Navy lost a lot of on-field leadership when defensive captain Daniel Gonzales suffered a season-ending injury.
Gonzales, who went down with a Lisfranc fracture against Air Force, called all the defensive signals and also set the tone by playing with a high motor and constantly delivering bone-jarring tackles.
Junior Micah Thomas has steadily stepped up as a defensive presence this season and filled the void left by the loss of his fellow inside linebacker. Thomas is the team's runaway leader with 82 tackles and has also done a good job of providing outstanding leadership, although he shys away from such praise.