(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
Oct. 17, 2017 at Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership
Availability: DC Erik Chinander, OC/WR coach Troy Walters
- The Navy Midshipmen have the No. 1 rushing offense in the nation, as they’ve averaged 397.5 yards per game.
- At No. 2 on the nation’s leading rushing teams are the Army Black Knights, who’ve rushed for 378.4 yards per game.
- Navy also has the 30th-best scoring offense in the country, scoring 35.5 points per game.
- The Midshipmen were most recently limited below their average in a 30-27 loss to the Memphis Tigers.
- Navy quarterback Zach Abey has rushed for 1,016 yards and 12 touchdowns so far this season.
- The junior has also completed 36.2 percent of his 47 passes for 491 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.
- To help replicate Navy’s offense, Knights head coach Scott Frost has been filling in as scout-team quarterback.
DC ERIK CHINANDER: “Obviously, this is a great offense we’re playing. They’ve been really good at running this offense for a long time. I think the thing that I don’t get is people say this is a discipline game. This is an assignment game. It’s an assignment every game. I just don’t tell ‘em to do whatever the hell they want in every other opponent they play. So I don’t understand how it’s different from regular football. It’s a different offense, absolutely, and there’s a few different wrinkles, a few different techniques, a few different keys for our guys, but it’s football. So, let’s go play football. We’re really good at playing football right now. Let’s go do that.”
“I think they’re a really physical team, and we’re a physical team, too. So I told those guys, ‘If you wanna try to out-physical us, let’s roll. Let’s go to the party, and let’s go play football.’ If you wanna try to out-run us and out-hit us, I’ll take our bet. I’ll bet on our guys.”
“I think you gotta line up like you normally do. I mean, our starters are starters for a reason. We’re gonna roll guys in like we normally do. Everybody’s had really good practice so far. So, you know, it’s just executing your assignment this week. Just like it’s executing your assignment every single week. And I think we have guys that are really smart football players, and they’re really good football players. So, we’re gonna line up and play.”
“The quarterback, you know, I think that’s a little different than the normal teams. They have a fullback that is gonna go pound it for five yards and be happy. And then they’re gonna pitch it out on the perimeter and break some big ones. Their quarterback has done a lot of the heavy lifting this year. You know, he’s got a lot of those three- and four-yard gains. He’s broken for some big ones. And I think he can throw the ball. When they throw the ball, like you guys have mentioned, you’re playing the run, probably, first. So when they throw the ball, if they complete a pass, it’s gotta be an eight- to 10-yard completion. Those 80-yard completions are the killers. So we have to do a good job of not letting things behind us in the pass game.”
“Every offense has advantages and disadvantages. I mean, obviously the disadvantage is if they get down by a few scores, they don’t throw the ball a ton. So it’s not like you’re playing the group we had last week. If it would’ve been a 10-point game in the fourth quarter, they have the ability to go down field very quickly and throw the ball. This group isn’t a no huddle group, and they don’t throw the ball a ton, so if they get down by a few scores, I think that’s kinda where their disadvantage lies. But they can throw the ball, and they can run the ball. And I think they do a good job everywhere.”
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable. [Frost’s] done a great job. You know, he’s getting old, so he can’t take as many reps as he used to, but he’s done an unbelievable job. And so has Darriel Mack and so has Tristan Payton jumped in there at quarterback. So those guys have all done a great job, and they gave us good looks, good speed. All kinds of stuff.”
“I think this is maybe a week where depth—you can get away with playing guys a little longer because it’s not tempo. You know, it’s gonna be whatever—40 to 60 plays. As opposed to 100. And they’re gonna give you 30 seconds to get your wind back a little bit. So I think guys can play more plays, but we still wanna roll in and be fresh.”
- In the loss to Memphis, Abey committed five turnovers: three lost fumbles and two interceptions.
DC ERIK CHINANDER: “I mean, I would love to get five turnovers. Absolutely. If we get five turnovers, I’m gonna be very happy. But I also know Coach Ken [Niumatalolo] there is probably gonna have a lot of stress on that. And I would bet that they’re gonna be pretty careful with the football this week. ‘Cause I think those coaches do an unbelievable job with those kids. So I think they’re probably stressing that. We’re stressing it. You know, maybe we get one, and our guys take care of the football. That’s a huge win for us. If we get none, and our guys don’t take care of the football, that’s a huge win for them. So I think that turnover battle, whether it’s plus-one or—if it’s plus-five, I’m gonna feel real good about it. If it’s plus-one, I’m still gonna feel a little good about it.”
- Against East Carolina University, punter Mac Loudermilk pinned one of his three punts on the Pirates’ one-yard line.
DC ERIK CHINANDER: “I think you wanna be aggressive but in something that’s safe. The guy that recruited me, Hayden Fry, long time ago—you know, I used to ask him about down on the one. I said, ‘What should we do coach? Should we blitz?’ He said, ‘Well, boy, if you blitz somebody fixing to score. It’s either gonna be us or them.’ So I think you wanna be a little bit safe, but, also, you gotta get some inside pressure going. So we try to get in a call that gives us at least a safety deep in the middle and gives us a little inside pressure.”
- Defensive lineman Jamiyus Pittman caught his first-career touchdown reception in the win over ECU.
- He was previously being utilized as a blocker with Trysten Hill in the Knights’ “Tank” formation.
DC ERIK CHINANDER: “I think [Pittman’s] done a great job with [the media]. I try not to read what you guys write about me or anything like that or Coach Frost. But I try to listen to the kids, to make sure—so we can help ‘em if they’re having trouble in front of the camera. And I think he’s done a great job with you guys. And we’re not feeding them lines and that kinda thing. That’s just who he is. He’s a great personality. He’s a great kid around the building. I really enjoy being around him.”
“I think you just gotta do a good job, and, I mean, we talked about it before. College football is coaching these kids through everything. It’s not just football. So you gotta do a great job. And I believe that kids should have their own opinion. Kids should be free to speak about what they want to. But they also have to think about what they’re gonna say. You don’t want one line, one Twitter—push send one time on Twitter to ruin your life. So, as long as they think about what they’re gonna say and they’re carefully thought out and well-spoken. I think they should have their own opinion, and they should roll.”
- Navy holds possession for an average of 36 minutes per game, which is tied for first in the country.
- The Midshipmen’s defense is a vulnerable one, as it’s allowed 28 points per game through six games so far this season.
- UCF has the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation, scoring 50.6 points per game.
- The Knights are the only team averaging 50 or more points per game so far this season.
- In second place, Oklahoma State University is averaging 48.8 points per game.
OC/WR COACH TROY WALTERS: “We know the challenge at hand. We know the type of offense they have. You know, ball control. We’ve watched tape where they started the ball with 11 minutes, and, the next time the offense gets the ball back, it’s three minutes. So we know they’re gonna eat up the clock and have that ball possession, ball control. So we’ve gotta make sure that we execute. We know that every possession is critical. You might have an average of 12 possessions [in] a regular game. You might get seven, or eight or nine this game. So we know that every drive’s important, and I think, for the most part, this year, we’ve been efficient. You know, we’ve had the ball, and we’ve been able to score and make plays. And it’s gonna be critical Saturday that we do the same. We gotta keep their offense off the field, and we gotta score. Because they’ve got a good offense.”
“First thing you notice is that they play hard. They get after it. They run to the football. Fly around, play with passion and energy. And so the first thing we have to do is match their intensity. Match their enthusiasm. Match their passion. Play harder than them. ‘Cause they’re gonna play hard. They’re fundamentally sound. They don’t do a lot, but what they do, they do well. You don’t see a lot of blown coverages and missed assignments. You know, that’s just a reflection of that academy there. They’re disciplined guys. And so we’ve gotta be on our game. We gotta know the game plan. And we gotta execute and play hard and match their intensity.”
“No, we don’t have time. We gotta go from the get go. And we’ve done good on our first drives. I think we’ve scored every time on our first drive. So it’s critical. We get the ball first, we gotta go down there and score a touchdown and put them behind the eight ball, so to speak. And I think if we can get up on ‘em, now it puts their offense at a disadvantage. So that’s gonna be critical. A goal of ours is to start fast.”
“That was the talk amongst the offensive staff. We’ve gotta do what we do. And if it’s scoring fast, then we gotta score fast. And we gotta score. Ideally, you want long drives and eat up the clock. But if it’s a three- or four-play drive, and we score touchdowns, then we’ll take that. And then, once we get a lead, we gotta be smart in terms of our tempo and what to do once we get a lead. But we’ve gotta go in the game, and we can’t let their style on offense prevent us from doing what we do. And, so, that’s the game plan, and we’re gonna go out and attack and do what we’ve bene doing the past five games. And then, you know, if we get ahead then we might change some things up.”
- This season, athlete Otis Anderson has caught 14 passes for 156 yards (11.1 yards per catch) and rushed for 101 yards on nine carries (11.2 yards per carry).
- Greg McCrae has rushed for two touchdowns and 115 yards on 16 carries so far this season.
OC/WR COACH TROY WALTERS: “You know, [Dredrick] Snelson had hamstring, so he was out. You know, Otis had a great week of practice. And whenever his opportunity, his number is called, he makes plays. Whether it is at receiver, running-back, he works hard, and I’m just so glad that all the hard work pays off. You know, just proud of all our second- and third-string guys. I challenged them this week that they had to be ready because we’re not sure when their number’s gonna be called. But they’ve gotta be ready. And, you know, our second and third string went in toward the end of the game, and they had two touchdown drives. Noah [Vedral] went in and made a play. And Alex Harris, who worked on scout team all week. He went in and had a big catch and made big block. And the second- and third-string offensive linemen. So, I was proud of those guys for being ready, and then when their number was called for making plays.”
“[McCrae’s] a good football player. And we’re so talented in the backfield that, sometimes, he doesn’t get the attention or the reps he wants to get. But he’s a good football player. And we’re gonna continue to find ways to get the ball in his hands and utilize him. ‘Cause he’s a good receiver. He’s kinda like Otis. He can play receiver if we needed. And when he gets the ball in his hands he runs hard and he makes play. So, love that we have him, and we’ll continue to find ways to incorporate him on offense.”
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for their first-ever military-academy game, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
