Naval Academy

Type of Offense: Option. Very rarely used by 1-A colleges, the option forces a defense to contract their playbook and play the game according to the offense. It is built on misdirection and players not playing their responsibilities up to par. The run/pass ratio is nearly 9/1 in a successful team with the pass being set up over a long set of plays to go over the top for a big yardage gainer. When ran to perfection, the defense cannot set on one single player because the FB the SB and the TB can all get the ball on any play in addition to the QB keeping it. The TE is mainly used as an extra tackle whose job is to run block and occasionally leak to open areas on play action passes. The beauty of this offense is that no one practices against it on a regular basis therefore the offense can exploit the lack of practice time of the defense and normally rack up lots of rushing yards.

Type of Defense: 3-4. The defense that is in vogue for professional football is only used by teams that have a skill set of: a large NT that can take up space and blocks, 2 DEs that can also handle multiple blockers and read blocks to make plays, a couple MLB that can make lots of tackles in the run game, a WLB that can cover all over the field on passing plays, and a SLB that is stout versus the run and can make plays at the LOS. The attractiveness of this defense is the ability to blitz all 11 players in many different ways. On the average play, 1-2 players are blitzing and the offense can never settle into a pattern that is more likely in a 4-3 base defense. A team must have DBs who can cover but aren’t afraid to hit people and break up plays in the backfield on blitzes. 

• Run/Pass %: 82/18
• Run/Pass Attempts: 692/157
• Points Per Game: 29.7
• Points Allowed Per Game: 23.3

Key Returning Players:
• Alexander Teich FB—A good triple option offense starts and stops with the fullback. Teich had over 800 yards rushing including 5 TDs and forced opponents to respect the middle on every play which led to many long outside runs.
• Gee Greene SB—2nd leading returning rusher had nearly 500 yards rushing and 300 yards receiving in 2010. He was one of the most dangerous weapons in Navy’s arsenal being able to do multiple things in the offense.
• Jabaree Tuani DE—A DE in a 3-4 defense usually does not put up the crazy stats of Tuani. He had 72 tackles including 15.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks. He was a disruptor on the line and forced offenses to change their blocking schemes to accommodate for him.
• Aaron McCauley OLB—The senior OLB led all returning players with 83 tackles including 10.5 for a loss. He will be expected to be the leader of the defense and could have a shot at 90+ tackles in 2011.

Key Incoming Freshmen:
• N/A 

Overall Assessment:
Getting to a bowl game in every season since 2003, expectations are always high for the Naval Academy. Offensively, there will be a new QB in the mix but running the ball is key to Navy’s success. Teich and Greene are back with over 1300 yards combined in 2010. The 4 returning OL starters from 2010 are back with 11 or more starts a piece. Defensively, Tuani will wreck havoc one more year from the DE spot looking to add to the gaudy stats of 2010. There are 16 players on defense who saw game action in at least 7 games last year making for a very experienced defensive squad. The returning kicker is back but will probably not see much action on the FG unit due to Navy’s high rate of 4th down attempts in the maroon zone (40 yards and in). The returning punter saw action in all 13 games in 2010 but no recorded punts. He knows the game pace but can he perform the punting duties in 2011 is the question. Overall, this should be another solid Navy squad which has been the case for the last 8 years between Paul Johnson and now Ken Niumatalolo. Expect yet another bowl berth for Navy in 2011.