The graph Ken Niumatalolo kept on display in his office throughout much of preseason camp this year conveyed a simple message. It wasn’t complicated; he had drawn a diagonal line that began in the bottom left corner of a square and ended in the top right, the visual representation of “trending in the right direction.” It served as a reminder of the team’s goals after last season, which his Navy football team started 5-0 before losing six of its final eight games.
“I don’t want us to fade. Some teams fade. We faded a little bit last year,” Niumatalolo said in August. “We’ve got to continue to climb.”
Niumatalolo thought about that chart this week as Navy (2-2) prepared for its 51st meeting with Air Force (1-3). The path to the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which the Midshipmen have not held since 2015, runs through Colorado Springs this year, and the line graph that represents Navy’s season so far looks a bit wobblier than Niumatalolo would like.
A blowout loss to Hawaii, one-point upset against Memphis, blowout win against lower-division Lehigh and one-point loss to Southern Methodist does not a straight line make.
At Air Force, Niumatalolo would like to start charting some steady progress and find consistency, especially among his offense.
There are a few variables complicating that quest. First, wide receiver-quarterback Zach Abey hasn’t practiced since he was helped off the field with a lower-body injury at SMU in Week 4 and was listed as questionable as of Wednesday afternoon. Abey was injured while playing wide receiver.
“That injury for the wideouts, it’s like a death lick,” offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper said Wednesday, shaking his head. “Every wideout who’s played here, there’s always one kid that gets it. Just got rolled up on the back, and it happens all the time, and it’s unfortunate that it had to be our very, very important player. We just have to make some adjustments, change up our short yardage package. But again, can’t make any excuses. Got to find a way to keep moving the football.”
Jasper said adjustments to the offense won’t be major - he plans on getting his fullbacks more involved, for example, and starting quarterback Malcolm Perry’s job won’t change - but there was another variable in the back of Niumatalolo and Jasper’s minds this week as they prepared.
Air Force has technically been without a defensive coordinator all season. Former coordinator Steve Russ left in January to join the Carolina Panthers coaching staff and Falcons coach Troy Calhoun hasn’t named his replacement, though Tim Cross is listed as an assistant head coach-defensive line coach.
Air Force hasn’t faced an option team yet this season.
“As you watch them, a lot of their philosophy is similar to what they’ve done in the past,” Niumatalolo said. “Will it be exactly like Coach Russ? No, like on our offense, if somebody else is calling the plays, like Coach Ingram, Coach O’Rourke, Coach Yokitis, even though it’s our offense, it might be slightly different than how Ivin does it. But it’s still our core offense. . . . It’s Air Force’s defense, there might be some little changes depending on who’s calling it.”
The final variable is at the quarterback position, where Niumatalolo is getting a sense of what he put opponents through last year. Like the Mids, Air Force has played three quarterbacks this season.
Twice they started senior Arion Worthman, who had a career game in a loss to Navy last year. Calhoun started Isaiah Sanders in the other two games, against Florida Atlantic and Utah State, in which the junior passed for 164 and 125 yards respectively. Sanders and Worthman are listed as co-starters on Air Force’s depth chart this week. Sophomore DJ Hammond, who has seen action in three games and helped lead a second-half rally in a loss to Nevada last week, is listed third.
Niumatalolo sees all three as big, physical runners with ability to execute any play offensive coordinator Mike Thiessen draws up, which at least makes preparing to see all three easier on his defense.
Anyway, when it comes to establishing consistency, he’s more concerned with that which his team can control.
Jasper and Niumatalolo want to start seeing more consistent execution from the offense at this point in the season. Mistakes including three turnovers, missed blocks and a chop block that negated a 50-yard touchdown pass from Perry to Abey in Dallas made the difference in a 31-30 loss to SMU.
Quarterback variables and a defensive coordinator mystery aside, Navy’s offense needs to be crisper. Jasper and Niumatalolo’s solution this week in practice was to simplify the offense some and drill their players on fundamentals.
“It just always seems like we have a breakdown here or there. . . . Sometimes it’s hard to analyze football because we’re two points away from being 3-1 - we’re also two points away from being 1-3. We’re just a little off, but I don’t think it’s anything to panic about. To be honest with you, last year we started off 5-0 and kind of went like this,” Niumatalolo said, making a downward-pointing diagonal line with his forearm - the inverse of the chart in his office earlier this year.
“I’d rather go the other way. So hopefully this game will be a game that we can play our best game. That’s the hope.”
