The Navy Report: Keeping Up With a Future AAC Member

Welcome to the first installment of The Navy Report on AAC Football Fever.

This particular post is unique compared to the original content normally produced on the site. For one, it’s about Navy who doesn’t formally join the AAC in football until 2015. Secondly, its not your typical opinionated article. It’s a debriefing, in a sense, of the current and historic status of Navy football to familiarize AAC football fans with the conference’s next great addition in 2015.

Navy joins the American Athletic Conference as a football-only member next season. Navy’s membership in the football-side of the AAC increases total membership to 12 and allows the conference to play a championship game. The AAC will be Navy’s first conference in football (independent from its beginning).

Navy meshes well with the constructs of the AAC not only because its mission as a service academy matches the conference’s patriotic name, but also 70 players on Navy’s roster are from states within the current AAC footprint. The AAC’s national footprint correlates well with Navy’s national brand and fan base.

Each installment of The Navy Report will update fans on Navy’s current season, place the spotlight on a historical event or feature of Navy football, render an intriguing stat about Navy football, and highlight a current Navy player who AAC members will need to watch out for when the Middies take the football field next season.

The Navy Report will be posted sporadically during the season, so continue visiting  AAC Football Fever through out 2014 to keep tabs on the next edition.

Before we debrief you on Navy’s first two weeks of the 2014 season, here’s a quick Navy facts sheet:

Season Update

The 2014 Midshipmen are right on schedule; 1-1 with an opening day loss to Ohio State and a Week 2 victory over future AAC rival Temple. Navy players and coaches probably feel they should be 2-0, but defeating an Ohio State team (Braxton Miller-less or not) littered with former five-star recruits is a tall order for the smaller, less talented Midshipmen. Beating Temple, on the other hand, is something Navy has accomplished five out of the last six meetings between the schools.

Even with its discrepancies in size, speed, and talent, Navy lead the Buckeyes 7-6 at the half in its Week 1 match up before Ohio State’s built-in advantages, and late fourth quarter five-minute scoring drive, got the best of Navy in the second-half, resulting in a 34-17 Buckeye win.

Navy rebounded quickly in Week 2 to defeat a confident Temple squad, fresh off its surprising (at the time) win at SEC Vanderbilt. The Midshipmen ran wild against the Owls, totaling 487 yards on the ground. Navy’s recorded-breaking quarterback, Keenan Reynolds, rushed for…well, you’ll read about it at the end of the report.

After two weeks into the long season, Navy has 857 yards rushing, tops in the nation. The big concern for the Middies, however, is holding on to the ball. Navy has already fumbled the pigskin four times through two games, almost half the number of fumbles committed by the Midshipmen last year (10). Navy must find a way to cure early signs of fumble-itis if it expects to improve its 9-4 record from 2013.

Next game: Saturday at Texas State, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNEWS

Historical Spotlight: Notre Dame rivalry

Have you ever wondered why Navy and Notre Dame play each season?

Notre Dame is arguably the most tradition-rich football program of all-time. Navy, although not short on tradition, turns football players into courageous servicemen, not first-round draft picks. Despite glaring differences in program structure, the two rivals have played consecutively since 1927. The tradition of this rivalry game did not originate on the football field. It originated from a kind gesture that Notre Dame feels can never be forgotten.

During World War II, Notre Dame was struggling just to stay alive as an institution. The Naval Academy set up an agreement with the Irish that allowed it to use the South Bend, IN, campus as a Navy training center. This mutual decision aided in rebuilding Notre Dame’s student enrollment, which had dropped significantly during the Depression years, and kept facilities afloat.

Since 1964, the football series has been lopsided, to say the least. The Irish have a record 43-game win streak (1964-2006) and as college football transitions into the playoff era, Notre Dame won’t be receive extra credit from a strength of schedule standpoint for playing the Midshipmen.

Strength of schedule, Irish dominance, or political agendas won’t impede this rich rivalry from continuing. Notre Dame considers this rivalry to be a gift to the Naval Academy for a debt that can’t be repaid. In 2005, players from both teams began a new tradition of standing at attention during the playing of each school’s alma mater after the game. Just another bold example of the deep respect each school has for the other.

You can read more about the Navy-Notre Dame rivalry on SB Nation.

674

Navy is the 25th most winningest program in college football with 674 victories and counting. Navy will overtake Tulsa (598 all-time wins) as the most winningest program in the AAC when it joins the league.

Remarkable stats considering Navy and Tulsa will be the smallest schools in the AAC, each enrolling just over 4,000 students.

Player Highlight: Junior quarterback Keenan Reynolds

In less than two full seasons as a starter, Reynolds has already planted his name firmly in the Navy record books. 15-6 as a starter, Reynolds set an NCAA record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single game against San Jose State in 2013, recording seven TDs to go along with 240 rushing yards.

Reynolds’ 2,403 yards of total offense (1,057 passing, 1,346 rushing) in 2013 placed him fourth in the Navy history for total offense. The Middies’ star QB led the team in both passing and rushing last season.

Reynolds is off to a hot start in 2014 – gaining 215 yards on the ground thus far, scoring three touchdowns, and averaging nearly five yards per carry.

Reynolds left late in the fourth quarter in the game against Temple after suffering an apparent knee injury. However, no serious damage was sustained, giving Navy fans a calming sigh of relief. Reynolds is slightly beat up with a bruised knee, but the Midshipmen leader will suit up Saturday against Texas State.

Because Navy players sign a commitment to enter active-duty responsibilities upon graduating from the Academy, none of the Midshipmen are leaving the academy early to pursue playing in the NFL. That’s unfortunate for fans of current AAC members who must brace themselves for the inevitable misery caused by Reynolds and his quick feet next season.

To all in the AAC, beware No. 19.