Navy-Ball State: Can Middies' Defense Support Explosive Offense?

Ball State fans, welcome to the first installment of "Better Know A College Football Blogger."  In no way did I steal the idea for the name from The Colbert Report.  I would never do that.  I'm a master of originality.

Anyway, today's guest is The Birddog, who is smart enough to not use his real name.  He runs the Navy sports blog, also named The Birddog, and he was kind enough answer a few questions for our niche in the blogosphere.

THE SIXTH BALL BROTHER: There's been some talk on our message boards that Navy fans feel that we were much more inferior to Navy.  But our total offense running and passing nearly matched the 524 rushing yards you guys tallied, yet everyone seems to forget that.  What are Navy fans saying about last year's game?

Point these people out to me so I can smack them.  I'm not sure who thinks of Ball State as an inferior team, let alone "much more."  Maybe Ball State isn't as "name brand" of a team, but I would think that's a lesson that should have been learned last year.  There certainly aren't any columnists predicting Navy to go 12-0, even if they are kind of playing the homer card.

If Navy fans aren't in awe of Ball State's offensive output from last year's game, it's because they developed one hell of a callus when it came to bad defensive performances.  Kind of like the way my wife lost the ability to smell anything after changing so many diapers.

You have to remember that EVERYONE put huge numbers up on Navy's defense.  Navy singlehandedly added a million dollars to Joe Flacco's signing bonus and made Giovanni Vizza look like the second coming of Dan Fouts.  Duke, Notre Dame, North Texas, and Delaware averaged 52 points per game against the Mids.  That makes Ball State's 34 look downright reasonable!

That said, Ball State is almost certainly the most talented offensive team on Navy's schedule this year.  Wake Forest comes pretty close, but the Cardinals have the big-name playmakers.

The only people thinking Ball State is "inferior" are alumni who still think Navy should be playing Penn State and Michigan every year the way they did in the '60s.  Everyone else that lives in the now realizes that this is one hell of a game.

TSBB: How much should we be worried about Shun White?  348 is a huge number, and since we haven't been able to stop the run since I stepped foot on campus in 1998, what will White tally?

Shun White is good.  I remember watching a Navy game a couple of years ago with my brother (an Auburn fan).  When Shun White took the field, my brother pointed him out and said, "Hey!  He actually looks like a running back!"  He easily noticed the difference between Shun and all 5'6", 168 pounds of Reggie Campbell.

Shun is strong and fast, and he was our conference 200m champion last spring.  But as good as he is, he won't come close to 348 yards ever again.

Towson completely sold out to stop the fullback last week.  Navy's coaches expected this and told Shun before the game that they were just going to keep feeding him the ball until Towson decided to take it away.  They never did.  Shun's 19 carries in that game are about what a slotback might expect to get in three games in this offense.

Assuming that Ball State's coaches actually, you know, make adjustments after giving up 200 yards to one guy in a half, White won't have quite as ridiculous a performance.

TSBB: The quarterback from last year, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, is still injured and not playing.  What seems to be the presiding opinion on Jarod Bryant?

Jarod played the second half of last year's game after Kaipo's knee was injured at the end of the first half.  He did a good job running the offense.  He's actually a better runner than Kaipo.  Jarod doesn't have the same kind of straight-line speed, but he has quicker feet and does a better job between the tackles.

Kaipo is more likely to hit the home run ball, but Jarod is the guy who will consistently get you an extra yard or two the way he puts his head down and finishes runs.  He's a good enough runner that when Kaipo is healthy, Jarod will be playing slotback in addition to being the No. 2 quarterback.

What really makes Kaipo the No. 1 quarterback, though, is his grasp of the offense.  When Paul Johnson was the offensive coordinator at Hawaii, the Rainbows won the WAC title in 1992 with a quarterback named Michael Carter.  Carter just happened to be Kaipo's offensive coordinator in high school, and he installed Paul Johnson's offense.  Add in a year at the Navy prep school, and Kaipo's been running this offense for almost a decade.

Since repetition means so much to option quarterbacks, it's understandable why the guy who's had the most reps is the starter.  While Jarod struggled at times last year making option reads and running the offense, he spent all spring as the No. 1 quarterback while Kaipo was hurt.  He won't be Kaipo, but he'll be better than last year.  As long as he doesn't fumble—which has been a nasty habit—the offense should still click.

Oh, and there are some people who think that Jarod is a better passer than Kaipo.  I have no clue as to where they get that idea, because it isn't close to being true.  It doesn't really matter, though, since Navy's passing success usually depends on the offensive line—and I'm not sure how good they are yet.

TSBB: Does the triple option feel the same with Paul Johnson gone and Ken Niumatalolo in?

It's the same offense.  Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper both played quarterback under Paul Johnson at Hawaii and have been coaching the offense with him off and on for 15-20 years.  It's what they know.

It'll probably evolve a little bit differently as time goes on, and we're all curious to see how Jasper calls games.  But when you see Navy's offense line up on Friday night, it'll look the same as it did last year.

TSBB: Besides White, who else is going to have a field day on Ball State's defense?

It all depends on the defense.  If the coaches decide to focus on White, Eric Kettani should have a good day at fullback.  Kettani had 100 yards in the second half of last year's game.  When the offense is really clicking, though, the ball gets distributed pretty evenly.

TSBB: What's your prediction for the game?

I apologize for being wishy-washy, but I hate making predictions.  There's no question that both teams are going to get their yards.  I'd like to think that Navy's defense is better than last year, especially the front seven, so hopefully the absolutely insane 262 rushing yards that Ball State put up in the 2007 game won't happen again.

On the flip side, Nate, Dante, and Darius are all back and have one more year of experience under their belts.

Nate Davis wasn't sacked in last year's game.  If that happens again, then he'll pick Navy apart.  If Navy can actually put together a competent blitz package or two and get off the field once in a while, Navy's offense should be able to keep pace.  Then it becomes a question of turnovers, which probably favors Ball State.  We'll see.

* You can check out my answers to his questions here.