Plebe summer could just be the first major test for the 47 football recruits who arrived at the Naval Academy late last month.
With just two starters back on defense, many of those players could see playing time much earlier than anticipated, said Navy Coach Paul Johnson, who enters his sixth season in Annapolis.
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Johnson and Defensive Coordinator Buddy Green’s assessment of that unit will have to be quick, as the Midshipmen will open the season Aug. 31 against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but one we’ve faced before,” said Johnson, who is 37-25, including a record of 9-4 last season, since arriving at Navy in 2002. “The only difference is last time it was on the offensive side of the ball.”
Navy appears set on offense, which has seven returning starters from last year?s team that featured one of the country?s most effective rushing offenses. The Midshipmen are expected to be led by rising junior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who started the final six games last season after Brian Hampton suffered a season-ending knee injury during a 34-0 loss to Rutgers.
But Johnson expects his young players to follow the lead of the team captains, rising seniors Reggie Campbell, a slotback, and Jeff Deliz, a safety.
“The best leaders aren’t always the best talkers,” Johnson said. “[Campbell and Deliz] are players that lead by example and they will be fine team captains.”
Johnson said he is preparing for what he believes is a challenging schedule, which includes games at Rutgers (11-2 in 2006) Sept. 7 and against Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest (11-3) Oct. 27. Making it more difficult, Johnson said, is Navy will play three games on nontraditional days with the Temple and Rutgers games both on a Friday, while the Midshipmen’s game at Pittsburgh is on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
All three games were scheduled to accommodate television coverage.
“Playing all of those games in the middle of the week will be different and will require a lot of adjustments on our part,” Johnson said. “But, every game we play is a challenge and I feel like we’ll be ready.”
NAVY NOTES
» Three players from Maryland are among those in Navy’s 47-man recruiting class this year. They are: Linebacker Jerry Harburger (Eastern Tech), outside linebacker Nick Peterson (Broadneck) and offensive lineman Nick Malloy (Stephen Decatur).
» Eleven of Navy’s 12 regular season games will be televised. ESPN will televise games at Rutgers and at Pittsburgh, with NBC showing Navy?s game at Notre Dame on Nov. 3 and CBS broadcasting the Army-Navy game from M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 1.
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