With a 3-5 record and just four games remaining, every remaining contest is an important one for the Navy Midshipmen if they want to go bowling in head coach Brian Newberry’s first season at the helm.
Saturday’s home game against a struggling UAB team is a good opportunity to put a tally in the win column, despite the Mids being a three-point home underdog.
But Navy will play the game without kicker Evan Warren.
It’s important to understand that Warren – the team’s kickoff specialist who is also perfect on extra-point-attempts this season – is completely healthy. He’s skipping the game for a reason that isn’t often seen for college football players, at least those outside of the Ivy League and Service Academies.
Warren will be absent from the sidelines in Annapolis because he is a finalist for a prestigious Rhodes scholarship, and interviews are being conducted Friday and Saturday. According to the Capital Gazzette, Newberry gave his blessing for Warren to skip the game.
Warren told the Capital Gazette:
“This is a chance to do such a life-changing thing at 22 years old. Having the full support of my coaches helped me make the decision. Having them understand the gravity of that opportunity meant a lot.”
The senior kicker from Finksburg, Maryland is a political science major. The Rhodes scholarship has sent students to study at England’s University of Oxford since 1902.