Navy's Unproven Fullbacks May Have to Share the Load

Every night before he went to bed this summer, Alexander Teich ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. On most mornings, the sophomore fullback woke up before 5 a.m. to join quarterback Ricky Dobbs on the practice field. It was all part of a routine that Teich hoped would prepare him to be Navy's featured fullback this fall.

The sandwiches helped Teich gain weight. The early-morning workouts helped "build a great relationship between me and Ricky," Teich said. "I know what he expects, where he's going to be. He knows where I'm going to be, where I like the ball. We had to get a chemistry between us, fullback and quarterback, because it's one of the most important things to run the triple option."

Navy has led division I-A in rushing for four straight years, and the Midshipmen averaged 292.4 yards per game en route to an 8-5 record in 2008. But unlike previous years, these Midshipmen don't have a proven fullback on the roster to start the season. Teich enters the fall as the starter, with junior Vince Murray and senior Kevin Campbell behind him. Of the three, only Campbell has ever had more than three carries in a game.

Last year, fullback Eric Kettani was the workhorse on offense, rushing for 982 yards on a team-high 190 carries; Teich and Campbell combined for 29 carries and 108 yards. With Kettani having graduated, Navy expects to spread the ball around a little more.

"I think we're going to have to, based off the fact that we have three guys that we trust and they all bring something different to the table," said Mike Judge, who coaches Navy's fullbacks. "There might be certain things that we ask Alex to do that we won't ask Kevin, or vice versa. That's just from a lack of experience, and eventually -- hopefully -- they're all going to mold into one consistent back. But I think right now, for us to get a consistent effort from all three, they all have to play a specific role."

Campbell has the most experience, having played a traditional fullback role at Robinson High and having spent three seasons in Navy's system. Both Teich and Murray were tailbacks in high school, and Teich even played slotback at the Naval Academy Preparatory School. Senior Jordan Eddington, who is fourth on the depth chart, is a converted linebacker.

Campbell (5 feet 11, 206 pounds) is more similar to the hard-nosed, old-school fullbacks that Navy has had in the past. He is a bruising, straight-ahead runner; Kettani nicknamed him "the Assassin" because of how he runs over defenders instead of around them. When Campbell was a freshman on the scout team, he cracked his helmet while blocking linebacker Tyler Tidwell.

"I don't think helmets are supposed to break like that," Campbell recalled with a smile.

Teich is quick and fast. At Caney Creek High in Texas, he broke the school record for attempts and yards in a game, running for 326 yards on 37 carries as a sophomore. Murray (6-1, 217) falls somewhere in between the other two; he's faster than Campbell but more physical and direct than Teich. He has yet to record a carry for Navy, but as a senior at Ryle High in Kentucky, he ran for 1,744 yards and 24 touchdowns and also started at linebacker.

"I look for somebody who's going to be tough, who's going to be able to play every single down," Judge said. "He doesn't have to take it 80 yards every time, but at the same time, when we get into space, we need to be able to make those kinds of plays. I think that's what Teich and Vince give us a little more [of] than Kevin right now, but Kevin is the most consistent of the three."

Teich has worked hard to become a consistent, reliable presence for the Midshipmen. During the offseason, he focused on his pass blocking; that's something that Kettani did well but Teich never really had to do before. In those early-morning summer sessions, Teich and Dobbs did speed workouts and ran through plays over and over, until they were forced off the field by plebe summer at 6 a.m.

Teich is a little smaller than Navy's previous standout fullbacks. Kyle Eckel, who ranks fourth on Navy's career rushing list with 2,906 yards, was listed as 5-11 and 240 pounds as a senior. Adam Ballard (eighth, 2,125 yards) was 6-1, 236, and Kettani (ninth, 2,091) was 6-1, 233. The 6-foot Teich said he gained 12 pounds during the offseason and weighs 220, his heaviest playing weight ever.

"I'm not the biggest guy anymore; that's another reason I put the weight on this summer," Teich said. "I wanted to be able to take a beating, and play 11 games in a row without getting any serious injuries."

But the key was adding weight while maintaining speed and quickness -- two of Teich's strengths. He felt good while running 40-yard dashes earlier in the week and said he posted some of his fastest times ever, in the 4.53 second range.

"Teich is definitely more athletic -- and make sure Eric [Kettani] reads that," Judge said. "He's a lot quicker than some guys we've had here in the past. I'm not saying that the Eckels and Ballards and Kettanis weren't -- they all had phenomenal careers here and obviously did something right -- but I think Teich is going to be a little bit different breed, from the fact that he was more of a halfback, a guy that gets out in space, before he got here. Since he got here, he's done a nice job of developing into a fullback."