Strength striking for Mids on defense
Fochtman has been pleasant surprise as backup; Perry puts up big numbers at QB
One of the question marks for Navy going into this season surrounded the outside linebacker spot known as striker.
The Midshipmen graduated their top performers at the position.
Assistant coach Napoleon Sykes had to develop a new batch of strikers during the offseason and the early returns are favorable. First-year starter Elan Nash, who gained valuable experience toward the end of last season, has been solid. Backups Evan Fochtman and Walter Little, neither of whom saw varsity action a year ago, have also contributed.
“They’re doing well. I think the nice part about t hat group that I’ve been impressed with is t hey understand none of them have really played,” Sykes said. “They’re all very coachable and know they need to be really detailed in all they do.”
Nash took over as the backup for the final three games of last season. The Pennsylvania native notched four tackles against Houston and recovered a fumble versus Virginia in the Military Bowl.
Getting game action under his belt was a confidence-boost for Nash, who seized the starting job with a strong August training camp. The 5-foot-11, 196-pound junior was active in the season opener at Hawaii, leading the team with a career-high eight tackles.
“Nash is a really detailed type of person. If you ever watched him during walkthroughs he focuses on every single aspect. He is very precise about everything he does,” Sykes said. “That mentality has sort of set an example for the whole room. All the other guys are following Nash.”
Nash recorded his first career interception this past Saturday against Lehigh. He was sitting back in zone coverage and broke on a ball that was slightly tipped at the line of scrimmage by defensive end Josh Webb. Saturday, noon TV: ESPNews Radio: 1090 AM Line: Navy by 6
“I had my eyes on the quarterback and broke when I saw where the ball was being thrown and the tip gave it a little extra time in the air and was able to get there,” said Nash, who had been eagerly awaiting that first pickoff. It felt great. It was good to finally get one in a game. I’ve been doing well in practice of getting to the ball so it was nice to see that translate to a game.”
Fochtman has been a pleasant surprise considering he was a backup quarterback at this time last year. The Archbishop Spalding product switched to defense prior to spring practice and showed potential while working at safety. Defensive coordinator Dale Pehrson thought the Columbia native would fit well at striker and moved him again.
Fochtman missed the last few weeks of spring camp with an injury and thus did not begin practicing at outside linebacker until August drills. The 6-foot-1, 194-pound sophomore brings physicality to the position, which he showed early in the Hawaii game.
Pehrson sent the youngster on a blitz and he got home, dropping quarterback Cole McDonald for a sack. Two plays later, Fochtman sniffed out a swing pass, broke quickly on the ball and made a superb open-field tackle on tailback Cedric Byrd. Those were two of six stops he made against the Rainbow Warriors.
“That was Evan’s first collegiate game and he made two really good plays right away, which was somewhat surprising,” Sykes said. “Evan came out fearless and really stuck his nose in there.”
Sykes likes the idea of having depth at his position and decided to give Little game repetitions beginning with the home opener versus Memphis. The 5-foot-11, 211-pound junior made a big play in last Saturday’s rout of Lehigh, forcing a fumble and recovering it himself.
“After the Hawaii game I realized I needed to get Walt in there and get him some experience because we’re going to need him before all is said and done,” Sykes said.
Nash is getting the majority of game repetitions with Fochtman getting a series or two here and there. Little showed this past weekend that he might warrant a few more snaps per game.
“Evan has played a lot more than expected because he’s been coming along faster than we thought. I’m not afraid to throw Walt out there as well,” Sykes said. “I think we’re developing a real nice rotation. It’s a good situation because we can keep sending a fresh body in there.”
Nash said the depth allows every striker to play with maximum effort and not try to conserve energy to get through a whole game.
“I think that’s one of the things that will make us good as a position group is that we know every one of us can go 100 miles per hour on ever play. You don’t have to hold anything back.
As soon as you need a blow just look to the sideline and the next guy up is going to be able to play just as well as you.
Navy altered the striker position into more of a nickel back role since that particular outside linebacker is often matched up with a slot receiver in pass coverage. Nash and Little were both recruited to Navy as cornerbacks.
“They’ve been able to run with all the receivers we’ve seen so far. There hasn’t been a time when I thought it was a mismatch,” Sykes said.
That being said, Sykes wants the strikers to be conservative early in games while getting a feel for the speed and quickness of the slot receivers they are covering. Perry producing: Coach Ken Niumatalolo moved Malcolm Perry to quarterback because he wanted to “put the ball in the hands of our most dynamic runner.” That reasoning appears sounder with each passing week as Perry has produced remarkable numbers since making the switch.
Perry has rushed for 1,143 yards in six games as Navy’s starting quarterback, averaging an astounding 7.6 yards per carry. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound speedster has run for 100 yards or more in all six starts and surpassed the 200-yard plateau in three of them.
“Malcolm has done some remarkable things, just amazing,” Niumatalolo said.
Perry had a tough game throwing the ball against Lehigh, missing several open receivers while completing just 2 of 9 passes. He made a bad decision by throwing into double coverage and was intercepted.
However, those miscues in the passing game were more than offset by the fact Perry rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’ve got to stop myself sometimes,” said Niumatalolo, noting that in the immediate aftermath of a game he tends to focus on mistakes made by the quarterback. “I wasn’t happy with some of the things that happened Saturday. I was looking more at the passes he missed and not that he rushed for 200-plus yards and three touchdowns.”
Quarterback Chris McCoy holds the Navy record with five career 200-yard rushing games. Barring injury, Perry figures to break that mark as he could potentially play in 23 more games by the end of the 2019 campaign.
Perry ranks third nationally with 165.7 rushing yards per game, trailing Memphis tailback Darnell Henderson (173.7) and Wisconsin tailback Jonathan Taylor (171.7).
Navy slotback C.J. Williams mentioned following Saturday’s game that it can be difficult to block for Perry in the open field because you never know when he’s going to change direction. Niumatalolo laughed when asked if that is something he or quarterbacks coach Ivin Jasper will discuss with Perry.
“No. You don’t tell good runners how to run. You might give them some guidelines, but you let them use their vision and instincts,” he said. Injury report: Starting safety Sean Williams sat out the Lehigh game with a concussion suffered late in fourth quarter of the Memphis win. Williams is still going through the concussion protocol, but appears likely to return this Saturday at Southern Methodist University.
“He’s tracking well,” Niumatalolo said of Williams.
Navy had to shuffle the offensive line to plug a hole at left tackle, where starter Kendel Wright and backup Jake Hawk (Meade) both did not go against Lehigh because of ankle injuries.
“They both practiced full-speed today,” Niumatalolo said of Wright and Hawk. “Watching them, they both looked like they were moving around decent.”
Backup cornerback Marcus Wiggins is making progress in his recover from a shoulder injury sustained at Hawaii. Niumatalolo said Wiggins might miss a third straight game, but would almost assuredly be back for Air Force on Oct. 6.
Niumatalolo did not know the status of inside linebacker Tyler Pistorio, who has been in concussion protocol since the Hawaii loss.