Here is the first in a Bucknuts.com series on Ohio State’s 2009 football opponents as well as a preview, as the days wear on, for the Big Ten in 2009. We begin with the Sept. 5 opener with Navy.

Navy

* Date, Time: Sat., Sept. 5, noon (ESPN).

* Location: Ohio Stadium

* Special Occasion: Alumni Band Day

* Last Year, Bowl: 8-5, lost to Wake Forest 29-19 in the EagleBank Bowl.

* Coach: Ken Niumatalolo (second year at Navy, 8-5)

* Returning Starters: 12. Offense (4): SB Cory Finnerty, LT Jeff Battipaglia, RG Curtis Bass, RT Matt Molloy. Defense (7): DE Jabaree Tuani, NG Nate Frazier, DE Matt Nechak, LB Clint Sovie, LB Ram Vela, LB Ross Pospisil, FS Wyatt Middleton. Specialists (1): P Kyle Delahooke.

* Last Year Without Bowl: 2002.

* Series Vs. Ohio State: Ohio State leads the all-time series with Navy 3-0. The schools first met in 1930 in Baltimore (27-0 OSU win). They then met a year later in Columbus (20-0 OSU win). The most recent meeting was in the 1981 Liberty Bowl (31-28 OSU win).

* Schedule: Sept. 5, at Ohio State; Sept. 12, Louisiana Tech; Sept. 19, at Pittsburgh; Sept. 26, Western Kentucky; Oct. 3, Air Force; Oct. 10, at Rice; Oct. 17, at SMU; Oct. 24, Wake Forest; Oct. 31, Temple; Nov. 7, at Notre Dame; Nov. 14, Delaware; Nov. 28, at Hawaii; Dec. 12, vs. Army (at Philadelphia).

* Outlook: This game will usher in the 120th season of Ohio State football. And, after opening the last two years with Division I-AA Youngstown State, Navy represents a very respectable opponent for the opener.

Navy has earned some respect in recent years with wins over several notable teams from BCS leagues. In 2006, Navy won at Stanford and at Connecticut. In 2007, the Midshipmen downed Pittsburgh and also defeated Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime. That win snapped a 43-game losing streak for Navy at the hands of ND.

The success in that 2007 season led Georgia Tech to hire Navy’s Paul Johnson as its new head coach. He was succeeded at Navy by assistant Ken Niumatalolo (pronounced knee-ah-mata-lolo).

His debut season was also a success as Navy went 8-5, including regular season wins over Rutgers and Wake Forest. (Wake Forest avenged that loss with a 29-19 win over Navy in the EagleBank Bowl.)

Overall, Navy has been to seven straight bowl games and has 13 games in a row over its fellow service academies (Army and Air Force), including seven straight over rival Army.

Niumatalolo talked about sustaining the success that Johnson brought to Navy.

“Paul had done such a great job here as the head coach,” Niumatalolo said. “I was just going to follow what he did. I had known him so well and been with him for so long. I wasn’t one of  those guys who said, ‘Hey, I’m the head coach now, I’m going to do it my way.’

“I saw what he did. We won with that. Why would I change? I just decided to follow his formula. Some guys want to have their mark on a program. I didn’t really care about that. I just wanted to win. He was winning here so I said if that works let’s keep doing it.

“It also helped that a lot of the (assistants) stayed. The transition and the familiarity of the program was there. The one difference was Coach Johnson left. Our defensive coordinator, Buddy Green, stayed.”

Navy predicates much of its success on its triple option offensive attack. The Midshipmen were first nationally in rushing offense last year at 292.4 yards per game. Navy must reload, however, after losing quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, fullback Eric Kettani, slot back Shun White and wide receiver Tyree Barnes to graduation.

Much of Navy’s hopes are being pinned on junior Ricky Dobbs (6-1, 194), who takes over at quarterback. He has only one career start and has only played in seven games. However, he stepped in due to injuries last year and rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-7 rout of SMU.

Niumatalolo discussed the merits of the option offense for Navy.

“The great thing about it is it’s pretty versatile if you want to be that way,” he said. “We are an option-based team. But, because of our size, we can’t throw the ball 50 times. We don’t have linemen who are 6-6 and 300 pounds. Our linemen are 6-2 and 275. That’s why we do run the option.

“We run the option more than throwing by necessity. We could throw the ball more, but we’re trying to limit our opponent’s possessions. If you don’t have the ball, it’s hard to score.”

The hope is that the Navy defense will keep the Midshipmen in games until the offense can rachet up the production. Navy has seven starters back from a defense that finished 40th in scoring (22.0 points per game) and 53rd in total defense (346.7 yards per game).

The key returnees are senior nose guard Nate Frazier (6-3, 287), sophomore defensive end Jabaree Tuani (6-1, 265) and senior inside linebacker Ross Pospisil (6-0, 223). Frazier had nine tackles-for-loss last year. Tuani filled in due to injuries and ended up earning Freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News. Pospisil had a team-high 106 tackles last year and was named the defensive team captain in the spring.

Navy figures to extend its bowl streak and could make some waves in 2009. But Niumatalolo knows the challenges will begin with the opener at Ohio State.

“It’s the toughest game that our program has ever had,” he said. “Coach Tressel has done a phenomenal job there. I was talking to a scout who said he had just come from their pro day in the spring and he was like, ‘Coach, why are you guys playing them?’ He just chuckled.

“It will be a tough challenge. They are good football team and they’re well coached. They don’t have any weaknesses. People may say, ‘They haven’t done this’ or ‘they haven’t done that.’ But they’re going 10-2 and 11-1 every year. Most programs would die for that. They’re doing a great job.

“We’re going to embrace it. We’ll do the best we can to get ready. It’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. We go to Notre Dame, which is phenomenal. But to also go to the Horseshoe, that will be a great experience.”

* Steve Helwagen Says: After opening with Youngstown State the last two years, this is more like it. This is the kind of program Ohio State should aspire to play somewhere in the nonconference slate every year. We know they will play a home-and-home with a BCS conference opponent every season. But I think there is also room for a game like this that will be both intriguing and challenging.

Plus, it harkens back to a simpler time when playing an opponent like Navy would be considered a major game. (The Midshipmen have visited Columbus just once before and that was 78 years ago.)

Ohio State has won 30 straight home openers and that string should extend to 31 with this game against Navy. But it will be anything but easy.

The OSU defense has been among the stingiest against the run nationally in recent years. That rating moved down to 18th at 110.2 yards per game last year. This game is all about assignment football. The front seven will need to be on point against Navy’s option offense.

The Buckeyes lost two starting linebackers to graduation in James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman. Their replacements – who appear to be Austin Spitler and Tyler Moeller or Brian Rolle – will need to be on their toes and keep Navy’s running offense from moving the chains.

The downside for Ohio State is this game will do little to prepare the Buckeyes for USC’s passing game the following week.

Still, this is a game against a team that has done its share of winning against big-name opponents in recent years. They will bring a tremendous amount of resolve and their unique offense to Ohio State and give it everything they have to try and pull off what would be a major upset.

There is one footnote here: Ohio State fans – at least a small contingent of them – make it a habit of booing the opposition when it comes out of the tunnel at Ohio Stadium. But this isn’t Michigan or USC coming out for this game.

No, this will be a team of young men who signed up to defend our country in a time of great worldwide turmoil (and also play a little bit of college football in the process). They don’t deserve enmity from anybody who will be attending the game on Sept. 5. Heck, a polite standing ovation may actually be more appropriate.