Niumatalolo aware of home-field advantage
Some of college football’s most intimidating stadiums have descriptive nicknames that add to the effect — Death Valley, The Big House, The Horseshoe, The Swamp.
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Saturday night when Navy plays at Hawaii, the game will be held at one of college football’s least hostile sites, Aloha Stadium.
But don’t get the idea that Hawaii is an easy place to play. The Warriors have a long-standing home-field advantage, owed largely to the distance teams must travel. On Wednesday morning, Navy took the trip, 4,855 miles, and flew commercial, no less, on the busiest travel day of the year. The Midshipmen (8-3) play the Warriors (5-6) Saturday night.
“I asked our team, how many guys have even been to the West Coast,” said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo. “There’s a ton of guys who haven’t. I think our team is in for a rude awakening with how far we have to travel.”
According to a 2008 study by College Football By the Numbers, a popular sports blog, Hawaii enjoys the most decisive home-field advantage in the NCAA. The numbers-crunching Web site used data from 1987-2007, defining home-field advantage as the opponent’s differential between home and road performance.
Others teams that ranked high were Boise State, Oregon State, Fresno State and Wyoming, the results suggesting that the most important factor in determining home field advantage is remoteness.
To try to mitigate the effects of the long road trip to Hawaii, Navy arrived early. But idle hours in a tourist destination can present problems too.
“It is paradise, so I want them to be able to enjoy things. But, I want to make sure that we’re getting ready for a football game, too,” said Niumatalolo, a native of Oahu who played and coached at Hawaii. “I want to keep the guys off their feet and out of the sun as much as possible. I know a lot of teams come over here, get distracted, lose and get on the plane and go home.”
Navy’s on-the-field discipline is well documented. The Mids are the least penalized team this year in the NCAA (31.4 yards per game). With five days in Hawaii, their off-the-field discipline is being tested.
“We’re going there to get (win) No. 9,” said senior cornerback Blake Carter on Monday. “It’s a business trip.”
Senior linebacker Ross Pospisil, who leads the team in tackles with 83, said the team can wait until after the game to enjoy the sun.
“I’m not thinking about Sunday, but I heard we’re not leaving until Sunday night,” said Pospisil. “I think [the beach] is where you can find me.”
