Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 29, 2018 33 team's top option in its first five games this season, rushing for 584 yards and six touchdowns on 105 carries (5.6 yards per attempt). Abey, meanwhile, was still seeing time at quarterback in short-yardage and goal-line situations, and has carried the ball 20 times for 41 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns. "Perry is as good a runner as Navy has had at any position in the op- tion era," said Mike James, publisher of TheMidReport.com on the Ri- vals network. "However, with the mistakes being made by the offense — including some of his own — he hasn't been able to make as much of an impact as the coaches would like." After the dynamic Perry, Navy's next three leading rushers are sopho- more fullback Nelson Smith (173), sophomore slot back CJ Williams (143), senior slot back Tre Walker (140), backup senior quarterback Garret Lewis (127) and senior full- back Anthony Gargiulo (124). Wil- liams (one) and Lewis (three) are the lone players among that group that have tallied rushing touchdowns. "Perry has the lion's share of car- ries so far, but he's not the only skilled runner on the team," James said. "Nelson Smith and Anthony Gargiulo split most of the carries at fullback. Gargiulo is more of the bat- tering ram of the two, while Smith has developed a knack for maneu- vering in tight quarters. "CJ Williams has become a go-to slot back in both the running and passing games." Navy completed 19 passes for 356 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in its first five games, with six of those passes going to Wil- liams (148 receiving yards and 24.7 yards per catch). Senior wide receiver Taylor Jackson was next in line with five receptions for 64 yards, and freshman wide receiver Mychal Coo- per was not far behind with 57 yards and a touchdown on three catches. "Receiver was the biggest ques- tion mark coming into the season, and it remains so," James explained. "Navy's receivers are called upon to be blockers first, and they have strug- gled in that role. Some playmakers have emerged, though. "Freshman Mychal Cooper started to make some noise. A product of the prep school, he's a big target at 6-foot-5 and has deceptive speed." Among the team's starting offen- sive line group — senior left tackle Jake Hawk, senior left guard Laurent Njiki, junior center Ford Higgins, senior right guard Chris Gesell and senior right tackle Andrew Wood — only Hawk and Wood returned with significant experience, making a combined 37 starts between them heading into the new season. The re- maining trio registered just two total before 2018. "Physically, they're as good as Navy has had," James said of the offensive line. "They've made mis- takes just like the rest of the offense, though. Inconsistency has been an issue." In 2017, Navy put together a solid season defensively, ranking in the top half nationally in several of the major statistical categories. The Midship- men finished 48th in total defense (370.3 yards allowed per game), 52nd in stopping the run (154.5 yards al- lowed a game), 54th defending the pass (215.8 yards surrendered per outing) and 62nd in scoring defense (26.3 points given up per contest). Niumatalolo's group took a step back numbers wise to begin the sea- son. Navy allowed 33.4 points per game in tis first five contests, which was tied for 101st nationally. The Midshipmen also ranked 51st nation- ally in passing defense (212.6 yards allowed per game), 76th in total de- fense (391.8 yards allowed per game) and 87th in rushing defense (179.2 yards surrendered per contest). "Statistically, Navy's defense doesn't stand out," James said. "I don't think that really reflects how much they have improved, though. Last year was a bit of a learning curve for players and coaches alike while they adjusted to a new scheme, but they got better as the year pro- gressed. "Other than the opening hiccup at Hawai'i, they seem to have picked up where they left off. Most importantly, they have created a few turnovers. In 2017, Navy was minus-three in turnover margin. So far in 2018, they are plus-five." Per usual, Navy's linebackers are expected to make plays for the team, with senior starters Hudson Sullivan and Taylor Heflin leading the way with 30 and 29 tackles, respectively. Heflin ranked first on the team in tackles for loss (3.5) and sacks (3.0). Hybrid linebacker/defensive end Nizaire Cromartie, a junior, was sec- ond in both with two apiece. "Along with freshman Diego Fagot, Cromartie is responsible for rushing the passer," James said. "He- flin is as good a sideline-to-sideline player as Navy has had at the mid- dle linebacker position, and unlike past Navy middle linebackers, the coaches have had him blitz fairly often. "Sullivan is Navy's other inside linebacker, and he has been a steady performer, especially against the run. The striker position in the Navy de- fense is a hybrid linebacker/defen- sive, and both [junior] Elan Nash and [sophomore] Evan Fochtman have made plays in that role." GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. NAVY Game Info Date: Oct. 27, 2018. Site: San Diego County Credit Union Stadium (70,561). Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET. Television: CBS. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129) and on Notre Dame's IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This will be the 92nd all-time meeting between the two programs. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 77-13-1 and won the last meeting 24-17 a year ago in South Bend. Head Coaches: Navy — Ken Niumatalolo (86-52, 11th season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (76-34, ninth season). Noting Navy: For the first time in series history, the Midshipmen and Irish will face each other west of Chicago … Navy has not defeated a ranked Notre Dame team since taking down the No. 19 Irish 23-21 in 2009 … The previous time such a victory occurred was in 1957 when the No. 16 Midshipmen won 20-6 over the No. 5 Irish … Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2015, Navy is 19-7 in the league with two division titles.