Navy showing no fear of No. 10 S. Carolina Few teams in college football embrace a challenge as readily as Navy.
Two of the last three times the Midshipmen have played at a ranked foe, they’ve won. And the one they lost — 31-27 at No. 6 Ohio State two years ago — might have been their best performance.
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“We have some great kids,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo explained. “If you’re a person that volunteers to come to a service academy in the time of war, I mean, we’ve got some tough suckers here.”
| Up next |
| Navy at South Carolina |
| When » Saturday, 6 p.m. |
| Where » Williams-Brice Stadium, |
| Columbia, S.C. |
| TV » ESPN2 |
| Radio » 1500 AM |
There’s plenty for the Mids to embrace this week as they prepare for No. 10 South Carolina, a national championship contender with a handful of freakishly talented standouts.
On offense, the Gamecocks can go to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound All-American often compared to the Detroit Lions’ Calvin Johnson. Veteran quarterback Stephen Garcia also can hand off to running back Marcus Lattimore, an All-American who has scored 23 touchdowns in 15 college games and possesses a rare blend of power, speed and elusiveness.
“I put him in that class of mythical SEC running backs,” Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green said. “Everything he does is a wow-factor — carrying the football, breaking tackles, making cuts, changing directions, blocking for his quarterback, catching the football.”
As for the South Carolina defense, consider the ends. Freshman Jadeveon Clowney was the nation’s top-ranked high school prospect last year and already has two sacks. Devin Taylor had 11 quarterback hurries and 7? sacks in 2010. And 6-2, 275-pound senior Melvin Ingram showed shocking speed last week in a 45-42 win at Georgia, taking a snap as the up back in punt formation and sprinting 68 yards for a touchdown, inspiring this straight-faced quote from coach Steve Spurrier: “He could play tailback for us.”
Of Ingram’s much talked about run, Niumatalolo said: “He made a corner miss and a return guy miss.”
No Mids are more familiar with the Gamecocks than starting slot back Gee Gee Greene and safety/linebacker Tra’ves Bush. Both are from South Carolina and played with many of the Gamecocks.
Rather than be awed by any opponent, Greene takes a different approach.
“My first game was Ohio State,” Greene said. “We treated them like business as usual. We’re aware South Carolina is a great opponent. But for us, it’s just like getting prepared for any team. It’s more about us than about them.”
Such is the faith the Mids have not only in their systems — their confounding triple-option offense and Green’s bend-but-don’t-break defense — but also their will.
“What they can’t measure is our heart,” Bush said. “That’s where we feel like we have the edge on anyone that lines up against us.”
