Those who follow the writings of this blog have by now, I'm sure, determined that I harbor something of a man-crush on Navy fullback Adam Ballard, who quite simply is a beast of a football player. Not to be compared with Dan Patrick's infamous man-crush on Derek Jeter, I still take every opportunity to provide some insight on Ballard's on-the-field accomplishments.
Of course by this time you're probably aware Ballard suffered an ankle sprain in last week's game, and is currently questionable for Saturday's showdown with Temple, yes Temple. Originally my though was that Paul Johnson may want to sit the big man, you know, give him a well deserved breather and an extra week to prepare for the big Army-Navy game. Of course, I thought wrong, as Johnson debunked any notion of "resting" his injured players in yesterday's presser.
If they can play, they will play, and if they can't, they won't and we will play somebody else. That's just the way it is. There is no use stressing over something you can't control...He will have to make a lot of improvement between now and Saturday to play. I would be surprised if all three of them (Ballard, Rossi, Sharp) played.
Well, that's about all their is to say about that. Coach Johnson is comfortable going with sophomore stud Eric Kettani if Ballard can't go, and we all know Matt Hall could get some snaps as well. I'd really like to see Matt get the call to start, because you know it's senior day and all, but winning is of course the most important thing. Ballard did pratice today, although not in full pads. I dunno, we'll see, after all the bigger injury might be Rossi, who has been a fixture of navy's offensive line for the past two years. I don't expect the Mids to have too much trouble with Temple, but I've always been scared of those reckless one or two win teams.
