College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Navy Midshipmen season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Navy Schedule Analysis
– Navy Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 3-7 overall, 3-4 in AAC
Head Coach: Ken Niumatalolo, 14th year, 101-67
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 88
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 75
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 17
Navy College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– The offense didn’t work like it was supposed to. It wasn’t physical enough and it didn’t tear off the big runs like a normal Navy O. The Midshipmen only averaged 178 rushing yards per game, the offense only averaged 16.6 points per outing and the team was 124th in the nation out of 127 teams in total offense. The ground game has to find its groove again or it’ll be another lost season.
– It starts up front. The Midshipmen struggled to get the blocking going, and now it has get better with three new starters. Navy can’t be 42nd in the nation in rushing again, and it needs to improve without leading rusher Nelson Smith. It’s Navy. There are runners.
FB Jamale Carothers isn’t huge, but he’s a fast inside threat who can handle the work, and there are plenty of options for the slotback position including former QB Tyger Goslin and veteran Chance Warren.
– Goslin could seem time at quarterback if needed, but 5-9, 165-pound Xavier Arline will likely get the first look. He’ll have to battle with 6-2, 220-pound sophomore Tai Lavatai and 6-0, 190-pound Jayden Umbarger, but no matter who’s under center, the production has to be steadier.
As always, there won’t be a whole lot of passes – just 57 competitions in the ten games last year – but 6-5, 221-pound Mychal Cooper is good and 6-2, 203-pound Mark Walker is another big target who can hit the home run.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Navy Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Navy College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. Navy College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The defense got steamrolled over by BYU to start the season, it struggled over the first half of the year against the better ground attacks, and it was too late when the production started to come at the end.
There wasn’t any pretense of a pass rush – just six sacks and 45 tackles for loss in the ten games – but the bigger problem was holding up against the more powerful teams. There isn’t a whole lot of size on the front three around 6-0, 280-pound sophomore Donald Barniard, but as always, there will be a steady rotation.
– The linebacking corps has a star in Diego Fagot in the middle, and he’s not alone with the entire corps expected back. The youth movement led to a slew of mistakes early on, but again, the D got better as the season went on. Watch out for this to be one of the team’s bigger areas of improvement.
– The pass defense had its rough spots, and it only picked off three passes, but it wasn’t the main problem on the struggling D. The linebacking corps should go from good to great, but the secondary won’t be that much further behind with all the key parts expected to be back. Considering there’s no help from a pass rush, these defensive backs were okay. Now they’re proven veterans.
NEXT: Navy College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Navy College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Navy Offensive Player
RB Jamale Carothers, Sr.
Yeah, he’s a 5-9, 203-pound fullback, but he can fly. He’s got the ability to come up with a whole lot more than 358 yards and three touchdowns of last year. A killer around the goal line, he ran for 14 touchdowns and caught two scoring passes as a sophomore, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Expect more 2019 than 2020.
2. QB Xavier Arline, Soph.
3. WR Michael Cooper, Sr.
4. C Pierce Banbury, Sr.
5. RB Chance Warren, Sr.
Best Navy Defensive Player
LB Diego Fagot, Sr.
The 6-3, 240-pounder is the heart-and-soul type for a team full of leaders. He followed up a 100-tackle sophomore season with 72 tackles, making 23 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks over the last two years, too. He’s a big tackler with range, the timing to be one of the few Midshipmen who can get behind the line, and he doesn’t miss stops.
2. S Kevin Brennan, Sr.
3. LB John Marshall, Jr.
4. LB Tama Tuitele, Jr.
5. S Mitchell West, Sr.
NEXT: Navy College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Navy College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Navy Biggest Key: Offense
You know … the running game. It’s Navy. It has to work.
The 2019 version of the Navy offense ran for over 300 yards ten times and failed to get to 280 yards just once in 13 games.
Last year? Navy ran for over 200 yards four times and over 280 just once. Shock of shocks for a team that doesn’t throw, when the offense isn’t rumbling for a gajillion yards, bad things happen.
Navy 3-1 when it ran for 200 yards or more and 0-6 when it ran for fewer. You have to go back to early of 2017 for the last time Navy won a game when going under 200 yards – 23-21 over Tulane, going 0-11 since then when not getting to two bills.
The quarterback situation has to be solid from the start, the line has to be more physical and consistent, and the home runs have to come on the outside.
You know … Navy football.
Navy Biggest Key: Defense
The pass rush has to return.
There wasn’t even a lick of pressure last year when star LB Diego Fagot wasn’t doing something big. It didn’t help that 2019 leading sacker Jacob Springer wasn’t around, but he only accounted for eight the team’s 30 sacks that came from 14 different Midshipmen.
Instead of 30 sacks and 89 tackles for loss over 13 games the Midshipmen generated just six sacks and 45 tackles for loss in ten games – again, with most of the heavy lifting coming from Fagot.
The defense as a whole has to be nastier and more consistent, but being more disruptive is a big part of that.
Navy Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Xavier Arline, Soph.
Or Tai Lavatai, or Jayden Umbarger, or Maasai Maynor. Someone has to take the Navy quarterbacking gig by the horns and make it his. Six different Midshipmen threw more than one pass last season, but obviously for this offense it’s about who can run better.
Tyger Goslin will likely be a slotback, putting the pressure on the 5-9, 165-pound Arline to hold up after running for 210 yards in five games of work. Lightning quick, he might add the spark that was missing.
Navy Key Game To The 2021 Season
Marshall, Sept. 4
Navy was embarrassed out of the gate last season. It looked unprepared, not in football shape – partly because it didn’t get physical in practices – and outclassed in a 55-3 embarrassment against BYU. The team rebounded for a 3-2 start, but it never quite recovered overall – it was a bad tone-setter.
This year, that all has to change at home against Marshall. Lose, and with Air Force, at Houston, UCF, SMU, at Memphis and Cincinnati up next it could be a long, long start to the year.
2020 Navy Fun Stats
– 1st Half Scoring: Opponents 157- Navy 81
– Average Rushing Yards Per Game: Opponents 204.7 – Navy 177.6
– Sacks: Opponents 23 for 123 yards – Navy 6 for 40 yards
NEXT: Navy College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Navy College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Sometimes it’s just not your year.
Navy was excellent in 2019. It went 11-2 with a blowout win over Army, a bowl win over Kansas State, and with great victories over terrific SMU and Air Force teams. The running game worked, the defense lived in the backfield, and …
The 2020 version played like a popped balloon.
If you’re Navy – or Army or Air Force, for that matter, considering the style of play – you have to be able to impose your will, and BYU took that right out of the program from jump on the opening night of the season.
The running game was meh, the defense didn’t do much until late, and then when the D showed up the O scored 13 points in the final three games.
It just wasn’t Navy’s year.
Set The Navy Regular Season Win Total At … 6
It’s all about whether or not Navy can do Navy things again.
Oh sure, there will be talk of being more physical and tougher, and there’s no questioning the chops of head coach Ken Niumatalolo, but the running game has to be amazing – and it’ll be close. Control the clock, keep the undermanned D fresh and off the field, repeat.
With so much experience returning on defense, and so much promise on offense, anything less than a bowl appearance will do. The problem, though, is that it’ll take several upsets to do it.
No joke, find the relative layup until the end: Marshall, Air Force, at Houston, UCF, SMU, at Memphis, Cincinnati, at Notre Dame, East Carolina, at Temple, Army.
0-12 isn’t insane if the team doesn’t get its mojo back, but obviously this won’t be that bad a year.
There will be times when the offense really is the Navy offense and it all works, there will be a few upsets, there will be a misfire, and it’ll all add up to a mix between 2019 and 2020.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Navy Schedule Analysis
