<p>
[quote]
The reporters covering Temple football know the drill. They come to media day and joke privately that this orchestrated ritual of pictures and fresh optimism will represent the highpoint of the season. </p>
<p>They joke that a man shooting for the moon will find Lincoln Financial Field looking like a giant, nearly empty crater, except for the Penn State game on Nov. 10....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>For: Immediate Release
Sent: August 27, 2007
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775</p>
<p>Navy's White To Have High School Jersey Retired On Friday Night</p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Navy junior slot back Shun White (Memphis, Tenn.) will have his high school jersey (#26) retired at halftime of Raleigh-Egypt's season-opening football game.</p>
<p>White earned all-state honors in football at Raleigh-Egypt, rushing for 1,300 yards as a junior and nearly 1,700 yards as a senior. White was recruited as a defensive back by Ole Miss, Wake Forest and Southern Miss out of high school, but he held out for a shot at being a running back and to run track. Navy obliged on both counts.</p>
<p>White will not be able to make the ceremony on Friday as he will be in Philadelphia with his Navy teammates playing in the Mids season opener against Temple. His parents, George and Vera White, will be in Memphis for the ceremony.</p>
<p>By Mike Gibson </p>
<p>1) Former Temple and Navy coach Wayne Harden has "guaranteed" 66,000 fans for the game and gone out of his way to try to build up this game as a ³reawakening² for the program. What do you think the attendance figures will be, and what will the atmosphere at Lincoln Financial be like?</p>
<p>Eagles made Hardin's task almost impossible. Temple and Eagles originally agreed to play on Thursday night, Aug. 30. Once that agreement was made, the Phillies as a goodwill gesture to Temple and college football, agreed to move their originally scheduled game with the Mets from a night game to a day game. Once the Eagles heard that, they exercised their option to take the date back for a meaningless pre-season tilt with the Jets. Anyone who has lived in Philly all his life like I do knows the town empties on the Friday morning of every Labor Day to spend the holiday at the nearby Jersey Shore. Due to Hardin's Herculean efforts alone, I think the stadium will be half full (33K). Anything more would be gravy. The sad thing is that I really felt they had a shot at 66K on Thursday. A Thursday night Temple-Navy game would have been a special happening in the city. Sadly, we have some so-called Temple fans post on websites saying they won't leave the shore for a Friday night game. Who knows how many "Joe Philadelphia" fans Temple lost after that screwing by the Eagles?</p>
<p>2) What are your thoughts about Temple's move to the MAC? Do the Owl's have the ability to be competitive in the MAC East this season?</p>
<p>Being in the MAC means everything to the Owls in football, who beat Bowling Green playing 18 true freshmen in key roles. Temple is both the biggest school and the highest ranked academically in the MAC and is in the middle of a very fertile recruiting area. Golden already has recruited the top two classes in the MAC in his first two years. Temple is positioned to do very well in the league.</p>
<p>3) Watching the game last year, it was apparent that Temple's offensive line was overwhelmed, paving the way for only 13 rushing yards and giving up a whopping six sacks to Navy's undersized defensive line. What can we expect out of Temple's offensive line in the opener?</p>
<p>Golden has called guard Andre Douglas, a transfer, "potentially the top lineman in the MAC." Junior Alex Derenthal, a center, might be the team's best player (he was voted offensive MVP last year) and is on the Rimington watch list as top center in the nation. With those two in leadership roles, the line should be 100 percent better.</p>
<p>5) You indicated on your website that several Temple defenders were confident in their ability to stop Navy's execution of the triple option. What kind of success do you think Temple's defense will have against Navy's offense? </p>
<p>If you look at Navy's past scores, the Mids' most unimpressive games (either loses or close wins) came in openers. That's no coincidence. Teams that have nine months preparing for the pitch option are better off than those who have had a week. Golden is the former defensive coordinator at Virginia. He hasn't frettered away those nine months.</p>
<p>6) Last year we saw the Temple offense rotate quarterbacks Adam DiMichele and Vaughn Charlton. DiMichele struggled against Navy but showed some promise against MAC opponents, while Charlton did some good things against Navy. Who will we see against Navy come Friday, and do you expect that quarterback to be "locked in" for the game?</p>
<p>DiMichele is a superior athlete (named Pittsburgh Tribune's basketball player of the year, drafted in the June MLB baseball draft and holds quarterback yardage and TD record for the storied WPIAL high school league in Western Pennsylvania). He was good enough to be one of Penn State's top football recruits in 2004, but had not picked up a football in two years (opting for baseball). What you saw last year was rust. The rust is off this year. </p>
<p>7) I'm not sure if you¹ve followed our poll, but respondents overwhelmingly believe that the Midshipmen will beat the Owl¹s. What will Temple need to do to win this game, and what do you believe the final outcome will be?</p>
<p>Navy fans have no reason to fear Temple off a 42-6 win last year. But I really believe two top recruiting classes, rather than one, the year to get ready for the triple option, rather than a week, and the maturation of players like DiMichele and Douglas will make this game close and almost assuredly closer than the 21-point spread. Temple, 24-21.</p>
<p>For: Immediate Release
Sent: August 27, 2007
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775</p>
<p>Video of Paul Johnson¹s Monday Press Conference Available On Navy All-Access Tonight</p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md.Video of Paul Johnson¹s Monday afternoon press conference will be available tonight at approximately 8 p.m. on Navy All-Access. CSTV's Pete Medhurst will be on site to interview junior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, senior center Antron Harper, sophomore nose guard Nate Frazier and defensive coordinator Buddy Green.</p>
<p>To sign in or subscribe to Navy All-Access fans should go to <a href="http://www.navysports.com%5B/url%5D">www.navysports.com</a> and click on the All-Access button on the right side of the page.</p>
<p>Subscribers to Navy All-Access will have the ability to view numerous events including Paul Johnson press conferences, interviews with selected football players every Wednesday, football postgame press conferences (home and way) and every home basketball game (men's and women's).</p>
<p>The price for Navy All-Access is $6.95 per month, $49.95 for a 12-month package and 99.95 for CSTV All-Access XXL, which will provide you access to every CSTV.com school. For best results you should have broadband and high-speed cable access to the internet. Fans can sign up for the package on the front page of navysports.com by clicking on the Navy All-Access button.</p>
<p>For: Immediate Release
Sent: August 27, 2007
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775</p>
<p>Greene Turtle To Host Navy-Temple Viewing Party</p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md.-The Greene Turtle in Edgewater, Md., will host a Navy-Temple viewing party on Friday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPNU.</p>
<p>Tickets are still available for Friday's game by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY, on the web at navysports.com or on game day at Lincoln Financial Field.</p>
<p>Ex-coach drumming up interest</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wayne Hardin is a man on a mission. </p>
<p>Hardin, who was head coach at both Navy and Temple, is waging a campaign to fill Lincoln Financial Field for Friday's season opener between the two schools. While it's unlikely that 60,000 fans will show up for a college football game in Philadelphia, it's possible that Hardin's efforts could result in a larger-than-expected crowd for a game between the Owls and Midshipmen.</p>
<p>After all, the last time Navy played Temple in Philadelphia (2001), the contest attracted a rather sparse audience to Franklin Field. Truth be told, there were far fewer fans in the stands than the announced attendance of 26,191 as tailback Jason McKie rushed for 120 yards to lead the host Owls to a 45-26 pasting of the Mids in the opener of head coach Charlie Weatherbie's final season....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>For: Immediate Release
Sent: August 28, 2007
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775</p>
<p>Video of Paul Johnson¹s Tuesday Press Conference Available On Navy
All-Access Tonight</p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md.Video of Paul Johnson¹s Monday afternoon press conference will be available tonight at approximately 8 p.m. on Navy All-Access.</p>
<p>To sign in or subscribe to Navy All-Access fans should go to <a href="http://www.navysports.com%5B/url%5D">www.navysports.com</a> and click on the All-Access button on the right side of the page.</p>
<p>Subscribers to Navy All-Access will have the ability to view numerous events including Paul Johnson press conferences, interviews with selected football players every Wednesday, football postgame press conferences (home and away) and every home basketball game (men's and women's).</p>
<p>The price for Navy All-Access is $6.95 per month, $49.95 for a 12-month package and 99.95 for CSTV All-Access XXL, which will provide you access to every CSTV.com school. For best results you should have broadband and high-speed cable access to the internet. Fans can sign up for the package on the front page of navysports.com by clicking on the Navy All-Access button.</p>
<p>There will not be any video of tonight's press conference</p>
<p>The Navy Marathon Team raced in the Annapolis 10 Miler this past weekend.
Navy's 24 runners blew away the competition making it Navy's best ever
showing at this annual race.</p>
<p>Seth Deaton placed 6th overall out of 2530 male runners with a time of
00:59:03. Josh Collins and Nick Vandal placed 14th and 16th overall.</p>
<p>The women were lead by Tara Lenn placing 1st in her age group with a time of
1:08:23 followed by Lindsey Slyman (7th) and Bernadette Gargan (10th).</p>
<p>Transcript of Navy Head Football Coach Paul Johnson's Press Briefing
Following Practice On Monday, August 27</p>
<p>In Attendance: Bill Wagner (Annapolis Capital), Sandy McKee (Baltimore Sun), Christian Swezey (Washington Post), Pete Medhurst (CSTV), Navy-Marine Corps News </p>
<p>Wagner: Why don't you tell us a little bit about Temple? </p>
<p>Johnson: Well, they have a lot of new players just like we do. They had a lot of guys coming back, but it looks like some freshmen beat them out. They have had two supposedly pretty good recruiting classes and they are excited about their team. We are looking forward to going and playing them. </p>
<p>Medhurst: Outside of philosophical things do you really get much out of looking at film of last year's game? </p>
<p>Johnson: Yeah. You get a lot out of watching last year's tape. Most teams don't vary far from what they do. There will be some wrinkles, but I have a pretty good idea of what they are going to do and I'm sure they have a real good idea of what we are going to do. They seem to think they do anyway. </p>
<p>Wagner: They have always had athletes there, but I get the feeling that Golden feels like he's upgraded the speed and skill level. Obviously you don't know what their freshmen look like, but did you feel like they had some good young kids last year? </p>
<p>Johnson: I'm sure they have some good players. Everybody does. What they have this year we don't know. That's why you play the game. We will see what happens. Hopefully we will show up and play with some effort and we will find out who had the best team. </p>
<p>Wagner: Do you feel like Deliz will be able to play? </p>
<p>Johnson: Oh yeah. </p>
<p>Navy-Marine Corps News: What are your hopes for the season? </p>
<p>Johnson: Beat Temple. That's the only one I'm worried about right now. If we can get that one and play well then we will worry about the next game after that. Right now our focus is on Temple. </p>
<p>Swezey: Do guys like Sudderth and Barnes give you an element size wise and athletically that maybe you haven't had before at wide receiver? </p>
<p>Johnson: They have good size, but Tyree played last year and Jason Tomlinson was a big receiver. We have had some guys that are as big as they are. Hopefully they will play well this year. We need for them to play well. I think Greg has been a guy that, quite honestly, we thought had tons of ability and we just hadn't found a way to get him on the field and use him so hopefully he can have a big senior year. It would be great. </p>
<p>Swezey: The fact that they might see a lot of single coverage with teams putting eight and nine in the box and with their size does that help you at all? </p>
<p>Johnson: I don't know. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many they put in the box with what we do, the more the merrier. </p>
<p>McKee: Can you talk about your outside linebackers? </p>
<p>Johnson: I'm anxious to see them play. I think they all run well and they can do some things, but they haven't played a lot in games. Matt Nechak had a great spring practice, but I don't know if he's been as noticeable during fall camp as he was in the spring. Humiston plays hard and Matt Wimsatt is a smart guy. We will have to see. They are replacing two great players (David Mahoney and Tyler Tidwell). They don't have to be those guys; they just have to know where to go and to play hard. If they do that there are nine other guys to help them. </p>
<p>Medhurst: Could you tell in practice today that it was game week? </p>
<p>Johnson: I don't know if I could tell a whole lot today. I was telling the team after practice that I expected a little more today. I don't know about this team. We have so many guys that have never played. We will find out on Friday night. </p>
<p>Wagner: What do you think about playing your opener on a Friday night? </p>
<p>Johnson: I don't think it matters with an opening game. Friday, Monday, Tuesday, you are still going to play the game. As long as you have time to prepare it doesn't matter when you play it. </p>
<p>Wagner: Can you talk a little bit about Corey Johnson? He was the starting point guard for three years and then he shows up here and it was debatable whether he would be good enough to play for you and help you and it looks like he is going to get on the bus and play special teams. </p>
<p>Johnson: Yeah, hopefully he can help us with special teams and maybe down the road do a little more. Corey has a great attitude and has worked really hard. He has come so far from where he first started. He's a competitor and he wants to compete and hopefully he can help us some on special teams. He's going to be on the travel squad and we will see if he can get in the game somewhere else. </p>
<p>Wagner: Is he a coverage guy on special teams? </p>
<p>Johnson: He's on several special teams. He has different roles depending on which team. </p>
<p>Wagner: That will be interesting to see who steps up and replaces some of the valuable special teams guys you lost like Anthony Piccioni. </p>
<p>Johnson: We lost a lot of those guys. Mahoney was on the punt team for four years. We lost a lot of guys like that. Everybody will have an opportunity to see what they can do. </p>
<p>Wagner: If you win this game it will be your 100th career win and 38th at Navy, which would tie Wayne Hardin for third all-time. What are your thoughts on that? Is that special? </p>
<p>Johnson: I hadn't thought much about it to be honest. I just want to win the game. I will think about all that stuff some day, but right now that's not important. </p>
<p>Wagner: You don't have a chart in your office that you flip over every time you win a game? </p>
<p>Johnson: No.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Navy football team's season opener against Temple on Friday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia includes a statistical oddity: It is the second straight game for Temple against Navy. The Owls ended last season with a 42-6 loss to the Midshipmen in Annapolis.</p>
<p>Dating from 2002-03, it is the seventh instance in which a team ended a season and started the following season against the same opponent....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
If the Rutgers University football team proved anything the last two years, it's that all it takes is a couple of magical seasons to turn a moribund program into a successful one. </p>
<p>In its first season in the Mid-American Conference, Temple will try to emulate the turnaround that Rutgers has accomplished both on the field and in the stands....
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href="http://navy.scout.com/2/672954.html%5B/url%5D">http://navy.scout.com/2/672954.html</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
After two weeks of sifting through new brigade policies, the attention of Navy fans turns to the first opponent the Temple Owls. This Friday will mark the return of Navy football after a 243-day hiatus from the Division I gridiron. In anticipation of this momentous day, I started my recent interview with Coach Paul Johnson with the following question: Are your players getting enough food?...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most football fans probably don't realize how much time, effort and energy is required for a player to become a starter at the Division I level.</p>
<p>For Ben Gabbard, it took four years of blood, sweat and tears in order to ascend to the top of the Navy depth chart. Four years of diligent work on the practice field - hitting the blocking dummy, refining techniques and running sprints. Four years in the weight room doing bench presses and squat lifts. Four years in the film room learning the finer points of an offensive guard's job in a triple-option offense....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Back when he was a little kid, football was a game he thought he owned. He played it in the town's little league version of football. He played it just about everywhere a kid gets the opportunity. When he finally reached high school, everybody knew his name. </p>
<p>He was the kid carrying the football. </p>
<p>Richard Engel, a senior at the United States Naval Academy, thought his football life was over after high school. He had been an all-state tailback at Shawnee High School in Medford. In 2002, he led the school to a Group 4 sectional championship, a South Jersey title, starring in a 14-7 victory over Washington Township. He accounted for both Shawnee touchdowns, rushing for one and catching an 11-yard pass for the other....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>At 5 Feet 11 and 201 Pounds, Sovie Has Become a Defensive Stalwart As Navy Looks to Win Its Fifth Straight Commander-in-Chief's Trophy</p>
<p>
[quote]
Clint Sovie had wanted to go to Disney World in Florida with friends on that summer day in 2003, but his father wouldn't let him. Sovie previously had committed to be a counselor at a camp at Bethesda Home for Boys in Savannah, Ga., and his father told him to honor the commitment.</p>
<p>"I didn't want to go," Sovie said. "But my dad told me, 'If you do good things, good things will come back to you.' "...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Antron Harper never met his father. He was raised by his great-aunt, Shirley Brown, after his mother, Stacie Harper, gave birth to him when she was 14. </p>
<p>His football career has taken him from Eastman a small, rural town of about 5,500 residents in south-central Georgia to the U.S. Naval Academy, home to 4,300 students....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Navy football coach Paul Johnson arrived at Annapolis in 2002, taking over a program that had gone 1-20 combined the previous two seasons. Those seasons seem like a distant memory now for the Midshipmen, who have gone 35-15 over the last four years and have not lost to fellow service academies Army and Air Force during that time. Johnson recently spoke with Examiner staff writer Ron Snyder about the state of the football program and the upcoming season, which begins Friday night.</p>
<p>What is the biggest challenge you face as a football coach at a service academy?...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Adding Daryl Robinson was a recruiting coup for Al Golden. But where should he play?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Temple football coach Al Golden has an athlete from Florida who was coveted by Miami. He has underclassmen who have transferred to the Owls after committing to such teams as Grambling, Kansas State, Maryland, Minnesota, Navy and Penn State out of high school.</p>
<p>Then there's true freshman Daryl Robinson, the do-it-all gem from Northeast Catholic High School who was first headed to West Virginia after capping a stellar high school career with a 27-touchdown performance as a senior....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
I had an interesting and enjoyable conversation with former Navy and Temple head coach Wayne Hardin on Sunday. Hardin is spearheading a campaign to fill Lincoln Financial Field for Friday nights season opener between the host Owls and visiting Midshipmen. Hes conducted numerous interviews with print media and appeared on the local Comcast sports show in Philadelphia last week. Despite those gallant efforts, I doubt more than about 25,000 fans will show up for a contest that wont even make a dent on the national radar.</p>
<p>Hardin is still of very sound mind and body at age 81. He remembers all sorts of intimate details from his coaching days and recently shot his age at the renowned Manufacturers Course in suburban Philly....
[/quote]
</p>