Sept. 8, 2010

Setting the Stage
• Meeting for the first time, Navy (0-1) and Georgia Southern (1-0) are set to square off on Saturday in the Mids' home opener.  The presenting sponsor for Saturday's game is BB&T.
• CBS College Sports will broadcast Saturday's contest with Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play) and Randy Cross (analyst) calling the action from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000) beginning at 3:30 pm ET.
• The Navy Football Tailgate Show on 1430 WNAV (Annapolis) will air at 1:30 pm with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller setting the scene from Annapolis.
• The Navy Football Pregame Show with Bob Socci, Omar Nelson, John Feinstein and Pete Medhurst will get underway at 2:30 pm, followed by game action beginning at 3:30 pm on the Navy Radio Network and Sirius Satellite Radio.
• Following the contest, Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller will recap the day's events in a 60-minute postgame show live on 1430 WNAV, 1050 Air America and 1500 WFED.

Pre-Game
• Pregame festivities will get underway at 1:15 pm with the Navy Football Team Walk ... originating at the Blue Angel in the southwest corner of the stadium, the team will make its way down the sidewalk and through NavyFest before walking up the drive to the stadium.  Fans are encouraged to line up on both sides of the sidewalk to cheer for the team.
• The March-On of the Brigade of Midshipmen will take place at 3:10 pm, followed by a moment of silence at 3:23 pm in memory of the tragic events that took place on 9/11/01.
• Saturday's fly-over features two FA-18E Super Hornets from the "Gladiators" of Strike Fighter Squadron ONE ZERO SIX based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.  Piloting the lead aircraft will be Lt. Cmdr. Nate "CLANG" Spurr, USN and piloting the wing aircraft will be Lt Cmdr Luke "DAMNEK" Scoggin, USN.  Both are Naval Academy graduates from the Class of 2000 and FA-18 Instructor Pilots.

 
Saturday's Storylines
• Navy will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking 17-14 loss to Maryland this past Monday.  The Mids dominated the game between the 20-yard lines, outgaining Maryland, 485-272, and holding on to the ball for 40 minutes, but went just two-for-seven in the red zone.
• Georgia Southern head coach Jeff Monken returns to Annapolis for the first time since serving as an assistant coach at Navy for Paul Johnson from 2002-07.  Navy owned a 45-30 record in Monken's six years at Navy, going to five bowl games and winning five Commander-In-Chief's Trophies.
• Johnson was the head coach at Georgia Southern prior to his arrival in Annapolis in 2002.  In five years, he led the Eagles to a 62-10 record, won two straight I-AA National Championships (1999 and 2000), five consecutive Southern Conference Championships and was named the Division I-AA National Coach of the Year four straight years (1997-2000).  In his six years in Annapolis, Johnson posted a 45-30 record, took Navy to five-consecutive bowl games and won five-consecutive Commander-In-Chief's Trophies.  He was the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2004 when he led Navy to a 10-2 record.
• Senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs has scored at least one rushing touchdown in all 14 of his career starts.  Dobbs set an NCAA record for quarterbacks last year with 27 rushing touchdowns.
• Last year, Dobbs became just the third quarterback (Chris McCoy in 1997 and Craig Candeto in 2003) in school history to rush (1,203 yds) and throw (1,031 yds) for over 1,000 yards in a season.  No Navy player has accomplished this feat twice in his career.  Dobbs got off to a slow start in the season-opener, rushing for just 63 yards and a TD on 29 carries and completing six of his 10 passes for 73 yards.
• The Mids will try and regain their title as the top rushing team in the country after finishing fourth (280.5 yds/gm) last year.  Navy had won the rushing title an NCAA-record four-consecutive years (2005-08).  The Mids rushed for 412 yards in the opener against Maryland.

Mids' Failure to Execute in Red Zone Leads to 17-14 Loss to Maryland
• The Maryland defense held Navy scoreless in five of the Mids' seven trips inside the red zone to help lead the Terps to a 17-14 victory  in front of 69,348 at M&T Bank Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
• The Navy defense was shaky at the start, allowing Maryland to rush for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in the first quarter, but buckled down and held the Terps to just 133 yards over the final three quarters.
• After Da'Rel Scott gave Maryland a 7-0 lead with a five-yard touchdown run on Maryland's opening possession, the Mids moved down the field and had the ball first-and-10 at the Maryland 14-yard line.  The drive stalled, however, when sophomore slot back Gee Gee Greene was tackled for a two-yard gain, senior fullback Vince Murray was stopped for one yard and senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs was sacked for a loss of four yards. Navy came away with no points when senior kicker Joe Buckley saw his 32-yard field goal bounce off the left upright.
• Maryland quickly answered Buckley's miss with a five-play, 80-yard drive that was set up by a 67-yard run by Davin Meggett with Meggett capping off the drive with a  three-yard touchdown run that made the score 14-0.   
• Navy got on the board early in the second quarter when senior slot back Andre Byrd took a pitch from Dobbs and rambled around the left end for a 10-yard touchdown, the first of his career.
• Senior safety Emmett Merchant picked off a pass on Maryland's next series and the Mids marched 63 yards on 17 plays.  On third-and-goal from the one, Maryland's Adrian Moten leaped over the Navy offensive line and hit Dobbs, causing him to lose the ball.  The fumble was recovered by Antwine Perez at the six yard line.
• After the Navy defense forced Maryland to go three-and-out, Navy took over at its own 32-yard line with 2:18 left in the half and moved the ball down to the Maryland seven with 12 seconds left.  With no timeouts left, the Mids called for a roll out where Dobbs was supposed to throw the ball in the end zone or throw it out of bounds.  Dobbs, however, was heavily pressured and was forced to pull the ball down and try to run for a touchdown.  He was tackled at the two yard line as the clock expired.
• It was more of the same for the Navy offense to start the second half as the Mids went 59 yards on 13 plays, but came away with no points when Dobbs was hit by Maryland's Kenny Tate and fumbled on the Maryland one-yard line thwarting yet another drive.
• After the defense forced a Maryland punt the Mids finally took advantage of a red zone opportunity with Dobbs scoring from the one to tie the game at 14 with 5:07 left in the third.  The big play of the drive was a 53-yard run by Greg Jones.
• Maryland took a 17-14 lead with 7:50 left in the game when Travis Baltz hit a 24-yard field goal.  Maryland's scoring drive was set up by Kyle Delahooke's 29-yard punt.
• Navy got the ball at its own 30 on the ensuing kickoff with 7:44 left and deliberately moved down the field picking up first downs thanks to a Maryland face mask, a 16-yard run by Greene, a nine-yard run by Dobbs and a two-yard run by Dobbs  that put the ball first-and-goal at the Maryland seven.  On first down, Greene picked up four yards to the Maryland three.  Dobbs was stopped for no gain on second down and then a false start by junior fullback John McCauley pushed the ball back to the eight yard line.  Dobbs picked up seven yards on third down, moving the ball down to the one-yard line.  On fourth and goal from the one, Dobbs tried to sneak it in and was met by Tate and a host of Maryland defenders well short of the goal line, giving Maryland the three point win. 
• Murray led a Navy rushing attack that piled up 412 yards with 112 yards on 14 carries.  Greene added 74 yards on seven carries.  Greene finished with a game-high 133 all-purpose yards as he also caught four passes for 59 yards.
• Senior safety Wyatt Middleton was all over the place on defense, finishing with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.  Junior defensive end Jabaree Tuani had six tackles and a 1/2 sack, while senior corner Kevin Edwards and senior linebacker Tyler Simmons had five tackles each.
• The Mids outrushed (412-261), outpassed (73-11), outgained (485-272) and dominated the time of possession (39:26-20:34) against the Terps.

Bouncing Back
• Since 2003, Navy owns an 22-6 (.786) record in games following a loss. 
• The Mids have lost back-to-back games just six times during that seven-year span:
    2005    Maryland and Stanford
    2006    Rutgers and Notre Dame
    2007    Rutgers and Ball St.; Wake Forest and Delaware
    2008    Ball State and Duke  
    2008/09    Wake Forest (bowl game) and Ohio State
• Navy has not lost three-straight games since the 2002 season when the Mids lost 10 in a row.

Starting Streaks
• Senior left tackle Jeff Battipaglia has started the last 28 games for the Midshipmen, while senior wide receiver Greg Jones has started 15-consecutive games.
• The defense features senior safety Wyatt Middleton, who has started 36-straight games.  Senior corner Kevin Edwards has started 15-straight games and senior safety Emmett Merchant has started 14 straight.
• The defense features senior safety Wyatt Middleton, who has started 36-straight games.  Senior corner Kevin Edwards has started 15-straight games and senior safety Emmett Merchant has started 14 straight.
• Navy had seven different players make their first-career starts against Maryland, including five on defense.  Senior slot back Andre Byrd and sophomore guard Josh Cabral make their first career starts on offense, while senior nose guard Shane Bothel, senior outside linebacker Jerry Hauburger, junior inside linebacker Caleb King, junior outside linebacker Aaron McCauley and senior linebacker Tyler Simmons all made their first career starts on defense.

Navy Looking For Eight Or More Wins For The Eighth-Straight Year
• Navy has won eight or more games in each of the last seven seasons, the 12th-longest streak in the country.
• Boise State, with 11-consecutive years, is the only non-BCS school that has a longer streak than Navy.

Mids Consistently Among the Nation's Top Rushing Teams
• Over the last nine years, Navy has consistently been one of the top rushing teams in the country, never finishing lower than fourth. 
• In 2002, Navy finished third in the country in rushing, averaging 270.8 yards per game.
• In 2003, Navy led the nation in rushing, averaging a then school-record 323.2 yards per game.  That is the fifth best rushing average for a team over the last 10 years.
• In 2004, Navy finished third in the country in rushing, averaging 289.5 yards per game.  
• In 2005, Navy led the country in rushing for the second time in three years, averaging 318.7 yards per game. The 318.7 yards per game is the seventh best rushing average by a team in the last 10 years. 
• Navy finished the 2006 campaign averaging a nation's-best and then school-record 327.0 yards per game.  That is the fourth-best rushing average by a team in the last 10 years.
• The Mids rushed for a school-record 348.8 yards per game in 2007, becoming the first team in NCAA history to lead the nation in rushing three-consecutive years.   The 348.8 yards rushing is the second best rushing average by a team in the last 10 years.  Only the 2000 Nebraska team (349.3) rushed for more over that time period. 
• The 348.8 yards per game are the most yards rushing by a FBS team since Nebraska averaged 349.3 yards per game in 2000.
• In 2008, Navy led the country in rushing for an unprecedented fourth-straight year, averaging 292.4 yards per game.
• In 2009, Navy finished fourth in the nation in rushing, averaging 280.5 yards per game.
• Navy rushed for 412 yards in the season opener against Maryland, which ranks the Mids third after one week.

The Key to Victory:  30 Points
• The Mids are 41-5 (.891) over the last eight years when scoring 30 or more points in a game. 
• Navy scored 30 or more points seven times in 2003 (7-0), four times in 2004 (4-0), seven times in 2005 (6-1), five times in 2006 (5-0), 11 times in 2007 (8-3), six times in 2008 (5-1) and six times in 2009 (6-0). 
• The Mids are 8-17 (.320) over the last eight years when allowing 30 or more points in the game. 
• Navy gave up 30 or more points three times in 2003 (1-2), once in `04 (0-1), five times in `05 (2-3), twice in `06 (0-2), eight times in `07 (3-5), three times in `08 (0-3) and twice in `09 (1-1).