USF football heads north for Navy on October 19th. The seventh game of the 2019 season marks just the second trip to Annapolis for the Bulls.
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The United States Naval Academy Midshipmen play host to the University of South Florida Bulls in Week 7 of the 2019 football season. This will be the third-ever matchup between the programs, with each team winning at home. The last time they played was a 52-45 win by USF in Tampa.
This game will be the sixth game of the season for Navy, who will have played ECU, Memphis, and Tulsa from the American Athletic Conference, as well as against the Air Force Academy of the Mountain West Conference.
Navy did not have a banner year in 2018. They finished the season with a 3-10 (2-6), including a 17-10 loss to Army. The loss to Army was their third straight, after winning 14 years in a row from 1999-2015. For perspective, Army finished the season 10-2, and two of those other losses came to #3 Notre Dame and #12 UCF. The loss to SMU was by one point, 31-30, in overtime. The Tulane loss, was also just by one point, 29-28. Their worst loss of the season was a 42-0 shutout, courtesy of Cincinnati.
Ken Niumatalolo, head coach of the Midshipmen, is beginning his 12th season at the helm. As head coach at Navy, Niumatalolo has an 87-58 record.
Offense
Navy features the rare triple option offense, which emphasizes run options for the quarterback, slotbacks, or fullback. As a logical consequence of rarely throwing the ball, Navy ranked dead last (130th) in the FBS for passing offense, with just 73 yards per game. Their rushing offense, however, ranked 5th, averaging 276 yards per game.
Senior quarterback, Malcom Perry, is back to lead the offense in 2019. Perry rushed for 1,087 yards for an average of 84 yards per game. He also ran in seven touchdowns. Perry is on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and Maxwell Award watch lists.
The second leading rusher, fullback, Anthony Gargiulo, has graduated. Stepping up to replace Gargiulo is Nelson Smith, who also played at fullback, last season. With 20 fewer attempts, he trailed Gargiulo just 427-411 in total yards for the season. He also scored three rushing touchdowns.
Tazh Maloy and C.J. Williams are the starting slotbacks, both of whom were able to get playing time a year ago.
The touchdown leader for the team was receiver, Zach Abey. Abey scored 14 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown out of the X receiver position. This year, Mychal Cooper will start at X. Cooper caught just five passes for 96 yards in 2018, but had playing time in every game.
The top receiver in overall production was Taylor Jackson, who had just 13 catches for 222 yards and one touchdown. Jackson lined up as the Z wide receiver. Replacing Jackson is Ryan Mitchell, who started at X receiver, last season.
Navy ranked 96th in scoring offense, scoring an average of 25 points per game. They ranked 111th in total offense, averaging 349 yards per game.
Defense
The Midshipmen were not strong on defense, last season. They ranked 103rd in scoring defense and 87th in total defense, allowing 426 yards per game. Things will be different in 2019.
Former defensive coordinator, Dale Pehrson left the team due to retirement. Replacing him is Brian Newberry, who held the same role at Kennesaw State. Newberry, who will also coach safeties, will share duties with Brian Norwood, who has been named co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach. Several other coaches were hired and some others were moved around. The big takeaway here is that they will run a 4-2-5 (nickel) defense with some 4-3 mixed in.
Their version of the nickel defense uses hybrid players in positions they call striker, raider, and bandit. Game circumstances determine what kinds of bodies they will put in the game, which can be a sliding scale from big linebackers to small cornerbacks.
The Midshipmen lost their top four tacklers to graduation. Nizair Cromartie, who played at linebacker previously, and is listed as a starting raider on this year’s depth chart, is the top returning defender, finishing last season with 58 total tackles. Cromartie led the team in sacks with 3.5, and was second on the team in tackles for loss, with 5.5. No other Navy players made a significant impact, statistically, in 2018.
Expectations
It would be difficult for this team to not improve from last year’s lackluster performance. Changing defensive schemes and coordinators is likely to have an impact. Perry having another year of experience under his belt should help boost the offense. Overall, though, they have lost so many seniors, it’s hard to expect inexperienced players to fill so many gaps.
Summary
Navy was picked to finish fifth in the AAC West division. Gaming site, FanDuel, predicts Navy will win six games this season, while ESPN’s Football Power Index computers suggest there is only a 34% chance that Navy will beat the Bulls. Kickoff for this CBSSN televised game is 3:30 PM on October 19th.
