One year after facing Ohio State in opener, Mids tackle Maryland
At media day for the Navy football team last year, it seemed every other question was about the Mids’ opening game with Ohio State. It was more than a month away, but the Buckeyes were an all-consuming passion.
Thursday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, when Navy kicked off its 2010 preseason, the news conference included exactly one question about this year’s opener, Sept. 6 against Maryland.
That’s not to suggest that the game is unimportant to the Mids.
“We’re the only big football schools in Maryland,” senior cornerback Kevin Edwards said. “Just making this game happen made this a rivalry automatically. Going into Ohio State, he had a feeling there was a possibility we could win. Going into Maryland, we know we can win.”
Navy nearly pulled off an historic upset last year in Columbus, taking the Buckeyes to the wire in a 31-27 defeat. Even in losing, the performance seemed to catapult the Mids to another level. They went 10-4, won their seventh straight Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, and registered victories over Notre Dame and BCS conference foes Missouri and Wake Forest.
At this year’s opener, however, there will be no winning in losing. When Navy travels to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to take on Maryland, the Midshipmen will be expected to win, even if most of them weren’t good enough prospects to be recruited by the Terps.
“Maryland’s an ACC program. They’re a good team,” senior tackle Jeff Battipaglia said. “When we come in there, we’ll be playing scared. Every team’s a threat.”
Over the next month, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo will do everything he can to erase the following though from the minds of the Midshipmen: Navy was a 10-win team last year, while Maryland was a 10-loss team.
“We don’t look to the past,” Niumatalolo said. “Anything we did last year has no bearing on this year. It’s a totally new season. That’s how we approach things.”
Navy welcomes back a Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Ricky Dobbs, a 971-yard rusher in fullback Vince Murray, and an experienced offensive line. The defense is sound on the line and in the secondary. The question marks are at linebacker and slot back.
Many of those questions will be addressed on Sept. 6 in Baltimore. Edwards says the Mids will not feel any pressure.
“What we go through in camp is pressure,” Edwards said. “Once we go through the pressure of the next two and a half weeks, the game isn’t anything. The games are fun. Practice is the bad part.”
