There was concern at the end of the 2007 when head coach Paul Johnson left the Naval
Academy for Georgia Tech that the program might slip back into mediocrity. But Ken Niumatalolo, who was Johnson's Assistant Head Coach, has done a remarkable job of keeping the ship afloat and at full steam ahead. Last year the Navy Midshipmen finished 10-4 straight up and 6-6-1 against the spread in college football predictions and climaxed a great season with a blow out win over Missouri in the Texas Bowl 35-13. Online sportsbooks have the Navy Midshipmen 200-1 college football betting longshots to win in 2011 BCS odds.
The season included a near win at Ohio State in the famed Horseshoe as the Buckeyes escaped 31-27 along with an epic win at Notre Dame in college football odds, the second over the Irish in three years for Navy. Navy is optimistic heading into 2010 college football predictions, that they can continue their excellence as they have 8 starters returning to the option offense that averaged 28 points per game last year. Senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs returns after leading the team in rushing with 1,367 yards and a whopping 27 touchdowns while also passing for 1,031 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Senior fullback Vince Murray, who ran for 972 yards and a touchdown, is also back heading into 2010 college football predictions. The defense has shown dramatic improvement under Niumatalolo as it allowed just 19.4 points per game last year, down sharply from Johnson's last year when it allowed 32 points per game on average. Navy opens with a game against Maryland at the Baltimore Ravens home stadium and later meets Notre Dame at Giants Stadium on October 23rd. The schedule is manageable for the most part with the climatic December 11 game against Army possibly being huge as the Cadets should be in bowl contention as well.