Ross Pospisil News

This is a great honor and a very well-deserved honor for Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil.

"It is reaction based off instincts," says Navy junior quarterback Ricky Dobbs, whose task will be to speed read Army's defense when the teams meet Saturday in Philadelphia.

Whenever he gets the chance, Army Coach Rich Ellerson watches the football teams from Navy and Georgia Tech on television. He does so partly because of his long-standing friendships with those teams' coaches, Ken Niumatalolo and Paul Johnson. But Ellerson is also curious: His team, like Niumatalolo's and Johnson's, employs the triple-option offense.

'We try to see what kind of answers people are coming up with [to defend it] along the way,' said Ellerson, who is in his first season as Army's head coach. 'We all have a little different spin on it, we all have different assets to play with. There is no doubt that if this is a family tree, the patriarch is Paul Johnson.'

Editor's Note: During Army-Navy week The Capital is profiling a selection of key seniors.

Which team's defense will do a better job of containing the other's option offense? Josh McNary, right, will help Army put up a better defensive effort against Navy this year.

Despite both being relatively green in their head coaching roles, Army's Rich Ellerson and Navy's Ken Niumatalolo share a friendship through football that's very old school.

For: Immediate Release Sent: December 4, 2009 Contact: Scott Strasemeier 293-8775 Pospisil and Haberer Named Company Commanders For Second Semester ANNAPOLIS, Md.

PHILADELPHIA -- For the players at Army and Navy, the first Thursday in December has usually been a time to put the finishing touches on their preparation for their annual rivalry game. But this year on the first Thursday in December, Army senior defensive tackle Victor Ugenyi wasn't at practice. He was at Lincoln Financial Field, answering questions from reporters and giving a short speech at the annual Army-Navy media luncheon.

The Army-Navy game, which had traditionally been played on the first Saturday in December, was moved back by a week to give it more exposure. The teams will meet on Dec. 12 in Philadelphia, with the game televised nationally on CBS. The last time the Army-Navy game was played this late was in 1931.

During a drill earlier this year at spring practice, Blake Carter made a mistake on a fairly routine play.

As part of his homecoming, Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo went on an emotional visit to this country's past.

Remember this guy? It's former New Hampshire quarterback Ricky Santos, who torched Rutgers for five touchdowns in an upset win over the Scarlet Knights in 2004 after Rutgers had beaten Michigan State.

Head coach Ken Niumatalolo is concerned about Navy suffering a letdown in the wake of its stunning upset of Notre Dame, which was ranked No.

Navy senior Ram Vela does not mind that he is often used to illustrate how the Midshipmen don't have the size of most college football teams. He refers to himself as 'the small outside linebacker,' and at 5 feet 9 and 193 pounds, he may be the smallest starting linebacker in division I-A.

'It's the truth, and you can't shy away from the truth,' said Vela, who will start the 27th game of his career Saturday, when the Midshipmen (7-3) host Delaware (6-3) in their home finale. 'At the same time, it's kind of like the story of my life -- people not expecting me to do things, kind of just defeating all odds. You definitely don't see too many Hispanics playing division I football, especially undersized ones.'

Captains Osei Asante and Ross Pospisil will lead the way as members of the senior class stride onto the field carrying bouquets of flowers and flanked by their parents or other loved ones on Saturday.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo is referring to the Oregon football team this week when urging his players to keep an even keel.

Points per game: 31.3 Yards per game: 457.6 Passing yards per game: 309.8 Rushing yards per game: 147.9 Defensive statistics Points per game: 22.9 Yards per game: 383 Passing yards per game: 260.1 Rushing yards per game: 123.9 Keys Top 3 offensive players: Jimmy Clausen, QB, has thrown for 2,318 yards with 18 touchdowns and two interceptions ; ...

For a brief moment, linebacker Ram Vela didn't know how to react after Navy ended more than four decades of frustration by beating Notre Dame on Nov.

The 19th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish are slated to take on the Navy Midshipmen this weekend in the 83rd rivalry game between the non-conference foes.

Football is usually won in the trenches. That is exactly where Temple beat Navy on Saturday.

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo expressed concern this week that Temple's running game - behind its massive offensive line - could thrive against his undersized team.