2019 Navy Football: Navy (0-0, 0-0 AAC) vs. Holy Cross (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League)
When	Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019 | 3:30 pm (ET)
Location	Annapolis, Md. | Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium | Parking & Fan Guide | Clear Bag Policy
Television	CBS Sports Network (John Sadak, Randy Cross, Sheehan Stanwick Burch)
Live Video Stream	CBS Sports Network
Listen	Navy Football Radio Network (Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff) WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | WJXL 1010 AM, 92.5 FM (Jacksonville) | WXTG 102.1 FM / 1490 AM (Norfolk, Va.) | W270DA 101.9 FM (Norfolk, Va.) | WQBK 107.9 FM (Williamsburg / Yorktown, Va.) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego, Calif.) | WFED 1500 AM | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WBQH 1050 AM, 93.5 FM (Washington, DC / No. Virginia) | Sirius Ch. 105 / XM Ch. 202
Live Stats	Navy Athletics
Game Notes	Navy | Holy Cross | AAC
Season Statistics	2018 Navy | 2018 Holy Cross | 2018 AAC
Social Media	Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Setting the Stage
•    Navy and Holy Cross will meet for the first time on the gridiron when they square off on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000). Kickoff is set for 3:33 pm.
•    Navy is 10-1 (.909) in home openers under head coach Ken Niumatalolo with its only loss a 31-24 decision against Rutgers in 2014. The Mids own wins over Towson, LA Tech, Georgia Southern, Delaware (twice), VMI, Colgate, Fordham, Tulane and Memphis.
•    Navy is 6-5 (.545) in season openers under Niumatalolo (home or away) with wins over Towson, Delaware, at Indiana, Colgate, Fordham and at Florida Atlantic. Navy's losses in season openers have all come either on the road or at neutral sites - Ohio State (twice), Maryland, Notre Dame and Hawai'i.
•    This will be just the fifth time in Niumatalolo's 12 years that Navy has opened at home. The Mids are 4-0 in those games with wins over Towson, Delaware, Colgate and Fordham.  The combined score of those four games was 181-46.   
•    CBS Sports Network will televise Saturday's game nationally with John Sadak, Randy Cross and Sheehan Stanwick Burch on the call.
•    The Navy Football Tailgate Show on WNAV Radio 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will air at 1:30 pm with Wylie Baker and Bill Lusby.
•    The Navy Football Insider Show will air on Saturday at 2:00 pm on WBAL Radio (1090 AM) with host Scott Wykoff. Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller and Keith Mills will also contribute to the show.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will get underway at 2:30 pm on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 3:30 pm with Medhurst, Miller and Mills on the call on the Navy Radio Network.   
•    Following the contest, Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day's events in a 30-minute postgame show.

Game Day Festivities
•    The Navy football team will arrive at the Blue Angel on the West (Blue) side of the stadium at approximately 1:00 pm. The team will walk down the sidewalk and through NavyFest before walking to the tunnel. Fans are invited to stand on both sides of the sidewalk to cheer on the players.
•    The March-On of the Brigade of Midshipmen will begin at 3:12 pm.
•    The National Anthem will take place at 3:21 pm, followed by a flyby at the end of the National Anthem.
•     Saturday's flyby will feature two Boeing F/A-18 Hornets from the "Salty Dogs" of VX-23 based out of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.  Piloting the lead aircraft will be Lt. Matthew Dickens, USNA Class of 2009 with Weapons Systems Officer Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Tantillo, USNA Class of 2008. The wing aircraft will be piloted by Lt. Jonathan Larsen, USNA Class of 2009 with Weapons Systems Officer Lt. Alan Helm, USNA Class of 2009. The Salty Dogs are responsible for test and evaluation of the Navy and Marine Corps' fixed wing tactical aircraft and their associated weapon systems. These aircraft include the F-35, F/A-18, E/A-18, MQ-25, and T-45.   
•      There will be a parachute jumper from Team Fastrax that will be carrying an American flag at 3:25 pm.
•    Kickoff on Saturday is slated for 3:33 pm. Please note there is a chance kickoff and all activities noted above could be pushed back by five minutes if the first game on CBS Sports Network (Indiana vs. Ball State) is running long. That decision will be made before the 60-minute clock starts at 2:33 pm.
•    The Patriot League Presidents' Cup will be presented between the first and second quarter by Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel. Navy captured its sixth-consecutive Patriot League Presidents' Cup this past year, winning eight league championships during the 2018-19 academic year to lead the overall standings. The Midshipmen tied Boston University atop the women's standings, as well. The Mids have won seven of the last eight Patriot League Presidents' Cups and have finished no lower than second in each of the last 13 years. Over the last eight years, Navy has won 60 Patriot League titles while Bucknell is the next closest with 27.
•    At halftime, there will be a tribute video played for former Navy football head coaches George Welsh and Rick Forzano, who will be honored at a sold-out dinner on Friday night at Akerson Tower.
•    The pilots from the flyby will be recognized between the third and fourth quarter.  
•    Following the game, Navy's alma mater, Navy Blue & Gold, will be played as the team stands at attention in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen. It is one of the best traditions in all of sports.

Honoring A Legend, Joe Bellino
•    In August, Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced that Joe Bellino's #27 will be placed on the turf at the 27-yard line at both ends of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium facing Navy's sideline as a tribute and in memory of the 1960 Heisman Trophy winner, who passed away on March 27.
•    Additionally, Navy will wear a helmet sticker in Bellino's memory.
•    Bellino was the first Navy player to win the Heisman Trophy and the first to have his number retired.
•     Bellino, a native of Winchester, Mass., was known as the player who was never caught from behind. In just three seasons, he scored 31 touchdowns, rushed for 1,664 yards on 330 carries, returned 37 kicks for 833 yards and set 15 school records.
•     Bellino was a unanimous All-America selection at halfback in 1960 and was also the winner of the Maxwell Award. His end zone interception preserved Navy's 17-12 win over Army that season. The Midshipmen were ranked as a high as fourth in the country and went on to play in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1961.
•     Bellino was also an outstanding catcher and outfielder on the Navy baseball team. He hit .428 in 22 games in 1959 and led the Eastern Intercollegiate League in stolen bases. He had a .320 average in 1960 and was the baseball team captain in 1961.
•     Army partisans can hardly forget the 1959-60 academic year for what Bellino did to the Cadets. In addition to his three-touchdown performance in the 1959 Army-Navy football game, he was equally sensational in the Army-Navy baseball game in 1960. Bellino went 4-for-4 at the plate, drove in three runs, stole two bases and threw out two Army runners attempting to steal as Navy carved out a 9-1 win.
•     Bellino capped off his senior year (1960-61) by winning the school's top two athletic awards, the Thompson Trophy and the Naval Academy Athletic Association Sword. It marked the first time in 41 years that one midshipman received both of these awards.
•     Bellino's #27 football jersey was retired after the 1960 season. He had a three-year stint with the Boston Patriots after he had completed his four-year service obligation. He stayed in the Navy Reserves for 24 more years and reached the rank of Captain.
•     Bellino was a 1977 inductee into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and was a charter inductee into the Maryland Football Shrine in 1984. In 2009, he was named to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial All-Stadium Team. During its annual season-ending football banquet, Navy presents the Joe Bellino Award to the varsity football player whose inspiring on-field performance made a significant impact on the team and contributed to its overall success during the season.
•     Bellino is survived by his wife of 57 years, Ann; his son, John, a 1989 graduate of the Naval Academy; and his daughter, Therese, as well as his daughter-in-law, Annette, and three grandsons, Ian, Evan and Eric; and his son-in-law, Cary.

Scouting Holy Cross
•     Holy Cross is coming off a 5-6 campaign, which included a 4-2 mark in the Patriot League. The Crusaders finished 2018 with a flourish, routing Lehigh (56-0) and Lafayette (40-14) before edging Fordham (17-13) and Georgetown (32-31) to end the year on a four-game winning streak. Holy Cross is picked to finish second in the Patriot League.
•    Leading rusher Domenic Cozier returns for Holy Cross at running back after rumbling for 643 yards and eight touchdowns.
•    Junior Connor Degenhardt is expected to start at quarterback after playing in just two games a year ago and attempting just one pass.
•    Navy transfer Jon Jon Roberts is listed as a starting wide receiver and is expected to return both kickoffs and punts and be the holder for kicks. Roberts came to Navy as a quarterback before transferring his freshman year.
•    Strong safety Corey Stefanic is the Crusaders' leading returning tackler with 37 stops.