New London — Ryan Robertson almost seems, to his coaches, like he's been there before.

"I almost think of him as a guy who's started a few years," Coast Guard Academy football coach Bill George said earlier this week. "He's a talented kid. He's physically tough and quick. You want to say there were guys stuck behind (Mark) Behne and (Joe) Rizzardi (last year's senior defensive backs), who are exceptional."

Robertson, a junior, has now officially started two games at strong safety for the Bears, who dropped to 1-1 following last week's 31-27 loss to Merchant Marine and will meet Catholic at home Saturday as part of Parents' Weekend.

Robertson started previously only on special teams.

So far, the Coast Guard defense pulled off a shutout in its season opener against Anna Maria, a 34-0 victory. Last week in a rivalry game against Merchant Marine, Robertson finished with a career-high 14 tackles, 13 of them solo stops, earning New England Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors.

That's two-for-two for Robertson, who joins a defensive backfield which lost everyone but junior Will Daniels at right cornerback to graduation last season.

The crew of newcomers features freshman Pat Crowley at left corner — replacing Oliver Kremer, who was injured in the first quarter against Merchant Marine — Robertson and junior Matt O'Donnell at free safety. Freshman Michael Goldsworthy backs up two of the spots, with freshman Austin Haynia and sophomore Luke Thompson as the other two backups.

George was fearful the youth could spell disaster against Merchant Marine's triple-option attack, but the Bears managed to hold off the big play quite effectively.

"My biggest worry was the number of new guys who had not been in a game vs. a downhill rushing attack," George said. "... Now they're into their (third) game. Now they're kind of settling in."

"It was a little bit challenging because we haven't been on the field playing games in a year or two," said Robertson, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound former strong safety/quarterback at Walkersville (Md.) High School. "... They (last year's secondary) had a lot of experience and they passed it down to us. Plus, we've been friends for a couple years now; we're coming together."

Robertson said his assignment in the run-based triple-option was to stop the outside tosses, but that the Bears' defensive linemen and linebackers did a good job pushing the runners outside.

"It was really the whole defense," Robertson said of his league award. "They did their job and I was able to make tackles.

"As a young defense, we did the best we could. We learned we can stop teams when we need to. Maybe we need to be conditioned a little more (Merchant Marine overcame a 21-14 halftime deficit to finish with 411 rushing yards). But it brought us together as a defense."

Robertson leads Coast Guard with 21 tackles, one for a loss, and is fourth in the NEFC with an average of 10.5 per game.

Catholic (2-0) now presents a more traditional offense, with a multi-pronged attack, causing the defense to change gears. For Robertson, a mechanical engineering major who arrived at the Coast Guard Academy in hopes of becoming a helicopter pilot, it will be game three.

"We've got to get a pass rush, work on our pass defense," George said. "It's not easy to be a defensive back in football. Somebody throws it over your head on defense it's like, 'Heyyyyy.' It's like being a long-snapper: everybody notices you when you make a mistake. It's not easy."

v.fulkerson@theday.com