By Ron Snyder
Examiner Staff Writer
The University of Connecticut dropped Navy from its schedule last year ? and the families of many Navy players are grateful.
The ending of the series by the Huskies forced the Midshipmen to find another opponent, and according to many Midshipmen, Academy athletic officials couldn?t have chosen a better one than North Texas. And it has nothing to do with the team?s 1-7 record.
When Navy (5-4) takes the field Saturday in Denton, it will be the away team. However, there likely will be a lot more fans wearing blue and gold than green in the stands of Fouts Field. That’s because 27 Midshipmen on the roster are from Texas, including many who played high school football within driving distance of North Texas, which is located just 40 miles northwest of Dallas.
“I’m pumped up,” said fullback Adam Ballard, a Lewisville, Texas native, who played football and track at nearby Marcus High School. “If you can’t find extra motivation to play in a game right in your backyard, I don’t know what will.”
North Texas expects a capacity crowd of more than 30,000 fans this afternoon at 4. The game is the first meeting between the Midshipmen and the Mean Green, who competes in the Sunbelt Conference. North Texas has had two weeks to prepare for Navy after losing to Middle Tennessee State, 48-28 on Oct. 27.
The Mean Green?s lengthy preparation period combined with the Midshipmen coming off their historic 46-44 triple-overtime win at Notre Dame last week, has Midshipmen coach Paul Johnson worried that his team could be in for a letdown and get upset. The Midshipmen need to win just one of their three remaining games to accept an invitation to play in Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 20.
“We just haven’t dialed in and focused like we should this week,” Johnson said. “I think it’s exciting anytime you get to go home and play. But, you have to get yourself ready to play you can’t just show up and decide ‘hey I’m going to go play.'”
Ballard said he has even more motivation to beat North Texas. Mean Green coach Todd Dodge previously coached at Southlake Carroll High School ? one of the nation?s most successful teams ? where he led his team to a 63-7 victory over Ballard?s Marcus High team in 2002. Also, North Texas offensive coordinator Todd Ford coached Ballard in high school in 2001.
“It would be pretty embarrassing if we come out flat in front of all your friends and family,” Ballard said. “But, being from Texas and coming in really upbeat, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Dodge said he knows there are going to be a lot of Navy fans in the stands. At the same time, he views this game as a golden opportunity to test his young team against a national program as he looks to duplicate the success he had on the high school level. Dodge went 79-1 in his last five seasons at Southlake Carroll, winning four 5A Texas state titles.
“Navy is a marquee program and it will be nice to be playing in front of our largest home crowd of the season,” Dodge said. “Right now, we are 1-7, but we still have four games left. We’re going into this game feeling like we have a chance to finish the season with four straight wins.”
