Daily Domer: Naval Gazing

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- While scouring the Navy roster on Wednesday afternoon, I came across the name Aaron Santiago, a sophomore slotback from Hawaii.

Santiago? The Navy? A tropical island?

"Did you order the Code Red?!?"

"You're goddamned right I did!"

As it turns out, Aaron Santiago is one of more than just a few good men on the Midshipmen roster. For example, how many other Irish opponents have a pair of high school valedictorians on their two-deep chart? Inside linebacker Tyler Simmons (54), who is second on the team in tackles with 53, was the valedictorian at Washington High School in Goldsby, Okla. Sophomore reserve right tackle John Dowd (68) also graduated No. 1 in his class from St. Peter's Boys High School in Staten Island.

No Irish opponent's roster is as loaded with overachievers and interesting folk each season as is Navy's. Besides those noted above, here are some others (in case Messrs. Haden and Hammond have yet to do their homework, though I imagine they have):

Ricky Dobbs (No. 4): The quarterback leads the nation in touchdowns scored (16) despite missing nearly two entire games. Dobbs, who is African-American, was born on January 31, 1988, which was also the day that Doug Williams became the first and still only African-American QB to win a Super Bowl (for the Washington Redskins).

Tyler Lynch (8): Freshman quarterback with some mighty impressive bloodlines. One great uncle is former Notre Dame linebacker Jim Lynch, who won the Maxwell Award as the nation's best player in 1966 while helping lead the Irish to the national championship. A second great uncle is retired Admiral and former Naval Academy superintendent Tom Lynch, who played center on the Roger Staubach-led Navy teams of the early 1960s.

Gordy Law (10): Another freshman QB, Law was the quarterback and team MVP at Berwick High School in Berwick, Pa. That is also the alma mater of Irish quarterbacks coach Ron Powlus.

J.J. Cosh (13): I find the fact that this slotback's dad, Chris, is the defensive coordinator at Kansas State less intirguing than the fact that this Cosh was born in Oshkosh, Wisc.

Ram Vela (34): More on him later today, but the 5-9, 193-pounder may be the most diminutive starting linebacker in major college football. You'll remember Vela as the Middie who leap-frogged Armando Allen to sack Evan Sharpley on that decisive fourth-down play in Navy's 2007 win in South Bend. He's also perhaps the only player in America whose first name is identical to his school's mascot.

Cameron Marshall (48): This 6-6 senior defensive end is the tallest, the oldest (26) and the most awe-inspiring player on the roster. Marshall served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps before entering Annapolis. He enlisted one day after 9/11 and served two tours of duty in Iraq, achieving the rank of sergeant. While about 7 percent of the brigade is prior enlisted, Marshhall is the only such Middie on the football team. When Navy opened at Ohio State, Marshall led the Middies onto the field carrying an American flag. A terrific story on Marshall was written earlier this season by Camille Powell of the Washington Post.

Ross Pospisil (51): The Middies' leading tackler (65) and most aggressive player, this linebacker is actually the son of a preacher. His father, Scott, is a pastor in their home town of ... (wait for it) ... Temple, Texas.

Jeff Battipaglia (61): At 6-4, 256 pounds, Battipaglia must be the smallest starting left tackle at the FBS level. His dad, Joe, is a Wall Street market strategist who frequently appears on CNBC.

Josh Cabral (65): Freshman offensive lineman whose mother, Susan Stapler, was part of the first Naval graduating class ('80) to include females. She was also a captain of the volleyball team for two years.

Eric Douglass (71): This Oklahoma native has played against Irish reserve offensive lineman Matt Romine every year since the third grade. Navy's media guide Romine is designated as Douglass' "arch rival." I wonder if Romine is aware of this. Or if either one of them was given a five-star rating by ArchRivals.com.

Jabaree Tuani (98): The only underclassman starter on Navy's defense (pictured above), this defensive end was named the ECAC Freshman of the year last season (that comprises all the BCS schools on the Eastern Seaboard from Boston College to Virginia Tech, including Penn State). Tuani was also the first African-American to be named class president in the history of the Brentwood Academy, a prestigious private school in Tennessee.