Ken Niumatalolo leaves for his annual trip home to Hawaii in early July. That is about the same time most of the national college football preview magazines hit the newsstands.
It’s a 10-hour flight so Navy’s 10th-year head coach picks up copies of Athlon’s, Lindy’s and Phil Steele’s College Football Preview to occupy the time.
“Right around when I take my vacation is when all the magazines come out with the preseason predictions so I grab a few to read on the plane,” Niumatalolo said this week. “By the time I get to Hawaii I’m just fuming from reading those things. It’s great motivation to work even harder when I get back into the office.”
Once again this year, many of the national pundits are predicting a down year for Navy, which has posted winning records in 13 of the last 14 seasons. Lindy’s ranked the Midshipmen 63rd out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools while Athlon’s put the program at No. 56.
“Over the last five years, there are only like 14 teams in the country that have won more games than we have,” Niumatalolo said. “How long do we have to keep doing this? I’ve became jaded to it. People don’t seem to believe in us. Everyone seems to think it’s a fluke every year.”
Several other media outlets believe Navy will struggle within the American Athletic Conference. Four out of six staff members with CBS Sports picked the Mids to place fourth or fifth out of six schools in the AAC West Division.
Navy won the West Division to secure a spot in the championship game a year ago and boasts a 14-2 record in two seasons of competition in the American. Most analysts cite subpar play at the quarterback position as a primary reason the Mids will not contend in the conference this year.
Zach Abey takes the reins of Navy’s triple-option offense after being thrust into the starting role late last season after Will Worth went down with an injury. Abey was third string at the beginning of 2016, but became the backup after original starter Tago Smith suffered a season-ending injury in the opener.
Abey made his first career start in the Army-Navy game and struggled mightily in the first half before settling down and playing decently in the second half. The Archbishop Spalding product looked like a completely different quarterback in the Armed Forces Bowl, accounting for 273 yards of total offense and four touchdowns.
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