Murray, 6 feet 1 and 217 pounds, does not have the speed or quickness that Teich does. "I'm more straight ahead, not a lot of cutting, not a lot of spin moves," Murray said. But he's tough and he's hard to bring down; according to Jasper, Murray has gained more yards after contact than Teich has.
At Ryle High in Kentucky, Murray was a standout on both sides of the ball, a rarity in Kentucky's AAAA division; as a senior, he rushed for 1,744 yards and 24 touchdowns as a tailback, and he recorded 115 tackles as a linebacker. East Carolina, Eastern Kentucky and Wofford recruited Murray as a linebacker, but he wanted a chance to run the ball. Navy and Air Force were the only schools to offer the chance to play fullback.
Murray didn't record a single carry during his first two seasons at Navy, but got 12 against Western Kentucky and 22 against Air Force this season. Getting a chance to be the primary fullback for several drives in their entirety has helped Murray get a better feel for the position.
"Seeing how the drive kind of molds together really helps, experience-wise," Murray said. "I'm getting better chemistry with Ricky [Dobbs, Navy's quarterback], and I'm getting a better feel for the game and how it flows."
After watching film, Murray realized that he needs to be quicker in his reads and hit the hole hard and fast. Added Jasper: "He needs to keep his balance and keep his feet. If he keeps his feet twice in the game, they're either touchdowns or big runs."
Eddington, like Murray, is a former linebacker - only Eddington played that position his first three seasons at Navy. He was an outside linebacker as a freshman and sophomore and then moved to inside linebacker, but most of his playing time came on special teams. With Navy's depth at linebacker, the coaches asked Eddington to switch to offense during the spring, in part to take advantage of his size (6 feet, 225 pounds) and speed (he has run the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds).
"We wish we had made the move earlier," said Niumatalolo, noting the progress that Eddington has made the past couple of months.
Eddington, who played running back and linebacker at William Howard Taft High in San Antonio, figured that the transition to fullback would be easy. He has been surprised at how physical the position is; it's more demanding than linebacker, he said, because a fullback is absorbing hits instead of dishing them out.
NAVY@RICE
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
TV: CBS College Sports
Radio: 1090 AM, 1430 AM
Line: Navy by 12
