2017 Season Preview

With the initial signing of 46 recruits (and an additional 7 late additions and transfers), the Navy Midshipmen look ahead as the new season approaches. Let's take a look at a position overview as we head into the fall.

QB - Three star redshirt senior James Sherwood holds down the starting position with little competition behind him. Three star sophomore Terrell Anderson looks to solidify the back-up position during the summer and over the course of the exhibition games.

RB - Four star freshman Tommy Rodgers looks to be the primary focus of the Middies running game this season. How quickly he is able to get comfortable in the offense and contribute will go a long way in taking pressure off the passing game to be a more balanced team. Three star freshman Gregory Ho could be a force in the red zone and short yardage situations as well. While rarely used as a feature back, the Midshipmen will look to redshirt fifth year senior Jim Brown or freshman Lawrence Stephen to open holes for the running game at fullback.

TE - Competition between three star redshirt senior William Salcido and three start redshirt sophomore Marcus Briggs will be one to watch throughout the summer and early fall. We expect Briggs to win the starting job at some point during the season, but his progress during camp will be one to watch.

WR - Three star sophomore recruit Richard Bright is the clear cut #1 in an overall weak group. Freshman Lawrence Bonner and sophomore Efrain Jones will compete for the 2nd position. The wildcard is 5'9" redshirt sophomore James Hicks. How will offensive coordinator Alvin McIntyre use the young speedster?

OL Seniors John Braswell, David Bogard, and Kevin Christiansen will try to bring some leadership and focus to a relatively young and inexperienced group. We'll keep an eye on the LT position as redshirt freshman Chad Martin's development will be interesting to watch as he vies for a starting position.

Edge Navy's only five star recruit, redshirt junior Samuel Hawkins will the one that opposing team's will game plan for. Defensive coordinator Gary Kittleson will need to find someone else who can bring pressure off the edge to keep team's honest on either end of the line. One option could be redshirt senior Scott Ervin who could line up at many different positions throughout the course a game.

DT Redshirt senior Andrew Myers hopes to stay healthy as the talent level drops off significantly after him on the interior for the Midshipmen. This could be an issue for the Middies throughout the season.

LB Juniors Brian Pierce and Ray Mitchell are the standouts here. Tweener Scott Ervin also looks to be in the mix to start in the base package, but as explained before could be moved around to exploit mismatches.

CB Easily the weak spot of the entire team, the Midshipmen will need relentless pressure up front to mask the deficient talent in the defensive backfield. No players truly stand out in this group, as fans will need to hope that they are able to be coached up.

S Redshirt sophomore Charlie Andre and redshirt senior Richard Parrish appear to be the front runners to start. We expect their tackle count to be high as they cover for a weak corner position for the Middies.

Special Teams Three star redshirt sophomore recruit Robert Knight has the leg to boom the ball on kickoffs, but will he be accurate enough to consistently put points on the board if the offense stalls. Four star sophomore Bernie Freudenburg should be a solid punter for years to come for the Midshipmen who can hopefully help the team win the field of possession game.

2017 Prediction
The Midshipmen will be hard pressed to keep up with more talented players on the edges, especially on defense and that will probably be their undoing in 2017. Fans should not expect much from this group, but Navy will fight every game even if the score doesn't reflect it. Here's hoping that we get to hear this https://youtu.be/3Uea9QP41lw more times than not throughout the season! Go Blue and Gold!

https://vimeo.com/137831874

Scrimmage Game 1

Navy Midshipmen at Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky miscues aid in Midshipmen win

5 Aug 2017 [Associated Press]

LEXINGTON, KY -- For the first three quarters of the opening scrimmage game, Kentucky's offense was unable to muster any positive momentum leading to Navy's 21-7 win late Saturday afternoon. Senior QB James Sherwood took advantage of several miscues and misfires from Kentucky's offense to put up 21 early points despite the lack of a Navy rushing attack that would finish with -46 yards of production. Sherwood would finish his night at halftime, efficiently completing 15 of 18 passes with 215 yards and three touchdowns. Conversely, starting Kentucky QB Darrell Slack was never able to get into a rhythm as he finished his night only completing one pass on eight attempts for 11 yards. Defensively, the Midshipmen were helped by missed looks and turnovers during the first half. Freshman Kevin Quinlan finished the night with four sacks, paving the way for defense that kept the Wildcats QB running for most the night.

"We are grateful to come out of Lexington with a win and hope to create some positive momentum as we near September," says Navy head coach John Dunlap. "We didn't play very well in our secondary today, and we can't expect any team to drop as many passes or miss as many open throws as Kentucky unfortunately did today. Offensively, James had a great game, but -46 yards rushing is completely unacceptable and needs to be addressed right away."

Scrimmage Game 2

Mississippi Rebels - 31, Navy Midshipmen - 24

Game Summary: Defensive issues abound as the 1st team Rebels put on a clinic against the Middies 1st team "D". For a team that put some nice pressure on the QB in the first game against Kentucky, the pass rush was essentially non-existent this week. As a result, a weak secondary was exposed allowing Rebel QB Julio Lipscomb to surgically eviscerate the Midshipmen going 11-13 for 183 yards and 2 TDs in one half of work. The rush defense was slightly better, but allowed a 59 yard scamper by Barry Clark. On the offensive side of the ball, QB Terrell Anderson had some nice plays, specifically to WR Richard Bright (who has put together a quietlu good first two games). Projected starting QB James Sherwood took the game off for undisclosed reasons. Overall, however, the first team offense put up negative total yards on 5 of their 8 first half possessions. One positive (I suppose) would be that we did have positive yards rushing after a -46 yard performance in our first scrimmage.

Off. Player of the Game - WR Richard Bright 4 rec, 73 yds, 1TD
Def. Player of the Game- P Bernie Freudenburg 7 punts 50.4 avg (net 44.3) with a long of 63 yards (yes the defensive output was that bad)
Play of the Game - https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/19#3338

Scrimmage Game 3

Arkansas Razorbacks 27, Navy Midshipmen 13

Game Summary: Coach John Dunlap wanted to treat this as a prep for the upcoming opener playing his starters for 3+ quarters. Aside from a botched assignment that led to a 43 yard TD by Razorback TE Ramon Graham, both sides of the ball responded well as the Midshipmen built a 13-0 lead by halftime and were up 13-10 at the end of the 3rd quarter. QB James Sherwood (expected to sit in the final scrimmage game), was an effective 17-24 with 205 yards and a TD. The biggest bright spot, however, was the Middies ability to finally put together some semblance of a running game as Tommy Rodgers and James Hicks were able to finish with above 5 yards per carry as the Middies racked up 176 yards on the ground. It was easily their best performance of this "pre-season" action. Defensively, the 1st unit played well only giving up 1 big play that resulted in a TD for the Razorbacks. The 4th quarter, however, was a different story as again the inability to guard against the big play was evident. Overall, I think that it was an encouraging effort by Navy as we inch closer to the home opener against Arizona.

Off. Player of the Game - QB James Sherwood 17-24, 205 yds, 1TD
Def. Player of the Game - DT Andrew Myers 3 tckls, 2 scks, 1 forced fumble & fumble recovery
Play of the Game - Freshman TE Marcus Briggs refuses to be denied https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/35#6332

Scrimmage Game 4

Tennessee Volunteers 55, Navy Midshipmen 28

Game Summary: With some of the potential starters for the Middies sitting this one out and most of the others only playing one quarter, many of the backups saw extensive playing time. The game itself was over before halftime with the Vols racking up big play after big play en route to a 27-7 halftime lead that was extended to 55-14 by the end of the 3rd quarter of play. The defense gave up 792 yards of total offense to the Vols, with 500 of that coming through the air on only 15 completions. When asked about his defensive performance, head coach John Dunlap went on a tirade that would make the cliche "drunken sailor" sound tame. QB Francis Hernandez led the Middies on 3 scoring drives, ending the game 21-31 for 310 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs in three quarters of play. Lack of pressure, yet again, led to many big plays for the Vols which routinely made the Middies secondary look like swiss cheese.

One can hope that this is NOT a sign of things to come as we head into the season opener against Arizona...

Off Player of the Game - QB Francis Hernandez: 21-31, 310 yds, 3 TDs
Def Player of the Game - None... not a one... zip, zilch, nada... watch the game if you don't believe me
Play of the Game - FB Lawrence Stephen picks up a key block from RB Richad Benner on his way to a 30 yard TD https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/51#9342

3 Sep, 2017 - Week 1

Arizona Wildcats 26, Navy Midshipmen 19

Mistake Prone Midshipmen Drop Home Opener

If the first play from scrimmage, which saw Navy RB Tommy Rodgers scamper 53 yards, was any indication of things to come Head Coach John Dunlap and company would have been extremely pleased with the outcome from their first game of the season. Unfortunately for the Midshipmen, mistake after mistake took over from there as they dropped their home opener against the Arizona Wildcats 26-19.

The Middies first drive ended with a blocked field goal attempt, leaving 3 points on the board. Arizona took advantage marching down the field to take the lead with a successful field goal of their own. Undaunted, senior QB James Sherwood led the Midshipmen on a 5 play, 74 yard drive that ended in a touchdown. Again, however, the kicking game misfired leaving another point on the board. Sadly, that was only the tip of the iceberg... With just under 2 minutes to play in the first half, Sherwood dropped back to pass deep in his own territory. The result was a sack by Arizona DE Patrick Bentley that led to a safety. The ensuing free kick then saw Arizona RB Pedro Chapin break several tackles (and Navy fans hearts), as he ran 87 yards to paydirt extending the Wildcat lead to 19-9 at the half. Coach Dunlap in his post-game conference later described that as "back breaking" for the Midshipmen and also added that it was "one of the worst series of mental lapses I've ever seen from a football team."

The second half opened with the Wildcats receiving and striking early yet again as WR Fred Vogelsang blistered Navy CB Chad Wright for a 65 yard TD reception. Again in his post-game conference, Coach Dunlap hinted at some changes in his secondary; "We just weren't good in the defensive backfield, so we'll need to figure something out before we play a very, very good Notre Dame team next." Navy was able to put up 10 points late, but it wasn't enough.

Off Player of the Game - QB James Sherwood: 16-25, 214 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
Def Player of the Game - DE Doug Harris: 2 Tkls, 2 Sks, 4 QB Hurries
Navy Play of the Game - Sherwood finds FB Jim Brown for a late 65 yard TD reception https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/73#13318

Next Game: at Notre Dame
Prediction
Notre Dame, who last week slaughtered Cal 56-9, will once again put on a clinic against an over-matched Navy team. This one won't be close... Notre Dame 51, Navy 13

10 Sep, 2017 - Week 2

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 36, Navy Midshipmen 19

Irish outclass struggling Midshipmen

For the second straight week, the Midshipmen came out swinging. Capitalizing on an interception by new SS Chad Wright on Notre Dame's first offensive possession, QB James Sherwood found TE William Salcido two plays later on a 36 yard scoring strike to give Navy an early seven point lead. Unfortunately for the Midshipmen and their fans, Notre Dame quickly recovered with back to back TDs by their highly explosive offense which featured a heavy dose of RB Josh Adams (who would finish with 22 carries for 186 yards and 2 TDs on the day). "Man, that Adams kid just ran all over us today," said Navy Head Coach John Dunlap. "We really just didn't have an answer for his speed today."

In reality, Navy didn't have an answer to anything that Notre Dame did offensively as they were outmatched for 90% of the game. Sherwood, who finished the day a paltry 17-31 with 197 yards to along with his 2 TDs and 2 INTs, didn't pull any punches in his post game interview. "We weren't able to hang with them for the majority of the game. We all need to find a way to play better than we have and that starts with me as one of the leaders of this team."

One bright spot for the Midshipmen was RB William Sciortino, who had 95 yards on a mere 6 carries for the game, providing a spark for the Midshipmen ground attack. With utility RB/WR James Hicks out for another 3-5 weeks with an ankle injury, the Middies will need this kind of production to take pressure off starting RB Tommy Rodgers who has under-performed thus far in this early season.

Off Player of the Game: RB William Sciortino 6 carries, 95 yards
Def Player of the Game: DE Samuel Hawkins 5 tckls, 2 scks, 1 ff
Navy Play of the Game: QB James Sherwood connects with TE William Salcido on a 36 yard TD reception to give Navy a brief lead to start the game https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/94#17083

Next Game at California Golden Bears (1-1)
The Golden Bears are fresh off a 16-13 win against Oregon. Their rush defense is one of the best statistically in the country during the first few weeks, but their offense has struggled. Navy boasts one of the weakest defenses in the country statistically and their offense has seen some ups and downs during the opening weeks against two undefeated teams. This one will be another low scoring affair, but the Midshipmen will finally get their first W of the season defeating Cal 17-16.

17 Sep, 2017 - Week 3

California Golden Bears 22, Navy Midshipmen 17

Late Bomb Torpedoes Midshipmen

With 30 seconds left in the game, and up 17-16, Navy was one play away from securing their first victory of the year. One 84 TD strike on a blown assignment from the Midshipmen secondary later (not to mention a broken Coach Dunlap headset), the Middies were sunk for their 3rd straight loss to open the season.

"I'm honestly speechless," said Coach Dunlap. "First of all, congrats to Cal on a well played game. We thought they were going to bring a lot of defensive pressure, and they didn't disappoint."

In a predominately defensive game, which featured 15 combined sacks and an additional 38 QB hurries between the two teams, Cal held a slim 16-7 lead with just over 3 minutes left in the game. Naval QB James Sherwood, who was scrambling for most of the night, stood tall in the pocket and delivered a strike to WR Richard Bright who sprinted the remaining 56 yards to complete a 77 yard TD reception to pull the Middies within 2, 16-14. The ensuing Cal drive was a prompt 3 and out, which led to a 7 play 44 yard drive that ended with the go ahead field goal by K Robert Knight with less than a minute to play.

"It's been a tough year for our kicking game so far, but when Robert put that ball right down the middle with less than a minute to go we all thought this was the week," said Coach John Dunlap.

Even the first 3 plays of that fateful drive went Navy's way, but facing a 4th and 19 with 30 seconds to play, Golden Bear QB Rodney Williams found WR Donald Norfleet all alone down the sideline for the decisive blow that flattened the spirits of Navy and their fans.

Off Player of the Game: WR Richard Bright - 5 rec, 155 yds, 1 TD
Def Player of the Game: DE Doug Harris - 8 tckls, 3 scks, 4 QB hurries, 1 INT
Navy Play of the Game: QB James Sherwood throws a strike to WR Richard Bright who takes it to the house for a 77 yard TD to pull the Midshipmen within 3 https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/110#20091

Next Game: at Alabama Crimson Tide (0-3)
Not sure what to make of the winless Alabama team, who on paper seem to be much better than they've played this season thus far. Navy is coming off a heartbreaking loss and experiences an emotional hangover... Alabama 28, Navy 16

24 Sep 2017 - Week 4

Navy Midshipmen 40, Alabama Crimson Tide 38

Navy Offense leads Midshipmen to First Win of the Season

For the first 50 minutes of the game, it looked like Navy was finally on track to pick up their first win of the season against a scrappy Alabama squad that was also vying for their first victory of this young season. As they saw in last week's game against Cal, however, Navy would stumble in the 4th quarter. After leading for the entire game, Navy broke down and allowed Alabama RB Claude Thomas shoot off the right tackle and rocket his way to a 98 yard TD to give the Crimson Tide their first lead of the game with just over 5 minutes to play in the game. Senior QB James Sherwood, who finished 25-37 for a school record 477 yards and 4 TDs, was determined to get his team into the win column.

"I have to give all the credit to my teammates," said Sherwood during the Navy post-game press conference. "When we got into the huddle, there wasn't a doubt; we knew we were going to get into a position to win the game."

Sherwood and company wouldn't disappoint, going 66 yards in 6 plays to set up K Robert Knight to hit what would ultimately be the game winning 23-yard field goal with just under 2 minutes left to play.

"Hats off to Alabama, they continued to fight for the entire game," said Coach Dunlap. "We knew it was going to be a battle, but I'm glad we came out on top." When asked about his team's propensity to find a way to lose games, Coach Dunlap quickly answered, "Look, we know that we have a ways to go before we're going to be National Championship contenders, but we've played 3 out of 4 games against teams that are now ranked in the top 15 in the country. Let's just enjoy this one and get ready for another top ranked team and divisional opponent Marshall next week."

Off Player of the Game: QB James Sherwood 25-37, 477 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
Def Player of the Game: DT Samuel Hawkins 4 Tkls, 3 Sks, 4 QB Hurries
Navy Play of the Game: Sherwood finds WR Lawrence Bonner who beats double coverage for a 37 yard gain to set up the game winning field goal - https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/115#21020

Next Week: at Marshall Thundering Herd (4-0)
Marshall is coming off an emotional win against a very strong Notre Dame team to put them solely in 1st place in the Independent Division. Navy's offense seemed to take a leap forward this week, but it won't be enough as Marshall passes over and runs through the Midshipmen defense... Marshall 41, Navy 23