Thursday, February 20, 2014

Naval Academy Announces 2014 Football Schedule

The Navy Midshipmen announced their 2014 schedule and there are several games that will be interesting to see for both Navy fans and college football fans in general.

The Mids host both Ohio State and Notre Dame as well as their regular rivalry games against Air Force and Army.


Below is the press release sent out by the Naval Academy.



For:  Immediate Release
Sent: February 19, 2014
Contact:  Scott Strasemeier

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The Navy football team, coming off a 2013 campaign that saw the Midsfinish with a 9-4 record, win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for the ninth time in the last 11 years, qualify for a bowl game for the 10th time in the last 11 years, win a bowl game for just the eighth time in school history and defeat Army for a series-record 12th-consecutive year, will face a challenging 2014 schedule that features five games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and three neutral site games in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.  Additionally, this year marks Navy’s final year as an independent as the Mids will join the American Athletic Conference in 2015.

The Mids will play seven teams that were bowl eligible in 2013, including two of college football’s most storied programs, Ohio State and Notre Dame.

“This exceptional schedule is terrific for our fans to attend up to eight games within a 25 minute drive of Annapolis,” said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. “The base season ticket package covers our traditional home games in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, while the additional match-ups in NFL venues allow for optional purchasing opportunities for fans to be there for all the action, all fall long. Navy football is Navy family and this is a great schedule for all to see the Midshipmen in some of the finest venues in the nation right in our backyard.”

“This will once again be an incredibly challenging schedule for our football team,” said Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo.  “With seven teams on our schedule that were bowl eligible a year ago, our team will have to work extremely hard this off-season to accomplish all of our goals next year.  It’s also exciting to have eight games locally (five in Annapolis, two in Baltimore, one in Landover) as it will give the thousands of Navy fans in the area, and even those who are looking for a college team to root for and have never seen us play, an opportunity to come out and support this incredible group of young men.”

Navy will open up the 2014 campaign with a bang as it plays host to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 12 noon.  Ohio State is coming off a 12-2 season and is 24-2 over the last two years under Urban Meyer.  This will be the second time in six years that Navy has opened up against Ohio State.  In 2009, Navy went into Columbus and nearly pulled off the upset before losing 31-27 on an intercepted two-point conversion that was returned for two points in the final minute.

The following week (Sept. 6), Navy will travel to future American Athletic Conference foe Temple (2-10 in 2013), as the two teams will tangle at Lincoln Financial Field.  The Mids are 10-0 all-time at Lincoln Financial (9-0 vs. Army, 1-0 vs. Temple).

The Mids will be back on the road the following week (Sept. 13) as they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on the Bobcats of Texas State (6-6 in 2013).  It will be Navy’s first trip to San Marcos.

The Mids will play their first game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20 when Navy plays host to one of the Big Ten’s newest members, Rutgers.  The Scarlet Knights were 6-7 a year ago and played in the Pinstripe Bowl against Notre Dame. 

Navy will be looking for payback the following week as it plays host to Western Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 27.  The Hilltoppers are coming off an 8-4 campaign, including a 19-7 victory over Navy in a game that starting quarterback Keenan Reynolds was knocked out of in the second quarter with a helmet-to-helmet hit.

Navy travels to Colorado Springs on Saturday, Oct. 4 to take on Air Force in the first game of the round-robin competition between Navy, Air Force and Army for the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy.  Navy defeated Air Force last year, 28-10, in Annapolis and will look to beat Air Force for the 10th time in the last 12 meetings. Air Force finished 2-10 a year ago.

Navy returns home to face VMI on Oct. 11 and then, after a week off, will welcome San Jose State on Oct. 25 in a rematch of one of the best games in all of college football a year ago.  The Spartans, who finished 6-6 on the year including an upset of undefeated Fresno State in the season finale, lost to Navy a year ago, 58-52, in triple overtime as Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds ran for an NCAA-record (for a quarterback) seven rushing touchdowns, including the game-winning 25-yard touchdown run.

The following week the Mids will take the short trip down Route 50 to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (9-4) at FedEx Field in Washington, DC.  Last year, Notre Dame outlasted Navy, 38-34, in a game that featured an incredible nine lead changes. This will be the first meeting between Navy and Notre Dame at FedEx Field since 1998.

After another off-week, the Mids return to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to face a Georgia Southern team (Nov. 15) that will be in its first full year as a Football Bowl Subdivision team.  Last year, as a transitional FBS squad, the Eagles went 7-4 including a 26-20 upset victory over Florida in The Swamp.

After a third off-week in six weeks, the Mids will return to the gridiron on Friday, Nov. 28 to take on South Alabama (6-6) in Mobile, Ala.  It will be Navy’s first trip to Mobile to play the Jaguars.

Navy will have a fourth off-week after the South Alabama game before playing Service Academy rival Army at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.  Navy will be going for a record 13th win in a row against its biggest rival.  It will be the first Army-Navy game in Baltimore since 2007 when the Mids beat the Black Knights, 38-3.  Army head coach Jeff Monken was an assistant at Navy for that game.

CBS Sports has the rights to all of Navy’s home football games and either CBS Sports or CBS Sports Network will televise all five games played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, as well as the neutral site games against Ohio State and Notre Dame.  CBS is home for the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA. 

Season tickets go on sale today at navysports.com or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY. The direct link to the ticket info page is here: http://bit.ly/LNw2FX
With six wins in 2014, the Mids will appear in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  A date has not been set for the bowl game.


2014 Navy Football Schedule

Date                  Opponent                     Location
August 30         vs. Ohio State             Baltimore, Md.
Sept. 6               at Temple                    Philadelphia, Pa.
Sept. 13             at Texas State             San Marcos, Texas
Sept. 20             Rutgers                        Annapolis, Md.
Sept. 27             Western Kentucky      Annapolis, Md.
Oct. 4                 at Air Force                 Colorado Springs, Colo.
Oct. 11               VMI                              Annapolis, Md.
Oct. 25               San Jose State (HC)    Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 1                vs. Notre Dame            Landover, Md.
Nov. 15              Georgia Southern         Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 28              at South Alabama        Mobile, Ala.
Dec. 13              vs. Army                        Baltimore, Md.


Francisco Liriano earns Opening Day start for Bucs

According to Pirates.com, Francisco Liriano will make the second Opening Day start of his career, and first for the Pirates, when he takes the ball on March 31 vs. the Cubs.

Manager Clint Hurdle made it official Tuesday after first making the announcement to the team during the traditional team meeting that takes place before the first full-squad workout of Spring Training.

"He's a man you can depend on," said Hurdle.  "And I share with these players that the greatest ability you can have day in and day out is your dependability.  And we have that in Francisco."

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Navy Quarterback Keenan Reynolds To Be Honored By The DC Touchdown Club

From Navy SID, Scott Strasemeier 

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy sophomore quarterback Keenan Reynolds will be honored by the DC Touchdown Club as the Washington Metro College Player of the Year at their annual awards dinner on March 6 at Carmine’s Restaurant. 

 

Reynolds had one of the greatest seasons by a Navy football player in school history, rushing for 1,346 yards and 31 touchdowns, while throwing for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns. His 31 rushing touchdowns not only was a school record, but an NCAA record for a quarterback. He is just the fourth player in NCAA history (any position) to rush for 30 or more touchdowns in a single season. He finished the 2013 campaign No. 1 in the country in scoring per game (14.7 points per contest), tied for first in touchdowns (31) and tied for 11th in points responsible for per game (18.2).

 

His 1,3446 rushing yards are the 14th most in NCAA history by a quarterback and the third most in school history by any player. His seven rushing touchdowns against San Jose State set an NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in any game and tied the NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by any player against an FBS opponent. His 188 points this season eclipsed the school record of 174 set by Bill Ingram back in 1917. His 236 points responsible for (31 rushing touchdowns, eight passing touchdowns, one two-point conversion) shattered the previous school record of 198 set by Ricky Dobbs in 2009.


Saturday, February 15, 2014

USA 3 - Russia 2



T.J. Oshie scores in the Sochi Olympics to give the USA a 3-2 victory over Russia in a shootout.