Navy's 'Mules' Again Are Pulling Their Weight

Their coach describes them as a donkey-horse hybrid. A teammate mentions an uncanny ability to clean out a country buffet. Debate continues as to whether they are quiet or loud.

While there is little glamour surrounding Navy's offensive linemen -- "We're kind of like mules: We don't say much, we pull things along," said assistant head coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose responsibility is the offensive line -- there is a slight mystique, perhaps because of their success.

Navy, which led the nation in rushing last year, gained 403 yards on the ground against East Carolina last weekend and was one of two schools -- Connecticut (418) was the other -- to rush for more than 400 yards in its season opener. The Midshipmen rushed the ball 70 times and attempted only six passes.

"They were driving the defensive line back, one or two yards," said fullback Adam Ballard, who rushed 13 times for 97 yards and a touchdown. "So it made it easier for myself and [quarterback Brian Hampton] because it's one or two yards that you can pick up without having to break tackles or anything."

Hampton, who rushed for 149 yards on 34 carries, had high praise for the line after Navy's 28-23 victory.

"I was really excited about the line; even when I did bad they made me look good," Hampton said.

Hampton was supposed to check on a couple of plays, but his linemen saw the adjustments and called the audibles before he uttered a word. There was also the inside push near the end of the game, which Coach Paul Johnson described as playing in a "phone booth."

"We were having a hard time throwing it, and once they batted the pitch down I wasn't real sold on letting them do that again so it came down to an inside game," Johnson said. "We tried to find a formation where we could do some things inside."

The linemen are generally smaller than their opponents, averaging 6 feet 1 and 273 pounds, and that helps them move beyond zone blocking. With four returning starters, co-captain and center James Rossi wants Navy to again lead the nation in rushing, but says expectations have been raised even further.

Rossi describes a play against East Carolina during which he noticed a linebacker starting to blitz. Without speaking a word, he knew whom guard Zach Gallion would stay with and how he would block. It's mechanical repetition, but it's also the combination of players.

There's Rossi, the leader by example whose wit and sense of humor were new to Johnson. At guard, there's athletic junior Antron Harper and Gallion, who, despite given a hard time about his weight (he's listed at 300 pounds), serves as a motivator with encouraging words. There's junior tackle Josh Meek, whose first start came against East Carolina, and senior tackle Matt Pritchett, whom Rossi described as "good at getting people to the ground."

As Niumatalolo pointed out, the linemen don't say much. Hampton said it's because they are not used to the public eye. Gallion disagrees, pointing to vocal senior tackle Joe Person.

Ballard prefers to place his money on a lineman's capacity to clean out a dinner buffet.

"I'd probably have to put my money on Gallion, but the sleeper would have to be Antron," Ballard said. "He's not the biggest guy, kind of an underestimated guy but you may want to bet on him to place. Kind of like a horse."

Or perhaps like a mule.