Ken Niumatalolo

Navy's annual spring football game has been canceled due to a scheduling conflict, coach Ken Niumatalolo said Wednesday. The game had been scheduled for April 12 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Niumatalolo said in a news release that the team will add one practice to get to the full allotment of 15 workouts allowed by the NCAA in the spring. Two of the practices -- scrimmages on March 30 and April 6, both starting at 9 a.m. at the stadium -- will be open to the general public.

Navy's annual spring football game has been canceled due to a scheduling conflict, coach Ken Niumatalolo said Wednesday. The game had been scheduled for April 12 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Niumatalolo said in a news release that the team will add one practice to get to the full allotment of 15 workouts allowed by the NCAA in the spring. Two of the practices -- scrimmages on March 30 and April 6, both starting at 9 a.m. at the stadium -- will be open to the general public.

Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo said Thursday that he suspended senior captain Alexander Teich after a series of incidents involving Teich's leadership role with the team. Without getting into specifics, Niumatalolo said they began during Saturday's 35-34 overtime loss to Air Force in Annapolis and spilled into the first two days of practice. Niumatalolo acknowledged that he kicked the team's leading rusher off the field midway through Tuesday's practice. He announced Wednesday that Teich would "probably" not play Saturday against Southern Mississippi at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Navy wide receiver Brandon Turner started off his senior year on a sour note. The team's leading pass-catcher in 2011 missed the season opener against Notre Dame and didn't start against Penn State after being suspended for failing his physical readiness test. Turner has certainly made up for his early season struggles. After catching a team-high 19 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns -- including two against Indiana -- Turner made what he called the biggest reception of his career Saturday in Navy's 17-13 win over Army at Lincoln Financial Field.

Leadership an issue in Teich's suspension Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo said Thursday that he had suspended senior captain Alexander Teich after a series of incidents involving Teich's leadership role on the team. Without being specific, Niumatalolo said they began during Saturday's loss to Air Force and spilled into the first two days of practice this week. Niumatalolo said he kicked the team's leading rusher off the field midway through Tuesday's practice. He announced Wednesday that Teich would "probably" not play Saturday against Southern Mississippi at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Navy junior quarterback Ricky Dobbs did not practice Tuesday after undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging to determine the severity of an injured right knee. Dobbs, who leads the country in touchdowns scored (16), is considered day-to-day, and his status for Saturday's game against Wake Forest will be determined later this week, according to coach Ken Niumatalolo. Dobbs was hurt on the second play of the Midshipmen's 38-35 overtime victory at Southern Methodist on Saturday, Niumatalolo said.

The biggest crowd Nick Sloan said he has kicked in front of was about 1,000 fans during his high school years in San Diego. The biggest kick Sloan ever made came last year, when he made a 39-yard field goal with three seconds left to help the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) team beat the Navy junior varsity in Annapolis. It will be a lot different if Sloan gets a chance to kick Saturday when Navy opens the 2012 season against Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland. "Being in that same situation before is nice, but every situation is different," Sloan said after practice Monday.

HONOLULU -- Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie will meet with Naval Academy officials soon to work out a long-term contract.On the eve of Navy's Aloha Bowl game against California, Weatherbie said yesterday that he wants to settle in Annapolis.Weatherbie, who is completing his second year at Navy, made a postseason trip to Baylor but withdrew his name from consideration for the coaching vacancy and also was mentioned for the post at Boston College."I'm looking at a long-term relationship at the Naval Academy," Weatherbie said.

Today's Midshipmen game Navy (6-2) vs. Temple (5-2) Time: 3:30 p.m. TV: CBS College Sports Radio: 1090 AM, 1430 AM Line: Navy by 7 Series: Navy leads 18-13 Last meeting: Navy won, 33-27, in overtime on Nov. 1, 2008 WHEN NAVY HAS THE BALL: Sophomore Kriss Proctor will make his second straight start at quarterback in place of Ricky Dobbs, who is sidelined with...

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's in his first season as Army's head coach.

There are just a few days remaining before "America's Game," and Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo has some explaining to do. The last time the Midshipmen were in the national spotlight, they were across the Atlantic Ocean being trampled in their season opener by a Notre Dame team that has never looked back on its way to the upcoming BCS Championship Game. Two weeks later, they were beaten soundly by Penn State - the combined score of their first two games a humbling 84-17. Coming on the heels of his first losing season at Annapolis and a period of understandable "self-reflection" within the program, Niumatalolo could have been forgiven for wondering where his team - and his career - was heading, but he says now he knew in his heart that the Mids would find their way back.

The impressive numbers keep piling up for Navy freshman Keenan Reynolds. The winning streak that corresponds with Reynolds' insertion at quarterback last month remains intact. The recent string of bowl appearances, following a year's hiatus, has been revived. After a slow start by Navy and its emerging star, the Midshipmen overcame an early 10-point deficit to Florida Atlantic on Saturday, roaring back behind Reynolds to take a 14-10 lead at halftime and holding on for a nervewracking 24-17 victory before a chilled crowd of 29,326 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

The biggest crowd Nick Sloan said he has kicked in front of was about 1,000 fans during his high school years in San Diego. The biggest kick Sloan ever made came last year, when he made a 39-yard field goal with three seconds left to help the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) team beat the Navy junior varsity in Annapolis. It will be a lot different if Sloan gets a chance to kick Saturday when Navy opens the 2012 season against Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland. "Being in that same situation before is nice, but every situation is different," Sloan said after practice Monday.

Ken Niumatalolo's life changed dramatically the day he was named to succeed Paul Johnson as Navy's football coach after the 2007 season. Niumatalolo went from being a relatively unknown offensive-line coach to a first-time head coach following the man who had revived the program. He and his family went from living in a modest home near the academy into a grander residence that once housed a number of his predecessors. Something else happened that few outside his own family knew.

Something was missing for the Navy football team as it prepared last spring for the 2011 season. The practices were quieter, and for those on defense, a little too easy. What was missing - in retrospect, who was missing - was longtime defensive coordinator Buddy Green, who sat out spring practice after complications following gall bladder surgery. Even then, after Green returned for his 10th season, fourth-year Ken Niumatalolo knew that the Midshipmen might be in trouble defensively when the season began.

He has gone from being a virtual unknown outside the walls of the Naval Academy to a respected, if still hard to pronounce name, in the coaching community. He has won more games in his first four years than any coach in the program's history. But don't tell that to Ken Niumatalolo, especially this week. He has a lot more important matters to figure out. Like keeping his team from unraveling after last week's 35-34 overtime loss to Air Force that cost the Midshipmen a shot at getting back the coveted Commander in Chief's Trophy after losing it last season for the first time since 2002.

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's in his first season as Army's head coach.

Ralph Friedgen and Ken Niumatalolo are at different stages of their college coaching careers, and their teams head into their 2010 season opener at M&T Bank Stadium on Sept. 6 from different directions than the last time the schools met. But the veteran Maryland football coach and the third-year Navy head coach are of the same mind-set when it comes to the rivalry between the Terps and the Midshipmen. Both coaches agree that the schools have to play more often than once every five years, or once every 40. The Labor Day game marks the first time since 2005 that the only Football Bowl Subdivision (former Division I-A)

Leadership an issue in Teich's suspension Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo said Thursday that he had suspended senior captain Alexander Teich after a series of incidents involving Teich's leadership role on the team. Without being specific, Niumatalolo said they began during Saturday's loss to Air Force and spilled into the first two days of practice this week. Niumatalolo said he kicked the team's leading rusher off the field midway through Tuesday's practice. He announced Wednesday that Teich would "probably" not play Saturday against Southern Mississippi at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo said Thursday that he suspended senior captain Alexander Teich after a series of incidents involving Teich's leadership role with the team. Without getting into specifics, Niumatalolo said they began during Saturday's 35-34 overtime loss to Air Force in Annapolis and spilled into the first two days of practice. Niumatalolo acknowledged that he kicked the team's leading rusher off the field midway through Tuesday's practice. He announced Wednesday that Teich would "probably" not play Saturday against Southern Mississippi at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.