – 8:00 – ESPN

Another future Navy opponent to wrap up the weekend.

The Mailbag (8/19)

On By MikeIn army football, navy football8 Comments

What is your take on intrasquad scrimmages? I think they are necessary because it allows our best offense to play full speed against our best defense, but it is rarely against an offense or defense that we will really be up against. If the defense does well, does that mean the offense is bad? And visa versa.

I love to read how so-and-so had a great scrimmage, but what about the guys that he made look bad? Are they really bad?

It’s important to understand what it is you’re looking at when you watch a scrimmage. The coaches aren’t calling plays to win the game as much as they’re calling plays to evaluate both the players and themselves (experimenting with new schemes and plays, for example). That’s why you can’t get too wrapped up in the results. A guy might do his job on a given play, but if the play called isn’t the right one to counter whatever was called on the other side of the ball, it still might flop. What matters is how well each individual player did his job, and that’s something you don’t usually get a feel for from the bleachers. The scrimmage might be fun to watch, but only the coaches know whether it was good or bad. They only really know after watching film and grading each player.

Continue reading “The Mailbag (8/19)” →

FOOTBALL!

On By MikeIn navy football1 Comment

Seagoing vessels sound a 4-6 second whistle blast to indicate that they are underway; football programs have a 20-minute press conference. And so, with Saturday’s media day, the 2013 Navy football season is officially upon us.

The press conference itself was pretty tame, although it did contain what was probably the only reference to male menopause you’ll ever hear at one of these. Anyway, TO THE LINKS:

Optimism abounds as Navy begins practice

Navy football aims high as training camp opens

Despite last season’s turnaround, Ken Niumatalolo has Navy starting over

Reynolds Now No. 1 On Depth Chart At QB

The most prominent theme in these stories is optimism, which surprises me a little bit. Not that the press conference wasn’t optimistic; most preseason pressers are, and the very first thing Coach Niumatalolo said was that he was excited about the team. It just wasn’t the prevailing vibe that I got when I watched. My biggest takeaway was that everyone was guarding against complacency. The line of the morning came from defensive captain Cody Peterson, responding to a question about whether the team was more confident this year coming off of a winning season compared to when they started last season after going 5-7: “We’re certainly not overconfident. We still remember how the last game went, and that one stings.”

Not that it matters much, but I thought the players handled themselves very well, especially the captains. When asked if there was any new slogan or team philosophy for this season, they said that there wasn’t. They like the INAM attitude from last year and want to keep it going. That says a lot about this duo. There can be a lot of temptation to make your own mark on an organization when you’re placed in a leadership position, especially when you’re at a place like USNA. These guys don’t see a point in doing something for narcissism’s sake though. They are leading by example by demonstrating that it truly isn’t about “me.” I was impressed.

Other than that, there wasn’t much in the way of noteworthy soundbites or nuggets of information. Coach Niumatalolo didn’t have much to say about the schedule, saying (predictably) that he was only focused on Indiana. He also declined to mention whether any newcomers might make an impact, saying that there are some guys with potential but that they have yet to prove themselves. I’m sure we’ll learn all about that in the weeks to come.

The champagne bottle has been broken and 2013 is officially launched. Beat Indiana!

Advancing steadily in the direction of the apocalypse

On By MikeIn air farce10 Comments

Let’s discuss this.

I won a giant stuffed bear at Kings Dominion in the summer before my firstie year and brought it back with me to USNA. I kept it hidden behind my shower curtain during the day, and pulled it out at night to use as a comfy chair to sit on while I played Goldeneye on the TV that I kept hidden in my con locker. That should tell you about where I fall on the whole YUT JOE NAVY YUT scale.

I have no business even pretending like I was ever a hardass. Nowadays I don’t even pay much attention to USNA endeavors that don’t involve the athletic department. But I will erupt in a geyser of Old Grad rage if I ever read about Plebe Summer detailers being “cheerleaders.”

Knowing What Needs Fixing

On By MikeIn American Athletic Conference, navy football1 Comment

By now you might have seen this piece in the New York Post suggesting that the conferences outside the “power 5” host their own 16-team playoff:

So here’s a thought for the Group of Five — the MAC and the independents, the Sun Belt and Conference USA, the Mountain West and the American Athletic Conference: Toss out from your tent those high ‘dolers’ and create your own 16-team college football playoff.

March Madness is the greatest three-week ride in American sports. December Delirium might be pretty thrilling as well.

No, it wouldn’t be.

I’m sort of picking an easy fight here, because it’s an absurd idea that nobody in any position to make such a decision would ever consider. The answer to college football’s problems is not to create their own NIT. You think teams lose money on lower-tier bowl games? Imagine how much they’d lose going to four rounds of lower-tier bowl games. Nobody would watch, it’d be a money drain, and the winner would claim the title of… meh. It’s a non-starter.

Continue reading “Knowing What Needs Fixing” →

Campus Insiders Partners with Patriot League on Digital Network – PatriotLeague.org – Patriot League Official Athletic Site

On By MikeIn patriot leagueLeave a comment

Campus Insiders Partners with Patriot League on Digital Network – PatriotLeague.org – Patriot League Official Athletic Site.

The Patriot League will be launching a digital network, complete with highlights, studio shows, on-demand content, and over 500 live events during the 2013-14 school year. This is on top of the conference’s existing TV contract with CBS Sports Network. All for free, too, so no more shelling out Patriot League All Access money just to catch a couple away games.

Good news. Now go upgrade to broadband.

Now what

On By MikeIn navy football5 Comments

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby decided on Monday to turn the annual parade of preseason polls and coachspeak known as “conference media days” into something a bit more noteworthy. That’s not the greatest of news for Navy fans, either.

For those who dismissed the idea of a new top tier of college football when Navy decided to join the Big East, well, here you go. A conference commissioner is openly calling for it. And just so you don’t think this is the work of some rogue looking to make waves, his ACC counterpart is saying the same thing, hinting that major changes could come as soon as January. While change as drastic as a new football division within the NCAA isn’t a guarantee, some change is inevitable. None of it is good for Navy.

Continue reading “Now what” →