Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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tices of spring, and the program did not host a spring game. Niumatalolo said he wanted the players to focus on academic/military responsibili- ties, and was confident in what they accomplished already in workouts. Top Storyline: The only team that has fewer starters returning on offense and defense than Navy's eight (two on offense and six on defense) is Ohio State with six (three on offense and three on defense). Still, this is a first-class system. And after interviewing for the vacant BYU position, Niumatalolo opted to return for a ninth year with his 68-37 career mark. Navy's 11-2 outcome was the most victories in one season at the Academy, and its No. 18 final placement in the AP was is highest since No. 2 in 1963. Summary: As long as Navy's defense can hold its opponents to less than 30 points, it has a fighting chance. In the last five meetings, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's troops have aver- aged 47 points against Navy. VS. ARMY WEST POINT • NOV. 12 AT SAN ANTONIO QB Situation: In the offense-versus- defense scrimmage with a scoring system based on first downs, big plays, etc., the offense won 56-38, highlighted by its ball control. Late last season freshman Chris Carter took over at quarterback and in the near upset of Navy he com- pleted 9 of 15 passes for 208 yards with a touchdown and an intercep- tion, although his 22 rushing at- tempts netted only 18 yards. Top Storyline: With 16 starters back (seven on offense and nine on de- fense), the Cadets join Miami and Virginia Tech for the most such fig- ures on the 2016 Irish schedule. Under third-year head coach Jeff Monken, the time would appear ripe to legitimately aspire toward finish- ing .500 or better for only the second time since 1997. Seven of Army's 10 losses in 2015 were by seven or fewer points, including Penn State (20-14) and Navy (21-17). Summary: In the 19 seasons from 1997-2015, Army is 56-167 (.251 win- ning percentage), and its lone season above .500 was a 7-6 campaign in 2010, when it lost to Notre Dame by 24 points (also in the Shamrock Series). VIRGINIA TECH • NOV. 19 QB Situation: Although the erstwhile starter Michael Brewer has gradu- ated, fifth-year senior Brenden Mot- ley started six games in place of the injured Brewer last season, passing for 1,155 yards and rushing for 224. Top Storyline: Virginia Tech has had 23 straight winning seasons but is now replacing Frank Beamer, who coached the Hokies for 29 years. Tech had eight straight seasons from 2004-11 with at least 10 victories, but slipped to 7-6, 8-5, 7-6 and 7-6 the past four seasons. Hired to replace Beamer was Mem- phis' 39-year-old Justin Fuente. He thrived at Memphis, leading the Ti- gers in 2014 to their first 10-win sea- son since 1938 and following with a 9-3 mark this past season. He did re- tain the esteemed Bud Foster — who had been with Beamer from the start in 1987 — as defensive coordinator. The top news from spring included