Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 127 BY BRYAN DRISKELL Navy compiled a 20-7 record in its first two years in the American Athletic Confer- ence. Over the last two seasons, however, the Midshipmen have gone just 10-16 and failed to make a bowl game for the first time since 2011 after posting a 3-10 mark in 2018. The question to be asked now is was last season a sign of things to come, or can head coach Ken Niumatalolo get his team back to the top of the AAC and into bowl contention? To make that happen the Navy offense must get back to scoring more points. During its first two seasons in the league, the Midship- men averaged 37.4 points per game, but last year they averaged just 25.0 per contest. The Mids' vaunted ground attack dropped from 328.9 yards per game from 2015-17 to just 276.5 last fall. Getting Malcolm Perry back to quarterback should improve the rushing attack, which in turn should make the scoring offense much better. Perry rushed for 2,269 yards the last two seasons while splitting time between quar- terback and slot back, but he's now a full-time quarterback. According to TheMidReport.com publisher Michael James, Navy has gone away from the option-oriented attack that fueled the squad for so many years, but with Perry back at quarter- back the offense should get back to its bread- and-butter. "Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper have both talked about shaping the offense to fit Perry's skill set this season," James said. "They intend to use Perry as a true spread-option quarterback, rather than as an off-tackle battering ram like Will Worth and Zach Abey. "Navy hasn't always looked like an option team over the last two years. This year, they will." Navy has also taken major steps back on defense in recent seasons. It gave up just 21.8 points per game during its 11-2 campaign in 2015. Last fall, however, the Midshipmen allowed opponents to score 33.5 points per game. New coordinator Brian Newberry in- tends to modernize the Navy defense. "One of the goals that Newberry sets for his defense is for 20 percent of their plays to be what he calls 'disruptive,'" James said. "It could be a sack, batting the ball down, a tackle for loss — anything that gets the offense off schedule and sets up long yardage situations." That's quite different than the bend-but- don't-break defense Navy ran in past seasons, but it is a needed change. "The goal is to achieve success through confusion," James said. "… If Navy can im- prove to a middle-of-the-pack defense statis- tically it would take enormous pressures off the offense." Reasons For Optimism • Malcolm Perry at quarterback • New defensive coordinator • Softer schedule Perry finally becomes "the man" at quarterback, and as long as he can stay healthy he should put up some monster rushing numbers … Navy hired aggressive young defensive coordinator Brian New- berry in hopes of turning things around on that side of the ball … There is no UCF, Cincinnati or Temple on the slate this fall. Reasons For Concern • Pass offense • Offensive line play • Heavy personnel losses on defense For all his success as a runner, Perry is just 10 of 27 as a passer during his career, and the returning pass catchers are inexperienced … Navy's offensive line play has not been up to par the last two seasons … The defense must replace eight starters. NAVY MIDSHIPMEN GAME 10 • NOV. 16 • NOTRE DAME STADIUM X-FACTOR: Senior quarterback Malcolm Perry is a dynamic runner who enters the season with 2,342 career rushing yards. PHOTO COURTESY NAVAL ACADEMY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 2019 SCHEDULE Date Opponent 2018 Result Aug. 31 Holy Cross — Sept. 14 East Carolina — Sept. 26 at Memphis W, 22-21 Oct. 5 Air Force L, 35-7 Oct. 12 at Tulsa W, 37-29 Oct. 19 South Florida — Oct. 26 Tulane L, 29-28 Nov. 1 at Connecticut — Nov. 16 at Notre Dame L, 44-22 Nov. 23 SMU L, 31-30 Nov. 30 at Houston L, 49-36 Dec. 14 vs. Army* L, 17-10 * at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia QUICK FACTS All-Time Series: Notre Dame leads 78-13-1 Last Meeting: Notre Dame 44, Navy 22 (Oct. 27, 2018; San Diego) Head Coach: Ken Niumatalolo, 87-58 at Navy and overall (12th year) 2018 Results: 3-10 overall, 2-6 AAC West (6th) Returning Starters: 6 (3 offense, 3 defense) Prediction: Notre Dame 54, Navy 24 RETURNING LEADERS Rushing: QB Malcolm Perry (1,087 yards, 7 TD) Passing: Perry (222 yards, 2 TD) Receiving: RB CJ Williams (187 yards, 0 TD) Tackles: LB Nizaire Cromartie (58) Sacks: Cromartie (3.5) Interceptions: LB Jacob Springer (2)