Former Navy Nose Guard: “We have the upper hand”
December 19th, 2008 | EagleBank Bowl Navy | Posted by Mike Hoffman
Firstie Derik Rothchild (#94) served four years as an enlisted sailor before getting accepted to the Naval Academy and joining the football team. He played nose guard through his junior year. This year you can find Rothchild with his signature mullet wig on the sideline firing up fellow midshipmen.
Still close to a lot of Navy’s players, Rotchild took a few minutes to break down the rematch with Wake Forest on Saturday.
Bill’s Bowl Blog: Who has the edge in the rematch?
Derik: “Really, I think we have the upper hand due to the fact we already beat them earlier in the year. But, we did have a lot of turnovers go our way. So either Wake is going to think: ‘Oh no, not this again, or if we just hold onto the ball we can beat these guys.”
“I have a lot of faith in our defense too. It’s a hard hitting defense and I love how they are playing right now.” (Editors note: Navy’s defense has shut out their last two opponents so that might be a bit of an understatement at how well they are playing.)
“With Kaipo back that really helps to. He’s healthy again, and with him leading the triple option we’re really running well. It also allows Jarod Bryant to go back to slot back and he’s got wheels.” (Editors note: With quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada running the team before he got injured and didn’t play in the second half against Wake Forest, Navy led 17-0 at halftime.)
Bill’s Bowl Blog: How does the team feel about playing Wake again?
Derik: “Since it’s a local venue at RFK I know a lot of people were gunning to play Maryland, but they turned it down because they have finals, which I don’t buy because our guys had finals this week too and we can somehow play. I know some guys wanted to play a MAC team. I was hoping to play Miami, but no on really wanted the rematch.”
Bill’s Bowl Blog: Who has the advantage with the early kickoff time of 11 a.m.?
Derik: “The advantage will definitely go to us on that end. Knowing the Navy schedule, we practice early in the mornings on Saturday. I bet most of the Wake players don’t have classes that start some days until 1 p.m. We are up at 7 a.m. every morning so we’re used to it. We’ll finish the game and then go eat lunch. It’ll be normal.”
Bill’s Bowl Blog: You played in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, do you think some guys were disappointed to stay in the local area?
Derik: “From a players standpoint they don’t care. They don’t have that much free time with the game and everything else. I think most of the grouchiness came from the student body because they wanted to go somewhere nice. About a quarter of the student body will still go to the bowl game. Most students finished finals by Thursday so they went home after that and not many will want to just come back here.”
Bill’s Bowl Blog: How has the team responded to new coach Ken Niumatalolo?
Derik: “I think it’s working fairly well. He’s definitely different than coach [Paul] Johnson. Everyone responds differently though. Everyone likes coach Niumat (sic) like when he was the offensive coordinator. I think you could call him a player’s coach, but there are always times the nicest coaches, if you do something wrong, will make you feel the pain.”
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