ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy football team has grown up... and that’s a good thing.
"That experience that we gained last year is definitely going to help us this year," said head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
"You have more confidence looking to the guy to the left and right of you because they know what they are doing," added senior captain, striker John Marshall.
Last season the Midshipmen fielded one of their youngest teams in recent memory. They had 10 freshmen and 19 sophomores on offense and defense combined, almost all freshmen specialists and started nine freshmen on kickoff return. It led to a 4-8 record. This year is different. Those guys are now a year older and ready lead together.
"They have been in the fire. They have been in our biggest game of Army. They have seen that," said Niumatalolo. "The teams that I have been around that have been great, the leadership always comes from within. That is when you get elite teams."
Tai Lavatai is back under center. The junior is the first returning pure starting quarterback for the Mids since Keenan Reynolds was running the offense seven years ago.
"His mastery of the offense is way better than it was last year, his command of the offense," said Niumatalolo.
"Definitely playing and seeing all different kinds of defenses - how they played, the speed of the game - definitely helped me feel going into fall camp, spring ball, just a million percent confident in playing it," said Lavatai.
Lavatai has also bulked up. He added about ten pounds of muscle he said will help him absorb hits when he takes off and runs.
In ten games last season Lavatai rushed for 371 yards and 7 touchdowns on 170 attempts. He threw for 449 yards and 5 TD's with 34 completions on 61 attempts. He was intercepted twice.
On the other side of the ball Niumatalolo calls that unit the ‘no-name defense’. There aren't any stars like current Ravens linebacker Diego Fagot, who graduated after last season as one of the best players in program history.
"I see a lot of athleticism in the back end and then front end, the defensive line and the linebacking corps is really solid," said Marshall. "So, I’m really excited about those guys. [We] play physical. We play fast."
Navy is picked to finish tenth in the eleven-team American Athletic Conference.
The Mids open the season with two straight home games: September 3 against Delaware, then their first conference game a week later, against Memphis.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
