Zach Abey
Zach Abey | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Former collegiate American football quarterback, United States Marine Corps officer |
| Years active | 2015–2018 (college football), 2019–present (military and coaching) |
| Known for | Navy Midshipmen football quarterback and wide receiver |
Zach Abey is a former collegiate American football quarterback who competed for the Navy Midshipmen football squad at the United States Naval Academy. Throughout his college career, he played both as a quarterback and a wide receiver.
2015 season
In 2015, Abey began the season positioned as the fourth-string quarterback behind Keenan Reynolds, Tago Smith, and Will Worth, and did not participate in any games that year.
2016 season
Initially serving as a backup behind Smith and Worth, Abey advanced to second-string quarterback after Smith suffered a season-ending injury in the opening game against Fordham. He had limited playing time during decisive wins over East Carolina and SMU. During the 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, Abey took over for an injured Worth, though Navy was defeated 34–10 by Temple. He started in the Army–Navy Game, where Navy lost 21–17 to their rival Army—their first defeat to Army since 2001. Abey also started in the closely contested 2016 Armed Forces Bowl, which ended in a 48–45 loss to Louisiana Tech.
2017 season
As a junior, Abey earned the starting quarterback position. In his third start against Florida Atlantic, he became the first quarterback in Naval Academy history to rush for 200 yards and pass for 100 yards in a single game. This performance earned him the title of AAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
After five weeks, Abey ranked fifth nationally among Division I FBS players with 656 rushing yards. Despite an undefeated 5–0 start, he faced difficulties with defensive reads and executing perimeter option pitches, often opting to run through the center. In October, he sustained a concussion during the game against UCF and later suffered a shoulder injury versus Temple. Slotback Malcolm Perry took over quarterback duties except in matchups against Notre Dame—due to Perry’s injury—and Houston, when Perry resumed his slotback role. Perry was named starting quarterback for the Military Bowl against Virginia. Although there was consideration for Abey to transition to fullback, head coach Ken Niumatalolo kept him as the backup quarterback.
In the Military Bowl, Abey contributed 88 rushing yards as part of Navy’s bowl-record total of 452 rushing yards and scored five rushing touchdowns. This marked him as the first player since Kareem Hunt in 2015 to record five rushing touchdowns in an FBS bowl game. For his efforts, he was awarded Most Valuable Player honors.
Abey concluded the 2017 season with 1,413 rushing yards, ranking second in school history behind Napoleon McCallum’s 1,587 yards set in 1983.
2018 season
For the 2018 campaign, Perry was named the permanent starting quarterback while Abey transitioned to wide receiver. After starting six games at receiver and missing the Air Force matchup due to a knee injury, Abey returned as backup quarterback against Houston when Perry shifted back to slotback. He then resumed starting at quarterback for the game against Cincinnati.
Navy ended the season with a 3–10 record.
Statistics
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| Season | Games Played | Passing Statistics | Rushing Statistics | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Completions | Attempts | Yards | Average | Longest | Completion % | Touchdowns | Interceptions | QB Rating | Attempts | Yards | Average | Longest | Touchdowns | ||||
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | ||
| 2016 | 5 | 20 | 35 | 352 | 10.1 | 64 | 57.1 | 1 | 4 | 128.2 | 70 | 384 | 5.5 | 55 | 6 | ||
| 2017 | 12 | 31 | 72 | 805 | 11.2 | 79 | 43.1 | 7 | 7 | 149.6 | 293 | 1413 | 5.0 | 75 | 19 | ||
| 2018 | 11 | 12 | 28 | 306 | 8.8 | 73 | 42.9 | 1 | 2 | 114.2 | 125 | 306 | 2.4 | 15 | 14 | ||
| Career Totals | 29 | 63 | 135 | 1403 | 10.4 | 79 | 46.7 | 9 | 13 | 136.7 | 488 | 2103 | 4.3 | 75 | 39 | ||
Post-college career
Following his graduation in May of 2019, Abey took on the role of assistant coach for the Navy football team during that season before receiving his commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. By the year 2024, he has advanced to the rank of captain within the Marine Corps.