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| Monday, August 13 Updated: August 14, 8:46 AM ET Navy gets offensive with new playbook By Adam Rittenberg Special to ESPN.com |
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Navy Midshipmen 2000 record: 1-10. Coach: Charlie Weatherbie (7th year, 30-38). Starters returning: 4 offense, 7 defense, 1 kicker. Outlook: After posting a 21-13 record in his first three seasons as Navy head coach, Charlie Weatherbie has seen his Midshipmen sink over the past three years, hitting the ocean floor with last season's 1-10 catastrophe. To remedy the nosedive, Weatherbie installed new offensive and defensive packages for 2000. On offense, Navy will operate out of a flexbone set that features four- and five-wideout sets with the occasional option, of course. After sitting out last season with a torn ACL, senior QB Brian Madden will hopefully engineer the new attack in 2000. If he cannot return by September, inexperienced backups Ed Malinowski and Craig Candeto will vie for the top job. New coordinator Rick Lantz will oversee a Navy defense switching over to a 4-3 set. LB Jake Bowen anchors the Middies after stockpiling 73 tackles last season. Bowen and SS DeJuan Cromer look to resurrect a unit that conceded 35 points per game in 2000. Keep an eye on: FB Raheem Lambert. Lambert retained the starting job throughout last season despite a nagging shoulder injury. While he led Navy with 597 yards, this bruising back was nowhere near top form. Lambert, who totaled 790 yards in his injury-free sophomore season, runs a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash and can bench press more than 300 pounds. In 1999, Lambert and Madden ranked as the nation's seventh best rushing tandem with 1,687 yards combined. Key game: The Midshipmen may have their best chance to equal last season's win total in their 2000 opener at Temple. Navy posted a paltry 148 yards of total offense in last year's meeting, a 17-6 Temple win. If the Middies generate a scoring attack behind Madden and Lambert, they could squeeze out of Philadelphia with an upset. It's a good year if...The new systems work. Of course, new systems are only effective if players can execute them properly. This statement will hang over Navy throughout this season. If a healthy Madden and Lambert can recapture the magic of 1999, the Middies should scare some opponents at the very least. Navy's schedule is stocked with ranked teams (Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Notre Dame), so a miracle turnaround is virtually impossible. But if Bowen and the defense keep Navy in ballgames, the Middies may notch two or three wins. |
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