Navy fullback gets up to full speed

Kyle Eckel (2002-2004) ranks fourth on Navy's all-time rushing list with 2,906 career yards and is now playing for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Adam Ballard (2005-2007) stands seventh on the career rushing chart with 2,125 yards and also drew the interest of professional scouts.

Current starter Eric Kettani has the ability to be the best fullback in program history. The 6-foot-1, 243-pound senior is an impressive physical specimen - bigger, faster and stronger than the aforementioned standouts.

Kettani caught the eye of NFL scouts last spring by running the 40-yard dash in 4.59 seconds during Navy's "Pro Day." He can bench press nearly 400 pounds and owns a 32-inch vertical leap.

"Eric has the potential to be as good as we've had here. He's got all the physical tools," head coach Ken Niumatalolo said.

After splitting carries with Ballard in 2006 and 2007, Kettani entered this season as the clear-cut starter at fullback. Niumatalolo said in preseason that Kettani would be the workhorse at that position and get as many carries as he could handle.

Three games into the season, Kettani was not producing to the level the coaching staff expected. The Ohio native only had 127 yards on 21 attempts and admitted he needed to pick it up.

"Compared to last year, I'm not really doing anything," said Kettani, who led Navy in rushing with 880 yards in 2007. "I just have to get my plays, and when I get my plays I have to make them big."

There were reasons for Kettani's poor numbers at that point. Towson was determined to take away the fullback dive and committed two and three defenders to Kettani, who wound up with just 33 yards on nine carries. After gaining 92 yards on 11 attempts against Ball State, the bruising fullback suffered a strained hip on his very first carry versus Duke and sat out the entire game.

Despite the circumstances, Niumatalolo called out Kettani and said the senior was running out of time to reach his full potential.

"You can have all these weight room numbers and talk about how strong and fast you are, but you've got to do it on the field," Niumatalolo said. "We need for Eric to be more productive."

Kettani must have gotten the message because he has established a career-high for rushing in back-to-back games. He gouged Rutgers and its huge defensive front for 133 yards on a career-high 20 carries, appearing to get stronger as the game went along. He then topped that effort by breaking loose for 175 yards on 19 attempts to key last Saturday's upset of Wake Forest.

Those two stellar performances against a pair of formidable defenses earned the praise of Niumatalolo, who liked the way Kettani responded to being challenged.

"Especially from the standpoint we've played two very physical football teams and Kettani was a workhorse in the middle. He ran with great determination," Niumatalolo said.

It marked the first time in Kettani's career that he surpassed the 100-yard mark in consecutive contests. He entered this season with just two previous 100-yard outings.

"Eric's starting to hit his stride after a slow start. These last two games have been what we expect out of Eric," Navy fullbacks coach Mike Judge said. "I don't know if he's getting into game shape or realizing the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. The offense is beginning to click and Eric is really running well. He's playing like the Eric Kettani we know, the Eric Kettani that we need."

Kettani has broken three long runs this season, bursting through huge holes and rumbling for 45 yards at Ball State, 44 yards against Rutgers and 57 yards versus Wake. He was caught from behind and tackled in the open field on each, prompting the coaching staff to joke that the big boy needed to stay away from the dessert table during the Friday evening team dinner.

"There's always room for improvement," Kettani said. "Some of the runs could have been longer, could have gone for touchdowns. I could have accelerated faster or broken a few more tackles."

While Judge would like to see Kettani finish off those long runs in the end zone, he has no problem with the work the fullback is doing at the line of scrimmage. He said superb vision and an ability to find the openings are what make Kettani tough to stop.

"Eric understands the offense now to the point that he knows where people are supposed to be blocking. He can anticipate where the blocks are going to be, which enables him to make his cuts quicker. He trusts what he sees and is hitting the hole as hard as he can," Judge said.

"Eric's ability to run with low level and really get some power behind his pads has certainly improved the last few weeks. He's been able to run through that first tackle and get into open space, and once he does that good things usually happen."

Kettani was a two-way standout at Lake Catholic High in Mentor, Ohio - a hard-hitting outside linebacker on defense and power-running tailback on offense. He was the News-Herald Player of the Year and Cleveland Plain Dealer Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and drew scholarships from such major conference schools as Indiana, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

"Eric was the type of football player who could take over a game on both sides of the ball. He was a difference-maker," Lake Catholic head coach Mike Bell said. "What makes Eric so special is that he's such a gifted athlete for his size. He has tremendous speed and quickness for a big man and I've never had a more physically strong player during the 10 years I've been here."

Most of the college recruiters wanted Kettani as a linebacker while Navy offered the chance to play offense. The Kirtland, Ohio resident attended a Navy-Vanderbilt game, watched Eckel run wild and was sold.

"I saw the way Navy used the fullback and figured this was the best place to be if I wanted to carry the ball," he said.

Bell wasn't too surprised when Kettani shunned the Bowl Championship Series schools in favor of a service academy. After all, the first team All-Northeast Ohio selection graduated from Lake Catholic with close to a 4.0 grade-point average.

"Eric was an outstanding student and a real role model. He always demonstrated tremendous character and values and was very mature. He just carried himself extremely well at all times," Bell said.

Kettani is similar to his two most notable predecessors (Eckel and Ballard) in that he's got a ton of personality, is somewhat of a character and knows how to have a good time. He has an interesting background as both parents came to the United States after meeting in Europe. Mother Collette hails from Ireland while father Mounir,who owns an aviation supply business that sells jet engines and other parts, is a native of Algeria.

Kettani needs another 258 yards to break into the top 10 of Navy's all-time rushing list. Judge would love to see the talented fullback approach that figure by establishing another career-high for rushing this Saturday at Air Force.

"After watching tape of the Wake game, I know there are still a lot of yards out on the table for Eric," Judge said.