Mids End Season On High Note
•    Navy defeated Army 17-13 in front of 82,282 fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. It is the second time in the last three years and the 16th time in the last 20 years that Navy has defeated Army.
•    The 82,282 in attendance was the largest crowd for a college football game at MetLife Stadium and the largest for an Army-Navy game since 1974 when 83,246 fans witnessed Navy's 19-0 win over Army at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.
•    Navy leads the all-time series against Army 62-53-7 and is 4-1 against the Black Knights in games played at the Meadowlands Complex. Navy has won the last three games played in New Jersey by a combined score of  114-32 (58-12 in 2002, 39-7 in 1997 and 17-13 in 2021).
•    The win over Army gave Navy a share of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy as Navy beat Army, Army beat Air Force and Air Force beat Navy. It's the first time the three schools all went 1-1 against one another since 1993.  
•    Navy is 12-1 this year against Army in all sports and 9-1 in Star competitions: 1-0 in men's golf, men's soccer, women's cross country, men's cross country, women's soccer, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving and football, 2-0 in sprint football and 2-1 in women's volleyball.
•    With 10 wins, Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is the winningest coach in the history of the Army-Navy game. College Football Hall of Famer and former Army coach Col. Earl "Red" Blaik is second with eight.
•     Navy's 12 opponents finished the year with a combined 94-48 (.662) record, which was the third-toughest schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage (did not include games against Navy).
•     The ELO strength of schedule rankings by WarrenNolan.com had Navy's schedule rated as the eighth toughest in the country.
•     The Mids faced three teams ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 - Cincinnati (#4), Notre Dame (#8) and Houston (#17).
•     Eleven of Navy's 12 opponents played in bowl games, which was the most in the country. Among those 11 opponents was American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati, who played Alabama in the College Football Playoffs. No team played the Bearcats closer in the regular season than Navy, who lost to Cincinnati 27-20 on Oct. 23 in Annapolis.
•    Niumatalolo is the eighth-longest tenured coach in the FBS.
•    Navy fielded one of its youngest teams in recent memory. The Mids had 2 freshmen and 11 sophomores on the offensive depth chart and 8 freshmen and 8 sophomores on the defensive depth chart (10 freshmen and 19 sophomores combined). Those numbers do not include a sophomore kickoff specialist, a freshman long snapper, a freshman punter and a freshman kickoff return specialist. Navy started 9 freshmen on the kickoff return team.
•    Due to injuries, Navy put together 9 different starting combinations along the offensive line in its 12 games and started 5 different tackles, 5 different guards and 3 centers.
•    Senior safety Kevin Brennan, senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper, senior linebacker Diego Fagot and senior slot back Chance Warren served as team captains for the 2021 season. Being selected team captain by your teammates is the greatest honor a Navy athlete can receive.
•    Cooper was also chosen to serve as the Captain of the Captains by a vote of the team captains who represent all 33 Navy varsity sports programs. It's the second time in three years that a football player has been selected. Ford Higgins was the Captain of the Captains for the 2019-20 academic year.

Fagot Named First-Team All-AAC and Fourth-Team All-American, Nichols Named to Second Team By Phil Steele
•    Senior linebacker Diego Fagot was named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference for the second time in his career, while junior kicker Bijan Nichols was named to the second team by the league's coaches. Fagot was also named a Fourth-Team All-American by Phil Steele.
•     Fagot, who was named to the All-AAC First Team as a sophomore and second team as a junior, led Navy with 94 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.
•     Fagot's 35.5 career tackles for loss are the sixth most in school history.
•     Nichols made 15 of his 19 field goal attempts and all 28 of his PATs this fall. Of his 4 missed field goals, 2 were blocked and the other two were from 53 and 55 yards.
•     Nichols has made the fourth-most extra points (105) in school history, while his 33-career field goals rank second in school annals. His 204-career points are the second most in program history by a kicker and just 18 points shy of record holder Bennett Moehring.

Five Navy Players Named All-East
•    The Navy football program had 5 players named All-East by the East Coast Athletic Conference.
•     Junior tackle Kip Frankland, senior center Pierce Banbury, senior linebacker Diego Fagot, junior kicker Bijan Nichols and freshman kick returner Maquel Haywood were all honored by the organization.
•    Syracuse had 7 players named All-East, Temple 6, Rutgers and Navy 5, Penn State 4 and Army and Liberty 1 apiece.
•     Frankland was the only Navy offensive lineman to start all 12 games this year for an offensive line that was forced to start 9 different combinations including 5 different tackles, 5 different guards and 3 different centers. Banbury started 5 games at center for the Mids and 5 at right guard. The Mids faced 7 of the top-30 defensive units in the country according to Pro Football Focus.
•     Fagot finished his career on a high note in Navy's 17-13 win over Army. He tallied 9 tackles, including teaming up with sophomore defensive end Jacob Busic on the final stop of the game, and pulled off a 4-yard run on a surprise fake punt that picked up a critical first down and set up Navy's final 3 points of the game. Fagot led the Mids in tackles with 94 and 11 tackles for loss. He was named First-Team All-AAC and Fourth-Team All-American by Phil Steele. He is just the third Navy player in school history to lead the team in tackles three-straight years, joining Josh Smith (2002-04) and Andy Ponseigo (1981-83). Tackles were not kept prior to 1970.
•     Nichols went 15-19 on field goals (2 of his misses were blocked and his other 2 misses were from 53 and 55 yards out) and 28-28 on PATs. He tied his career long with a 50-yarder against SMU. Nichols' 105-career made extra points are tied for the third most in school history, his 33-career field goals are tied for the second most in school history and his 209-career points are also the second most in school history by a kicker.
•     Haywood averaged 31.0 yards per kickoff return, which is the third-best average in school history and it's even more impressive by the fact Navy had 9 freshmen on the kickoff return team. He returned an East Carolina kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, which tied Reggie Campbell (2007 vs. Army) for the longest kickoff return in school history. Pro Football Focus, which grades every player nationwide, ranked Haywood as the eight-best kick returner in the country with a minimum of 10 returns.

Fagot, Cooper and McMorris to play in all-star games
•    Senior linebacker Diego Fagot has been invited to the 97th annual East-West Shrine Bowl, which will take place on Feb. 3 at the home of the Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium.
• The Shrine Bowl is America's longest-running college football all-star game and supports the Shriners Children's Hospitals. The game will be televised nationally on the NFL Network.
•     Fagot is the 32nd Navy football player to be invited to the game and the first since Malcolm Perry in 2019. Fagot is the first inside linebacker from Navy to be invited since Cody Peterson in 2013.
•     The Shrine Bowl will bring approximately 125 of the nation's top college seniors to be coached by NFL staffs for a week of preparation in front of NFL scout and the national media.  The 2022 NFL Draft will also be held in Las Vegas.
•     Thousands of East-West Shrine Bowl participants have gone on to the NFL, including 78 who went on to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Some of the legendary names that have played in the game include Tom Brady, Gale Sayers, John Elway, Lawrence Taylor, Pat Tillman, Brett Favre, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Frank Gifford and Navy's own Roger Staubach.
• Senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper has been selected for the 10th annual NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl. The game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the historic Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The game will be televised on the NFL Network.
•     Cooper is the third Navy player to be invited to the game, joining long snapper Michael Pifer (2019) and wide receiver Jamir Tillman (2016).
•     Senior cornerback Michael McMorris has been selected to play in the FBS All Americans Tropical Bowl, which will take place on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. McMorris is the third Navy player to be selected for the game, joining Peter Nestrowitz (2020) and Quincy Adams (2015).

Isaac Ruoss Named CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American
•    Senior fullback Isaac Ruoss was named a Second-Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Director's of America. Ruoss was the only Service Academy student-athlete honored and one of five American Athletic Conference student-athletes selected, joining Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder (first team quarterback), Alec Pierce (first team, wide receiver), Lorenz Metz (second team offensive lineman) and Bryan Cook (second team defensive back).
•     Ruoss led the Mids in rushing in 2021 with 641 yards and 5 touchdowns on 166 carries. He rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries against UCF, 75 yards on 18 carries against Memphis, 80 yards on 19 carries against Cincinnati, 73 yards on 22 carries against Notre Dame and 66 yards and 2 touchdowns on 22 carries against Temple.
•     Ruoss, who carries a 3.87 grade-point average in quantitative economics, is the 21st Navy football player to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American and the 10th under current head coach Ken Niumatalolo. He was also a semifinalist for the Campbell Award, which is also called the Academic Heisman.
•     CoSIDA began the distinguished Academic All-America program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America scholar-athlete honors..

Seniors Receive Service Assignments
•    The 25 seniors on the Navy football team received their service assignments on Nov. 18.
•    14 seniors will be commissioned Ensigns in the Navy, while 11 will be commissioned 2nd Lieutenants in the United States Marine Corps upon graduation in May.

Carlinos Acie: Surface Warfare
Pierce Banbury: Information Professional
Nick Bernacchi: Submarines (Nuclear)
Kevin Brennan: Marine Corps Ground
Mattie Conlon: Surface Warfare
Mychal Cooper: Surface Warfare
Diego Fagot: Marine Corps Ground
Ben Fee: Naval Flight Officer
Marcell Gleaton: Marine Corps Ground
Jamal Glenn: Surface Warfare
Tyger Goslin: Marine Corps Ground
James Harris II: Surface Warfare
Mitchell Johns: Marine Corps Ground
John Kelly III: Marine Corps Ground
Cal Long: Marine Corps Ground
Michael McMorris: Surface Warfare
Chike Otaluka: Surface Warfare
Isaac Ruoss: Marine Corps Pilot
Michael Salisbury: Naval Officer
Daniel Taylor: Navy Pilot
Bryce Texeira: Submarines (Nuclear)
Chance Warren: Navy Pilot
J'arius Warren: Marine Corps Ground
Mitchell West: Marine Corps Ground
Deondrae Williams: Marine Corps Ground

Toughest Schedules
•    Navy's 12 opponents finished the year with a combined 94-48 (.662) record which was the third-toughest schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage (did not include games against Navy).   
•     The ELO computer rankings by WarrenNolan.com had Navy's schedule rated as the eighth toughest in the country.
•     The Mids faced three teams ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 - Cincinnati (#4), Notre Dame (#8) and Houston (#17).
•     Eleven of Navy's 12 opponents played in bowl games which was the most in the country. Among those 11 opponents was American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati, who played Alabama in the College Football Playoffs. No team played the Bearcats closer in the regular season than Navy, who lost to Cincinnati 27-20 on Oct. 23 in Annapolis.

Youth Is Served
•    In 2021, Navy fielded one of its youngest teams in recent memory. The Mids had 2 freshmen and 11 sophomores on the offensive depth chart and 8 freshmen and 8 sophomores on the defensive depth chart (10 freshmen and 19 sophomores combined).
•    Those numbers do not include a sophomore kickoff specialist, a freshman long snapper, a freshman punter and a freshman kickoff return specialist. Navy started 9 freshmen on the kickoff return team.
•    As a reminder, Navy is not allowed to redshirt, so those are all true freshmen and sophomores.

First-Time Starters
•    22 Navy players earned their first-collegiate start in 2021.
•    Navy had at least one player make their first-career start in 10 of its 12 games.