Left photo: Mitch Stringer/US Presswire
Lost Lettermen is counting down and ranking all 124 FBS college football teams from best to worst by comparing each to a well-known song. We will examine one team per day through the summer in the lead up to the 2012 season. Today’s team: The Navy Midshipmen.
Overview:
2011 Record: 5-7
Head Coach: Ken Niumatalolo
Returning Starters: 13 (5 offense, 8 defense)
Key Players: QB Trey Miller, RB Gee Gee Greene, RB John Howell
Schedule:
9/1: Notre Dame
9/15: @ Penn St.
9/22: VMI
9/29: San Jose St.
10/6: @ Air Force
10/12: @ Central Michigan
10/20: Indiana
10/27: @ East Carolina
11/3: Florida Atlantic
11/10: @ Troy
11/17: Texas St.
12/8: Army
Skinny:
By Mark Burns
Longtime Midshipmen running back Alexander Teich finally graduated in 2011 and, with his departure, the running load will fall on seniors Gee Gee Greene and John Howell for Ken Niumatalolo, who will enter his fifth full season as head coach in 2012. The Midshipmen run the non-traditional triple-option offense but, with an inexperienced offensive line, only time will tell whether or not Greene and Howell will be successful on the ground. Defensively, Navy runs a 3-4 and, with the loss of its top three defensive ends, the Midshipmen might have some trouble keeping contain in the fall. But the losses don’t stop there, as Niumatalolo also lost three of his top four cornerbacks. In 2012, the Midshipmen will hope to improve from a year ago when it gave up an average of more than 400 yards per game.
So what amounts to success at Navy? Win the rivalry game with Army, gain bowl eligibility and all will be well, right? That might be easier said than done, but at least the Midshipmen will have the chance to play Indiana and, you know, beat the Hoosiers handily at home. Even though Navy lost significant players on both sides of the ball, there’s still really only one game that matters to the Midshipmen: the classic matchup against Army, which the Midshipmen will host this season on December 8. One game, one opportunity … are you thinking what we’re thinking? Yes, that reminds us of Eminem’s track “Lose Yourself.” Even a mediocre season could be forgiven with one win against the Black Knights.
FBS 124 Countdown
#124: UTSA is … Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
#123: UMass is … Clay Aiken’s “Invisible”
#122: South Alabama is … Rednex’s “Cotton Eye Joe”
#121: Texas State is … Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
#120: New Mexico is … Double Take’s “Hot Problems”
#119: Florida Atlantic is … Rammstein’s “Du Hast”
#118: Memphis is … Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”
#117: Akron is … LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”
#116: UNLV is … Wayne Newton’s “Remember When”
#115: UAB is … Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”
#114: MTSU is … Jessica Mauboy’s “What Happened to Us?”
#113: Tulane is … The Game’s “My Life”
#112: Idaho is … Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart”
#111: Buffalo is … Bruno Mars’ “Don’t Give Up”
#110: UL Monroe is … Bubba Sparxxx’s “Ugly”
#109: Rice is … Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor”
#108: Central Michigan is … Kid Rock’s “Only God Knows Why”
#107: Colorado State is … Aaliyah’s “Try Again”
#106: Miami (OH) … is Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left of Me”
#105: New Mexico State is … Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”
#104: Fresno St. is … Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”
#103: Indiana is … John Mellencamp’s “American Fool”
#102: Troy is … Ruben Studdard’s “Flying Without Wings”
#101: Army is … Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”
#100: San Jose State is … The Mamas & The Papas “California Dreamin”
#99: North Texas is … Kanye West’s “New Day”
#98: UTEP is … Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Better Days’
#97: Ball State is … Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”
#96: Duke is … The Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly’
#95: Eastern Michigan is … Britney Spears’ “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”
#94: Boston College is … Aerosmith’s “Dream On”
#93: Maryland is … Evanescence’s ‘Wake Me Up Inside’
#92: Kansas is … Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Charlie’
#91: Oregon State is … Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin”
#90: Ole Miss is … Waka Flocka’s “Grove St. Party”
#89: Syracuse is … Bon Iver’s “Blindsided”
#88: Colorado is … Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River”
#87: SDSU is … Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Going Back to Cali’
