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General Info (Coming Soon) Boards & Admin  use policy(Meetings/Club reports) (Buy, Sell & Trade) Jacket Football (Coming Soon) 2001 Kickoff Classic Hoops Jacket Links |
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Game Previews Brought to you by Army Jacket
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Navy Midshipmen - 1-10 (no bowl) Head Coach - Charlie Weatherbie (30-38, 6 seasons at Navy; 45-57 on overall, 9 years) Yo' knows how ev'ryone says "Eff'n we kin only won one game...ah's hankerin' us t'beat __________ (fill in th' blank; UGa, Clemson, Flo'ida, Alabama, etc.)" Navy gotta live thet nightmare last season, as enny fool kin plainly see. They figgerd on beatin' Temple in th' opener. They didn't. They had hopes of upsettin' GT. They didn't. They picked a bad year t'face TCU. Years of a-comin' close aginst th' Irish didn't mean a thin'- Notre Dame whipped 'em, dawgone it. They bottomed out when they were routed by Wake Fo'est. An' jest when thin's looked th' wo'se, Navy salvaged th' whole season by beatin' Armah! Fry mah hide! So it warn't purdy. Navy ranked among th' wo'st in jest about ev'rythin'...but they beat th' Black Knights an' in Henriettapolis, thet kin be inough. Wal...it kin be inough fo' a li'l while. Weatherbie started off strong, takin' th' Mid's t'th' 1996 Aloha Bowl (beat Califo'nia; upset GT along th' way) but th' last few seasons haf been a struggle. Speckashuns at th' Naval Academah may not be as high as they were in th' glo'y days of Staubach an' sech, but th' faifful will only take so much. Weatherbie's 7th team needs t'play mo'e like his fust ones did an' a lot less like 2000's unit. Th' schedule is not cornducive. In addishun t'Tech, Navy faces an improved Temple team, No'thwestern (a Trimenjus 10 favo'ite), Boston College, Air Fo'ce, MAC power Toledo, an' a Top 20 Notre Dame team, dawgone it. Rush Off. - 178 ypg/29th...Pass Off. - 140 ypg/108th...Total Off. - 318 ypg/92nd Returnin' Starters Offense - OC Mark Hudspeth (1st season at Navy) Quarterbacks He's back! Fry mah hide! Noo Offensive Coredinato' Mark Hudspeth will be a mighty happy man eff'n Brian Madden kin come all th' way back fum a serious injury suffered last sprin' an' regain th' fo'm thet made him sech a threat at th' end of '99 season, as enny fool kin plainly see. Thet year, Madden racked up 897 yards on 180 carries. He mighty nearly led his team t'a monoomntal upset, losin' t'Notre Dame in th' closin' moments on a mighty quesshunable call, ah reckon. Howevah, Madden flourished in Navy's tradishunal wish-bone attack. Shet mah mouth! Hudspeth is installin' a flexbone offense thet will feature no-huddle, shotgun, an' multiple receivah sets. Yo've gotta wonner how a guy who hain't played in on over year, an' has all of 27 pass compleshuns in his career is a-gonna han'le thet. Furthermo'e, Madden slightly re-injured th' knee in sprin' drills an' had it scoped in March. Malinowski is acshully th' returnin' leader in most of th' passin' catego'ies. In 2000, he was pressed into ackshun when a series of injuries depleted th' QB posishun. He completed 36 of 70 passes fo' 455 yards wif only 2 intercepshuns. He also rushed fo' 203 yards, sco'ed 5 times carryin' th' ball, an' added 3 TD passes. Kindelo provides some experienced depph sh'd injuries strike agin- he played in 3 games last fall gwine 12-27-1 fo' 128 yards. Runnin' Backs Lambert carried th' load last season, rushin' fo' 591 yards, but 0 TD's. He'll be featured even mo'e as th' "slotbacks" will look t'release into th' flats an' ketch th' ball, ah reckon. He was bothard all season by a sh'der injury, so th' coaches is speckin' his final season t'be a trimenjus one. Despite th' fack Lambert has only two career recepshuns, look fo' him t'slide outta th' backfield mo'e offen this hyar season, as enny fool kin plainly see. While Lambert uses some splosive speed beyond th' line t'git his yards, backup Bryce McDonald is yer mo'e tradishunal bruizzu...an' not much of an offensive threat. He only gained 36 yards on 8 carries in 2000, an' did not ketch a pass. June Reese carried 29 times fo' 194 yards, an' caught 18 passes fo' 183 yards, one fo' a TD, in 2000. As th' featured slotback, he'll be used mo'e as receivah in th' noo offensive scheme, but is still a threat outta th' backfield, cuss it all t' tarnation. Fricks an' Tepper will also see increased playin' time this hyar year as th' Mid's try an' spread th' field, cuss it all t' tarnation. Fricks chalked up 20 yards rushin' in 10 games last season, while Tepper reco'ded 6 recepshuns fo' 62 yards in 6 games. Wide Receivahs This hyar group has gotta be th' happiess wif Hudspeth's noo philosophy. Last year, Navy only attempped a pass on 30% of their plays. (241 of 793) Given how offen they foun' themselves trailin' in th' game, thass pow'ful low. Thet figgers t'change this hyar year. How fine thet transishun wawks though is still doubtful, ah reckon. Only two returnin' receivahs haf acshully caught a pass in a game. Bailey an' Gaddy will line up in th' flanker posishun. Bailey is th' leadin' returnin' receivah fo' Navy. In 2000, he placed 6th on th' team w/ 13 recepshuns, 193 yards, an' a TD. Gaddy moves on over fum th' co'nerback posishun t'he'p wif th' deep-ball, ah reckon. Both haf th' necessary speed t'stretch th' field, cuss it all t' tarnation. At split-end, Sims played in 5 games, notchin' 5 recepshuns fo' 53 yards. Sims primary backup will be Tedrow, although Martin Huggins (6-5, 214 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. So.) hopes t'crack thet line-up at some point. Tight Ends Navy don't even list a startin' TE. They only hoof it to a TE fo'mashun in sartin situashuns. When thet happens look fo' Mercer t'be th' fust guy off th' bench. He played in 8 games an' caught 1 pass in 2000. Thet's 8 mo'e games an' 1 mo'e pass than Dreyer has. Offensive Line Th' noos is no better fo' Weatherbie on th' offensive line - a unit thet led th' way fo' th' nashun's top rushin' attack in 1998 an' 1999 is completely gone. Schulz started 7 games in 2000 at lef' guard, cuss it all t' tarnation. This hyar year he'll move on over t'center, hopefully providin' some on-field leadership t'his 4 teammates. At least Venuto, Cochrane, an' Jeffery haf some playin' time- thass mo'e than Zakar kin say. Th' fo'mer TE will battle it out So. Carl Hazlewood (6-6, 287 lb) fo' th' startin' spot at th' critical LT posishun. Navy's rushin' produckshun fell fum 292 yards/game in 1999 t'178 yards/game. Th' latter is not a bad number - it was still fine inough fo' 29th in th' country - but it was a precipitous drop fum th' stan'ards set in th' late '90's. Combined wif their ineffeckive pass proteckshun (33 sacks allered), th' offense groun' t'a virtual halt. Now Weatherbie an' Hudspeth face th' dauntin' tax of revahsin' thet wif a VERY inexperienced line. Defense - DC Rick Lantz (1st season at Navy) Defensive Line Navy switches fum a 3-4 t'a 4-3 defense in 2001; th' principal beneficiary in playin' time will be Colonel Bob Zetts, a cornvahted LB- he had 14 tackles while splittin' time off th' bench wif Brindel at NT. Brindel had 34 stops while playin' in all 11 games. Th' units success will largely depend on how fine Wagoner plays as th' main man on th' DL. In his fust season as a starter, Wagoner reco'ded 46 tackles, 7 of them fo' lost, an' fo'ced 2 fumbles. Howevah, last season he benefited fum opponents focusin' on Brian Wimsatt. (Wimsatt's tackles dropped fum 58 in 1999 t'20 in 2000) This hyar year, Wagoner will be th' marked man, as enny fool kin plainly see. His counterpart will Sevahson, a fust year starter wif plenty of experience. He sar spot duty in 10 games, reco'din' 11 tackles. Amazin'ly, 3 of them were sacks t'lead th' team in thet catego'y. Depph is a-gonna be a majo' corncern, as enny fool kin plainly see. DE Glenn Schatz (6-1, 238 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr.) an' DT Matt Berger (6-2, 245 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Sr.) haf yet t'play in a game. Other backups is DE Dan Varmint (6-5, 255 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr. - 4 games, 1 tackle), DT Pete Beuttenmuller (6-4, 260 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr. - 6 games, 5 tackles) an' DT Billy Joe Ownby. (6-3, 262 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr. - 4 games, 3 tackles) Linebackers This hyar group looks t'improve significantly fum last season when injuries fo'ced true freshmen Matthews an' Carthan into duty. Th' mos' trimenjus boost sh'd come fum th' return of Hamilton, as enny fool kin plainly see. Ryan had 101 tackles in '99, an' tallied 21 mo'e in 2000 befo'e havin' his season inded by a knee injury. Carthan did his bess to fill in, gittin' 21 tackles of his own, but it was tremenjus blow. Matthews did slightly better wif 35 tackles in 10 games. He also had a trimenjus intercepshun aginst Armah...thet sh'dn't hurt his career later on ;-) Bowen tried t'carry th' load, rackin' up 72 tackles, 2nd on th' team, but it obviously warn't inough wif Navy rankin' near th' bottom of all defensive catego'ies. ah's sho'nuff he's a-gonna be glad t'see Hamilton back on th' field, cuss it all t' tarnation. Backin' Bowen up in th' middle will be Ichabod Chiesl (6-1, 238 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker.), an experienced Sr. who had 16 tackles while playin' in ev'ry game in 2000. On th' outside, Carthan will be odd-man out in th' noo 4-3 alignment. He'll back up Hamilton, as enny fool kin plainly see. Dan Ryno (6-1, 225 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Sr.) played in 2 games last season (0 tackles) an' will be th' #2 man behind Matthews. Defensive Backs Roun'in' out whut sh'd be an improved defense is th' secondary. Cromer will attempp t'fill th' leadership role vacated by Jed Lepo'e. In his fust season as a starter, Cromer was 3rd on th' team in tackles w/ 60, includin' 5 TFL. Howevah, it falls t'Brooks t'acshully fill Lepo'e's FS posishun, an' they're trimenjus shoes t'fill, ah reckon. Lepo'e had 109 tackles an' 5 INT's (mo'e than ha'f of Navy's total of 8)...Brooks had 28 tackles an' 0 INT's backin' him up. Chattanoogason an' Brazier fo'med a solid duo at th' CB posishun. Brazier came flyin' outta th' gate when he finally sar th' field in 2000. Aginst Rutgers, he busted up 3 passes in th' 1st quarter alone. In his 4 games, he also corntributed w/ 10 tackles. Meanwhile, Chattanoogason placed 4th on th' team wif 47 tackles. Clyde Clark (6-1, 195 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr.) provides capable back-up at one co'ner posishun. He had 15 tackles in 8 games. T'other CB spot ain't as clear. Abner Bush (5-7, 170 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. So. - 3 games, 1 tackle) an' Sina Ekundayo (5-11, 180 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. So. - 0 games) will corntinue their sprin' battle fo' t'other 2nd strin' posishun. At th' safety posishuns, Billy Joey Fay (6-0, 202 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr.) will relieve Cromer while J.P. Blecksmif (6-3, 221 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr.) an' Marc Gio'gi (5-10, 193 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Jr.) share duties behind Brooks. Special Teams Hills was a pleasant surprise fo' th' Mid's last season, hittin' 9 of 12 FG's wif a long of 45. He was also 17 of 18 on PAT's. Weatherbie desperately needs thet same cornsissency fum his kickin' game this hyar year eff'n Navy is t'have enny kind of success. Weatherbie also hopes thet Eric Ro'fs o' Mason Burks (eifer c'd still win th' #1 punter spot) is a similar surprise in 2001. They muss replace starter Brian Billy Joes, who avahaged 39.2 yards/kick last season, as enny fool kin plainly see. Back up FB Rashaad Jamal (5-10, 205 lb. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Sr.) hain't been able t'crack th' startin' lineup, but he's a demon returnin' kick-offs. He had 535 return yards last year. Punt return duties is up in th' air wif th' departure of Billy Joe Hubbard, who han'led ev'ry sin'le punt last year. Coachin' Weatherbie came flyin' outta th' gate, postin' 5-6, 9-3 an' 7-4 reco'ds in his fust 3 seasons in Henriettapolis. Thet prompped officials at th' Academah t'give Weatherbie a 10 year corntrack. Now, 4 years later, Weatherbie an' Navy is at a crostroads. On account o' th' contrack extenshun was signed, th' Mid's is 3-8, 5-6, an' 1-10. At fust glance, it does not appear th' talent is thar t'change thin's. Still, yo've gotta give Weatherbie credit fo' tryin'. While ah's not varmintally cornvinced Hudspeth's offense kin be helter-skelter effeckively by th' current varmintnel, thar's no arguin' his results. As OC at Delta State, his teams set 6 Divishun Iah reco'ds on th' way t'winnin' th' championship. On t'other side of th' ball, Lantz is a-comin' off a successful helter-skelter at UVa an' appears t'have better tools t'wawk wif this hyar season, as enny fool kin plainly see. Varmintally, ah w'd only be mildly surprised eff'n Weatherbie survives th' 2001-02 offseason, as enny fool kin plainly see. An' when yo' cornsider thar is a buyo't opshun af'er 5 seasons an' Navy loses 11 of this hyar season's 22 starters, ah reckon he has two mo'e seasons in Henriettapolis at best. Whut in tarnation this hyar all means... ah reckon Navy'd haf a better chance aginst Tech wif their old offense but it sh'd be fine fo' GT t'face their noo flex-bone. ah look at it as fine prackice fo' our LB's an' DB's t'improve their pass covahage skills. This hyar will be their oppo'tunity t'demonstrate how much they've improved, cuss it all t' tarnation. Up front, Navy's weaknesses along th' OL sh'd lead t'trimenjus thin's fum Gathers an' Rogers. Madden better git rid of th' ball quick, o' he's a-gonna need ev'ry bit of thet mobility he's known fo'. Defensively, thar's li'l chance Lantz's troops is a-gonna be able t'keep up. Tech is a-gonna be able t'wears them down wif a variety of offensive weapons an' ah wholly speck O'Brien t'keep up Fridgien's pattern of maxin' plays wif sevahal diffrunt fo'mashuns. As much as ah's hankerin' t'give Navy their due, this hyar game is mo'e like th' Citadel than enny other - Tech sh'd be able t'dickate th' tempo on both sides of th' ball an' emppy th' benches in th' final tune-up fo' THE game.
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