For Mids' Foes, It's Time to Prepare

In six of Navy's final seven regular season games, its opponent will have had more than one week to prepare. That stretch starts when the Midshipmen (3-2) play Pittsburgh tonight at 8 at Heinz Field. The Panthers (2-3) have not played since a 44-14 loss to Virginia on Sept. 29.

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Whether that extra time will give those opponents success against Navy's intricate option-based offense is another matter.

Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green has seen Midshipmen Coach Paul Johnson's offense firsthand in more than the obvious way -- that is, since he arrived at Navy. The two also coached against each other on the division I-AA level.

Green was head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga and went 0-3 against Georgia Southern from 1997 through '99 while Johnson was the head coach there.

Ironically, Green's team had a bye week before facing Georgia Southern in 1997. His team lost, 37-10.

Opposing teams "have a lot to look at," Green said of Johnson's offense. "I'm sure they have a lot to prepare. It's very, very difficult to go against this offense. . . . You have to be dialed into your keys and you have to be disciplined.

"I don't know if it's a help or not [to have extra time]. You need as much preparation time as you can get. I would say you'd like as much preparation as possible, but you'd like that for facing any team."

Wake Forest will have nine days off before it plays Navy on Oct. 20. Delaware, Notre Dame and North Texas have a week off before facing the Midshipmen; Army has two.

Pitt Coach Dave Wannstedt acknowledged that the extra few days to get ready for the Midshipmen "came at a good time."

"It gave our defensive coaches and players a chance to zero in on a defensive game plan to defend Navy's offensive attack, which is different from a schematic standpoint," Wannstedt said.

"It is also different in the techniques that they use. It has been an interesting week and I think our defensive coaches have done a great job of coming up with some ideas and some different things in practice to give our kids a chance to get as true a picture as you possibly can when you have a scout team running the offense."

Part of the extra time is a product of college football's unusual scheduling. The Midshipmen will be playing their sixth game tonight; two were played on a Friday (against Temple and Rutgers).

Navy has played games on a Sunday (1980 Garden State Bowl), Tuesday (the 2003 Houston Bowl and 1923 Rose Bowl), Wednesday (three bowl games) and several on a Thursday and Friday. However, this year marks the first time since at least 1916 that Navy has played three non-Saturday regular season games. (The Midshipmen played two such games in 1961.)

Navy's players had three days off last week, then began their regular week of preparation last Wednesday.

"Monday will be Thursday and Tuesday we will get on the plane and go play," Johnson said late last week. "The only difference between Wednesday and Saturday is what they call it."

Navy will not play a home game on any day of the week except Saturday, Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said. He added, however, that the program will consider playing away games during the week if it deems the opportunity to be too good to pass up.

For instance, Navy's Friday game against Rutgers was broadcast nationally by ESPN, as is tonight's game.

"ESPN approached us and we thought playing on national television would give us some good exposure," Gladchuk said. "When we played Rutgers we were the only game on in the country, and we'll be the only game on when we play Pittsburgh. We thought those two nationally televised games on ESPN worked for us. . . . When our road games have a chance for national exposure, it's something we consider doing."

Midshipmen Notes: Heisman Trophy winners Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett will attend tonight's game. The two played together for the Dallas Cowboys and led the team to the Super Bowl XII title.

Staubach graduated from Navy; Dorsett is a Pitt alumnus. . . .

Tonight marks the first meeting between the teams since 1989. The Panthers won that game, 31-14.