Army Black Knights head coach Rich Ellerson reflected on his team’s struggles entering Saturday’s game, telling a Philly.com reporter that a win over Navy would “validate” the progress he says the Black Knights have made this season. (USA Today Sports photo by Joe Camporeale)
A half-dozen quick hits for early in Army-Navy week:
1. The basics. A nice recap of the path both teams have taken to Saturday’s showdown from Philly.com’s Joe Juliano, with some good big-picture comments from Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo and Army head man Rich Ellerson (Ellerson on a 2-9 season: “It really is frustrating. We know how hard we’re working and how much progress we’ve made.”).
2. The big guns. Both schools have released their game-week media notes. It’s an early win for Navy, with 73 pages of stats/recaps/bios/etc., edging out Army’s 69 pages. Check back later in the week for the best nuggets as part of our game preview posts.
3. Get social. From spirit spots to Facebook feuds, social media has added multiple new fronts to a century-plus-old rivalry. Here’s a basic guide to who’s posting what where, including live chats with current and former players, where to post (and how to tag) your rivalry-related photos and videos, and who to follow on Twitter. Speaking of Twitter … follow After Action up to, during and after the big game for the latest updates.
4. Not-game-related Navy item, Part I: Navy’s planning a hall of fame to honor football players and other athletes, to be housed in Ricketts Hall. Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Michael Miller told The Associated Press that no timeline was in place for the hall’s construction.
5. Not-game-related Navy item, Part II: Well, almost game-related: The son of a former Navy great is playing in an Army-sponsored high school all-star game, but he won’t suit up for either team come college. Corey Robinson, son of all-world Navy hoopster David Robinson, will play at Notre Dame next year, but will be showcased in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 5 in San Antonio. The game will be a homecoming of sorts for Corey, who starred at San Antonio Christian School as a wide receiver (67 catches, 20 touchdowns and more than 1,400 yards). It will air live on NBC.
6. Entertainment purposes only. The early betting line for Saturday’s game installed Navy as a nine-point favorite, but the Glantz-Culver line, which is disseminated by The Associated Press, opened at 8.5 points and has since dropped to seven, aligning it with other oddsmakers. Navy was favored by about the same margin last year, so while Navy fans went wild at the Mids’ six-point victory, it probably had some gamblers less than impressed.
