Air Force presents big challenge
Niumatalolo believes Falcons have ‘one of their better teams’
Ken Niumatalolo has been playing against the Air Force Academy every year he’s been involved with college football. That began in 1983 when he was a redshirt freshman quarterback at Hawaii and continued through is collegiate playing career.
Niumatalolo then became a graduate assistant at his alma mater before being hired as a full-time assistant at Hawaii, which played in the old Western Athletic Conference along with Air Force.
When Hawaii offensive coordinator Paul Johnson was hired for the same position at the Naval Academy in 1995, he brought Niumatalolo along with him and the native Hawaiian began to see the Air Force rivalry in an entirely different light.
For 22 of the past 25 years, Niumatalolo has game-planning against Air Force for the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series. He spent three seasons (1999-2001) as an assistant at UNLV and faced Air Force during that period as well.
Considering that history, it speaks volumes when Niumatalolo calls this year’s Air Force team one of the best he’s ever seen. The 12th-year Navy head coach cited “maturity” and overall talent “on both sides of the ball” as reasons why the Falcons are so good this season.
“This is a really good Air Force team. Air Force is always good, but this is one of their better teams,” Niumatalolo said earlier this week. “Watching Air Force, they have a good chance to be undefeated right now. We know we have a great task ahead of us.”
The Midshipmen (2-1) will welcome the Falcons (3-1) to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) for their annual service academy showdown.
“This is what it’s all about for service academy football. We’re all trying to get the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and this is the first leg of that. It’s the No. 1 goal of our program so obviously it’s a huge game for us,” Niumatalolo said.
Navy and Air Force are the top two rushing teams in the country, averaging 344.7 and 332.8 yards per game, respectively. While the Midshipmen and Falcons both employ option offenses, there are numerous differences in approach.
Air Force has a returning starting quarterback in D.J. Hammond, who accounted for 202 total yards of offense and four touchdowns in last year’s 35-7 rout of Navy. Halfback Kadin Remsberg and fullback Taven Birdow have combined to rush for 691 yards and five touchdowns so far.
Niumatalolo noted that Air Force is not operating out of the shotgun as much as past seasons, preferring to have the quarterback take the snap from under center.
“You can see their kids know exactly what they’re doing and are playing fast. They’re not trying to go back-and-forth between under center and being in the gun. They have a true identity of what they want to do on offense,” Niumatalolo said.
Niumatalolo has been particularly impressed by the performance of Air Force’s defensive front, which is anchored by 330-pound, space-eating nose guard Mosese Fifita and features a pair of aggressive playmakers in defensive end Jordan Jackson (6-5, 270) and outside linebacker Lakota Wills (6-3, 230).
“Defensively, I feel this front they have is as good as some of the really good teams we’ve played in the past. If you look at the tape, Colorado and Boise both had a hard time moving them off the ball,” Niumatalolo said. “I just feel like they’re really stout in the front seven and are playing really well right now.”
Niumatalolo admitted the pressure is on the Navy offensive line to get movement and create openings. Senior center Ford Higgins faces a stiff challenge blocking Fifita, who normally demands a doubleteam. Senior left tackle Kendel Wright will have his hands full with Jackson, who is a disruptive force.
“This game is always about that. When you look at the games we’ve won, we blocked well and were able to run the ball. When we’ve lost, it was because they got after us defensively,” Niumatalolo said. “You can talk about schematics, but this game is always won in the trenches. You have to control the line of scrimmage.”