Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Facts & Figures NAVY VS. NOTRE DAME tween the two schools. Notre Dame holds a 72-12-1 advantage, but Navy has won three of the last five matchups (2010, 2009, 2007). The Irish defended their home turf in 2011, throt- tling the Mids 56-14. Navy Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo's Record • 32-21 (.582) in four seasons at Navy Game Info Date: Sept. 1, 2012 Site: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland (51,700) Kickoff: 9 a.m. ET Television: CBS Series Facts: This is the 86th meeting be- bulked up during the offseason and is now at 5-10, 215 pounds. He got into the special teams rotation at the end of last season and finished with seven tackles and one forced fumble. • SB Gee Gee Greene (21) — With 25 consec- caller started one game last season (at Notre Dame) and has the ability to keep defenses honest with downfield passes. Reviews this fall have been mixed after he completed 12 of 29 passing attempts for 205 yards with three touchdowns, and rushed for 150 yards on 49 carries, as a reserve in 2011. • FB Noah Copeland (34) — The sophomore Prime Personnel • QB Trey Miller (1) — The junior signal- Bryant] and a freshman as the No. 3 guy [Keenan Reynolds]. It's cer- tainly Miller's job. He has some ex- perience; he knows what it's like to go against Notre Dame. They also know he needs to get better to have a realistic chance to pull off a victory out in Ireland. "I think they're going to throw more than they did last year with Kriss Proctor [787 yards and seven touchdowns in 2011], but I don't think they'll throw as much as they did with [Ricky] Dobbs [1,527 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2010]. I don't think he's quite that good. Niumat- alolo has made it a point to say that he's kind of in the middle of those two skill sets." Copeland mostly saw action on special teams as a freshman, and his success this year will be predicated on how the offensive line, which returns only two starters in senior left guard Josh Cabral and senior right tackle Andrew Barker, comes together. The defensive line is a complete the three guys they have [at nose guard]," Stevens explained. [Junior] Barry Dabney and [junior] Tra- vis Bridges are the two main guys. Over at end, it's kind of a mixed bag. They're clearly going to try and patch together and create a rotation. They certainly don't have a guy like [graduated] Jabaree Tuani [52 tackles, 13 for loss in 2011] at that spot any- more. I don't think anybody techni- cally has won a job at this point." Senior linebacker Matt Warrick "They're pretty happy with paced Navy with 103 tackles last year. He will play next to classmate Brye French, who — along with se- nior slot back Bo Snelson — was stripped of his captaincy before the start of fall camp due to a violation of team rules over the summer. Senior David Sperry started 12 utive starts at slot back for the Mids, the 5-8, 185-pounder should be a calming influence for a first-year QB working behind a retooled offensive line. Greene has rushed for 1,246 ca- reer yards and seven touchdowns on only 177 carries (7.0 yards per touch) and 30 receptions for 455 yards and four scores. • LB Brye French (50) — The 6-1, 216-pound senior out of Johnson, S.C., Bush is at rover full-time in 2012 after starting eight games last season at outside linebacker and two at rover. He was named to Phil Steele's All-Independent first team in the preseason. junior started nine games at inside linebacker last season, recording 55 tackles (six for loss), which ranked second on the team. • ROV Tra'ves Bush (9) — A 5-10, 192-pound after a 2011 season that featured one hic- cup after another. Jon Teague missed five field goals and four extra points in a year when the Midshipmen lost five games by three or fewer points. That battle is expected to continue until the opener in Ireland. • When French and senior slot back Bo Snel- For The Record • Seven kickers tried out during fall camp rebuild, which might be a positive thing for assistant Shaun Nua, whose unit ranked 92nd nationally in rush- ing defense (187 yards per game) and 113th in sacks (12) in 2011. The Mids surrendered 182 yards and didn't register a sack against Notre Dame last season. games at cornerback in 2011 and was to be the most experienced player in the secondary, but he was dis- missed from the Academy following the spring semester. Junior Jonathan Wev was pushing Sperry in spring practices and is now the starting field corner. Free safety Chris Ferguson and cornerback Parrish Gaines, a pair of sophomores that climbed to the top of the depth chart at the end of 2011, and senior Tra'ves Bush round out the group. ✦ son were stripped of their captaincies at the start of fall camp for breaking team rules over the summer, it meant 2012 would be the first time in Navy football history the team entered a year without at least one designated captain. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Sophomore Noah Copeland excelled on special teams as a rookie last year, but he will be asked to fill Alexander Teich's big shoes (2,122 yards and nine scores from 2009-11) at fullback this season. PRESEASON 2012 75 PHOTO COURTESY NAVY