Nelson Smith burst up the middle and rumbled 40 yards during the second quarter of the season opener at Hawaii. Two plays later, broke another run for 15 yards to put Navy into the red zone.
Those two gains account for the bulk of yardage gained off the fullback dive through three games as that staple of the Navy triple-option offense has mostly been taken away by opponents.
Smith has only managed 40 yards on 14 other carries while starting fullback Anthony Gargiulo has been held to 71 yards on 23 totes. Gargiulo is averaging just 3.