2008 Navy Midshipmen

Written July 17, 2008 by Jason Lowry

The upcoming football season is only a little over a month away, and Jason Lowry is ready to bring you his 2008 Navy Midshipmen football predictions. The Midshipmen had a pretty solid season going 8-5 including big wins against Army and Notre Dame. This season they bring back 13 starters and it will the beginning of a new era under head coach Ken Niumatalolo. The Midshipmen have plenty of wholes to fill on the offense side of things and to get a good idea at how good this team will be in 2008, lets take a look at who they will be sending out on both sides of the ball this season.

Offense:
With only 5 returning starters its going to make things difficult for an offense that put up a very impressive 39.3 points per game last season. It all starts with senior quarterback Kaip-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who seen the majority of the action last season throwing for 952 yards and 8 touchdowns. Where this team is at its best is on the ground where they had 7 guys rush for more than 400 yards. The main guy will be senior Eric Kettani who rushed for 880 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. The team is bring in some new faces at the receiver spots, but they are veterans in seniors Greg Sudderth and Greg Shinego. The offensive line only brings back 2 starters, and this could be a big problem for a team that relies so much on its ground game. It looks like junior Andy Lark will start at center, while junior Curtis Bass starts at right guard, and senior Ricky Moore will be the new starting left tackle.

Defense:
While this side of the ball brings back 8 starters, it is a unit that gave up just about as much as it offense scored. The Midshipmen gave up 36.4 points last season there worst in the last 5 seasons. The team brings back 2 of its 3 starters on the defensive line in senior defensive end Michael Walsh and junior nose guard Nate Frazier. It looks like they will put in junior Matt Nechak at the other end spot. At linebacker the team does need to find two new faces and it looks like juniors Clint Sovie and Craig Schaefer will be the guys to turn to. Where this unit should be better than they were last year is in the secondary, as they bring back all 4 starters. The best of the group is likely senior corner Ketric Buffin and sophomore safety Wyatt Middleton.

Prediction: 2nd in Independent league 6-6
The Midshipmen took advantage of last season winning a few close games that could of went either way. The defense should be better this year, but its not likely they turn things around completely. We like the running game they bring, but the defense just gives up to many points to pick this team any higher.

Be sure to check back often for more team and conference previews, as football is just right around the corner. Also we are nearing the start of our NFL team preview and predictions as well. If you are looking for a great place to get going on the upcoming football betting season, check out Sportsbook.com and get an account started today.

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