Slotback

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo had a number of concerns going into the 2011 season, but depth at slotback wasn't one of them. While none of those playing one of the key skill positions for the Midshipmen in their triple-option offense was an established star, several had moments when they stood out. The depth chart changed last week in a 40-14 win at Western Kentucky, though the mindset about slotback remains the same as Navy (2-0) prepares for its trip to play 11th-ranked South Carolina (2-0)

The group of veteran slotbacks who handled most of the work at the position have departed Navy's football program. A former starting quarterback heads into his senior season without much chance of unseating an incumbent who was electric as a freshman last fall. Those two issues could tie together into an intriguing subplot as the Midshipmen prepare to open spring practice Monday. Trey Miller, who started the first five games of 2012, is listed as Keenan Reynolds' backup at quarterback.

Navy senior Bobby Doyle knows that every time he and his fellow slotbacks take the practice field, their performances are being analyzed and graded. The competition at the position this fall is tight. "If you have a bad day and you don't push through it, potentially you could lose your spot," said Doyle, Navy's most experienced slotback. "That's one thing that [slotbacks coach Joe DuPaix] tells us: We compete day to day, week to week." Unlike the previous three seasons - when the Midshipmen relied heavily on Reggie Campbell and Shun White, a pair of speedsters - Navy does not have one clear-cut standout at slotback.

John Howell was at the Naval Academy for several months before he ever heard Gee Gee Greene utter more than a few words. In the weight room at Ricketts Hall, on the practice fields and even when the football team was eating its meals, Greene said little to his fellow freshman or anyone else. "I remember when we came over for Plebe Summer [before freshman year], we sat down to get food. Gee Gee would just sit there and keep to himself, or he would just sit with Tra'ves [Bush]," Howell, now a senior, said of Greene.

Navy's 5-foot-6 slotback Reggie Campbell looked with expectation at college football recruiters five years ago, but his father told him not to get his hopes up. Reggie Campbell's dad had been a 5-8 defensive back and linebacker in high school and knew how big college football programs looked at small players. "It was easy for me to explain it to him," Reggie Campbell Sr. said. "I'd experienced it. I knew he was capable of performing well. And I knew a lot of Division I schools were concerned about the size of their skill players.

Eric Roberts needed to change his ways. On the football field, Navy's standout slotback had to harness his talent and hold on to the ball. Off the field, more fumbles loomed. There were academic struggles, problems with the disciplinary setting, questions about how well he could handle being a midshipman. During a season that has been an about-face for the Navy program, Roberts has dramatically altered his course. The 5-foot-10 junior, who showed promise during a mistake-prone sophomore year in which Navy went 2-10, has been the team's big play waiting to happen - minus the fumbles.

Frank Divis is considered the best blocker among Navy's corps of slotbacks. Eric Roberts is a proven commodity as the most dangerous slotback on the team, a player who entered this season with an 8.6-yard rushing average and a school-record 24.9-yard average on pass receptions. So, how come Divis has outgained Roberts by better than a 4-to-1 margin in the first two games? In a notable role reversal, Divis has carried for 102 yards, a team-best 12.8 average and a touchdown; Roberts has run for a paltry 23 yards, only the third-highest total by a slotback (Trey Hines is also ahead of him)

That first year away was trying enough for Navy sophomore slotback Shun White. He had a hard time adjusting to the cold weather in Newport, R.I., home of the Naval Academy Prep School. He badly missed his family and friends, and for the first time, he could not indulge his craving for Memphis barbecued ribs. Then came his plebe year in Annapolis, where White struggled at times adjusting to the ultra-orderly details imposed on him at Bancroft Hall, home of the Brigade of Midshipmen. To watch White now is to witness perhaps Navy's fastest player, who is learning how to fit in, on and off the field.

Long before he served notice to the college football world on national television that he was not to be taken lightly, the smallest man on the Navy roster loomed large in the eyes of the people close to him. In some ways, junior slotback Reggie Campbell, all 5 feet 6, 165 pounds of him, symbolizes the essence of football at the academy. On a roster packed with players deemed not big or fast enough by most Division I-A recruiters, Campbell is a striking combination of speed, power and toughness.

Last week, Navy senior slotback Tony Lane took a pitchout from quarterback Craig Candeto, ran through a would-be tackler, galloped down the left sideline to complete a 32-yard touchdown, flipped the ball to an official and jogged off the field as if practice was in session. Last month, Navy's single-season record-holder for kickoff return yardage found out that a fumbling problem from a year ago had cost him his special teams job. Upon hearing the news, Lane barely showed a reaction. A reporter recently reminded Lane he was on pace to shatter Navy's single-season record for yards per carry average, and the economics major from Wrens, Ga., nodded without changing his expression, then dished out credit to his blockers and the offensive scheme that creates big-play chances he must not waste.

The first time Mike Stukel suited up for Navy came as a backup quarterback in the 2009 season opener at Ohio State, after fellow sophomore Kriss Proctor seriously injured his knee in practice. The first time Stukel played came the following week, when starter Ricky Dobbs did the same in a game against Louisiana Tech. Stukel, who had played the position in high school, had come into that season vying for time at slotback. "I probably had the best summer camp since I've been here," Stukel, now a senior, recalled earlier this week after practice.

At the start of its past two games, Navy was caught off-guard by its opponent's defensive formation. The Midshipmen expected Notre Dame to put eight men in the box to stop the triple option, but the Fighting Irish lined up more traditionally. Then the Mids expected Troy to use Notre Dame's strategy only to find the line of scrimmage flooded with defenders. Navy couldn't adjust in South Bend, Ind., and was routed, 56-14, but it was able to switch its game plan quickly — and effectively — last Saturday in Annapolis.

When Aaron Santiago fell awkwardly and broke his left arm in two places in a 40-14 win at Western Kentucky on Sept. 10, some thought the senior slotback might have played his last game for Navy. When Kriss Proctor felt his left elbow pop out of place for the second time this season two weeks ago against East Carolina, the senior quarterback looked like he was done for awhile, too. Both were at practice Monday in Annapolis and both are expected to play Saturday on Senior Day when Navy (2-6)

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo had a number of concerns going into the 2011 season, but depth at slotback wasn't one of them. While none of those playing one of the key skill positions for the Midshipmen in their triple-option offense was an established star, several had moments when they stood out. The depth chart changed last week in a 40-14 win at Western Kentucky, though the mindset about slotback remains the same as Navy (2-0) prepares for its trip to play 11th-ranked South Carolina (2-0)

Coach Ken Niumatalolo was not all smiles after Navy's 40-14 win over Western Kentucky at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday night. In fact, he was in tears. Late in the second quarter, his senior slotback Aaron Santiago went down with an arm injury on his last carry and would not return to the game. "He is going to be out for a while," Niumatalolo said. "A great, great kid. I'm going to be honest with you, I was kind of in a daze in the second half. Our team was playing great, but to lose one of your guys like that, who has just been a phenomenal human being, it is hard to see that.

Navy's triple-option offense demands precision, swift judgment and no small amount of creativity from its quarterback. Ricky Dobbs became that point man full time last season, and the trust he has engendered from teammates and the coaching staff is airtight entering his senior year. Far less certain is the condition of his supporting cast in the backfield, which in the case of the slotbacks comprises many underclassmen lacking big-game polish. Last year's leading rusher at the position, Marcus Curry, is no longer with the team after being dismissed for detrimental conduct and eventually withdrawing from the academy.

When you're trying to rebuild a football program coming off an 0-10 season, you need more than just a new system and a new attitude. You need a little luck on your side. So far, Navy only has two out of three. The Midshipmen, already dealing with a rash of injuries, found out yesterday they'll be without team co-captain Donnie Fricks for a substantial amount of time after the senior slotback broke his collarbone diving for a pass during Monday morning's practice. Fricks - a 5-foot-8 180-pounder from Houston-had surgery yesterday, and will, at minimum, miss the first part of the regular season, according to coach Paul Johnson.

Though the magnetic resonance imaging test on Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada's strained hamstring did not reveal any further damage, the Midshipmen will prepare for their Aug. 30 season opener against Towson as if senior captain Jarod Bryant is the starter. Kaheaku-Enhada, recently named to the Davey O'Brien Award watch list for the nation's top quarterbacks, was injured in Saturday's scrimmage. First-year Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said Monday that there is no timetable for Kaheaku-Enhada's return.

Last year against Southern Methodist, Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs ran for 224 yards - the 12th-highest total in program history - and scored four touchdowns to lead the Midshipmen to a 34-7 victory in a driving rainstorm. It was a breakout performance by a third-string quarterback who came into the game having taken a total of 19 snaps in his college career. What Dobbs remembers most about that day, however, is how he felt afterward. "I was as sore as I've ever been," he said. "I had 42 carries.

The player the Navy coaches have nicknamed "Big-Play Bobby" has averaged less than one carry per game over the course of his college career. He has made a measly five catches in four seasons. And he has failed to record a single statistic in 17 of the 35 games in which he has played. No, senior slotback Bobby Doyle doesn't get the ball all that often in the Midshipmen's triple-option offense. "But when he touches it, good things happen," coach Ken Niumatalolo said. In his career, Doyle has scored touchdowns on a 17-yard run and on a 38-yard catch.