The 2017 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in the

2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and end ...

. The Midshipmen were led by tenth-year head coach

Ken Niumatalolo Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo (born May 8, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the Naval Academy from 2007 to 2022, accumulating the most wins in program history. Niumatalolo played college football at ...

and played their home games at

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

. The Midshipmen competed as a member of the West Division of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

and were third-year members of the conference. They finished the season 7–6 overall and 4–4 in AAC play to tie for third place in the West Division. They were invited to the

Military Bowl The Military Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that has been played annually each December in the Washington metropolitan area since 2008. The game was originally held a ...

, where they defeated

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, 49–7.

Before the season

Previous season

The Navy Midshipmen began the 2016 season with three straight wins, but lost to military rival

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

. However, the Midshipmen had victories over fellow American Conference teams #6 ranked

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. After beating long-time rival Notre Dame, winning the Rip Miller Trophy, the Midshipmen went on a three-game winning streak. However, Navy ended their season with a loss over military rival

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in the 117th

Army–Navy Game The Army–Navy Game is an American college football rivalry game between the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapo ...

, ending Navy's 14th consecutive victories over Army. The Midshipmen finished the regular season with a 9–4 record. Despite this slide, it earned them an invitation to the Armed Force Bowl, their 13th bowl game in a row, but they lost to the 8–5

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters, commonly abbreviated La. Tech and Dawgs, refer to the sports teams of Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston, Louisiana. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports. Since 2013, Louisiana Tech has bee ...

45–48.

Spring practices

Navy held spring practices during March and April 2017.

During the season

On television

The 2017 Navy Midshipmen football team is featured in the miniseries, ''A Season With Navy Football'' on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, which premiered on Tuesday September 5, 2017. It depicts daily life of Midshipmen football players and coaches at the

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. Each episode reviews highlights of every football game played during the current season of Navy football, as the series narrator boasts, is "one of the most accomplished football programs in the country".

Schedule

Personnel

Coaching staff

Roster

Depth chart

Depth Chart 2017
''True Freshman''
Double Position : *

Rankings

Game summaries

At Florida Atlantic

After a lightning delay, Navy ended the long night with a total of 345 yards. Also, Midshipmen quarterback Zack Abey, making his third start, rushed for 200 yards and passed for 100. This achievement made it the first time in Naval Academy history that a quarter has done so in a single game.

Tulane

With this victory, Navy has won their 15th straight regular season win playing at their home stadium. In addition to head coach Ken Niumatalolo's 79th career win at Navy, the most in Naval Academy history.

Cincinnati

With this victory, Navy Midshipmen set a Naval Academy record for 16 consecutive wins at home, making it the longest active regular season streak in the FBS. They also set a new record in Navy football history for the most rushing yards in a single game with 573. (This beat their previous record set on November 10, 2007, at

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

with 572 yards.)

At Tulsa

Air Force

With a stadium-record crowd, this victory earned the Midshipmen their best start since they went 5–0 in 2004. Game highlights include, Midshipmen slotback Malcolm Perry had two touchdowns; a 40-yard catch and a 91-yard touchdown run, the second longest TD run in Navy history. While quarterback Zach Abey ran for 214 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 75 yards on one. Also the Midshipmen rushed for 400-plus yards in three straight games. The last team to do so was

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

with four straight games (1996).

At Memphis

UCF

At Temple

SMU

Navy slotback/quarterback Malcolm Perry had a breakout performance in for the injured but active quarterback Zach Abey. Perry rushed for 282 yards with 4 touchdowns in his first start at quarterback (third most in Naval Academy history). Also, fullback Anthony Gargiulo ran for a career-high 145 yards with a touchdown. Backup kicker J.R. Osborn kicked an 18-yard, game-winning field goal as time expired to give the Midshipmen the win in dramatic fashion. With this victory, Navy becomes bowl eligible for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons. It's also Navy's 35th win on Senior Day in the last four years, a milestone few schools have reached.

At Notre Dame

At Houston

Vs. Army

Vs. Virginia (Military Bowl)

With their fourth bowl game victory in five seasons, Navy ran the ball 76 times for 452 rushing yards and scored seven rushing touchdowns. All TD's came from quarterbacks Malcolm Perry and Zach Abey. Getting his third start at QB, Perry rushed for two touchdowns and led the Midshipmen with 114 rushing yards. Abey came into the game after Perry suffered a foot injury in the third quarter and scored five rushing touchdowns with 88 total yards. Abey became the 5th player in FBS and Military Bowl history to rush for five touchdowns in a FBS bowl game, joining

Barry Sanders Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL), from 1989 to 1998 for the Detroit Lions. Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times and ...

and

Kareem Hunt Kareem AJ Hunt (born August 6, 1995) is an American football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Toledo and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the ...

References

{{Navy Midshipmen football navbox

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Navy Midshipmen football seasons Military Bowl champion seasons

Navy Midshipmen football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) college football. The Naval Academy completed its final season as an FBS independent school (not in a conference) i ...