Fueled by the constant mistakes of the Navy Midshipmen, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish delivered a resounding win with a 51-14 victory on Saturday. The win saddled Navy with its first loss of the season to drop them to 6-1 on the year, while the Irish won their sixth straight contest to improve to 7-1 on the year.
Notre Dame ended its productive afternoon with 466 yards of total offense, breaking the 200-yard threshold for both running and passing. Unlike their butter-fingered opponents, the Irish managed to avoid giving up the ball all game, marking only the third time this season and first since the rout of Purdue that Notre Dame had accomplished that feat.
Below are key aspects of the win:
Immediate Impact
Making a statement right off the bat would help alleviate concerns of a possible upset and Notre Dame smoothly followed that plan. The Irish moved the ball 75 yards on nine plays to start the game, with Riley Leonard’s quarterback sneak giving them the early 7-0 advantage. Leonard beat the Navy blitz to connect with Jaden Greathouse for a 43-yard catch on the key play during that drive.
Notre Dame then exploited the first of three first-half turnovers by the Midshipmen to double its lead. Adon Shuler’s fumble recovery put the ball at the Navy seven. Leonard then connected with a wide-open Kris Mitchell for the score. The Irish had the potential to boost their lead to 21-0 after another fumble by the Midshipmen, but the drive stalled, and then Zac Yoakam’s field goal attempt missed.
Disastrous Change of Course
Navy ended the game with six turnovers and Notre Dame used those mistakes to put 24 points on the scoreboard. Such mistakes were certainly not in the Midshipmen gameplan but they were also in stark contrast to the way that Navy has performed all season long. Before their game with the Irish, the Midshipmen had only lost the ball twice all season and had not given up the ball in any of its last five contests.
By the time the game had ended, those stellar marks were in shambles and served as a key reason for the lopsided final score. The three fumbles in the first half helped change the tenor of the game, with the first two coming on mishandled pitches. That last of that trio came on a muffed punt and led to Yoakam’s 32-yard three-pointer with less than a minute remaining before intermission.
After each team scored on its opening drive after the break, Notre Dame effectively put the game away on Navy’s next drive Midshipmen signal-caller Blake Horvath went back to pass near the Navy goal line, but the ball slipped out of his hand, with Jaylen Sneed recovering in the end zone for the score. That was followed by a Leonard Moore end-zone interception that ended another drive and capped by another muffed punt that helped tally the final Irish touchdown.
Running in Place
For the most part, the Irish defense kept a Navy ground game that was averaging 274 yards per game and six yards per carry. The Midshipmen ended the afternoon, gaining a total of 222 yards and 5.2 yards per carry. Yet, without an annoying flaw that’s periodically surfaced during this season, those numbers might have been much lower.
That’s because on two occasions, Horvath managed to break off long runs. The first of these was a 47-yard dash that resulted in the first score by Navy. In the latter instance, Notre Dame scored to make it 28-7 in the second quarter when Horvath broke off a 60-yard dash on the first play of the ensuing drive. The scoring threat was neutralized when the Midshipmen field goal attempt went just wide left.
Familiar Faison
Jordan Faison’s first season on the Irish football team last season ended with a flourish with an MVP performance in the Sun Bowl. However, before Saturday’s game, the 2024 season had been an injury-plagued disappointment for the multi-sport star who had caught just four passes for 29 yards.
When Saturday’s game concluded, Faison had matched his season output with four grabs for 52 yards. His two biggest catches came on the final pair of scoring drives of the first half, the first on a clutch fourth-down call. In the second case, his 26-yard grab played a key part in setting up the subsequent field goal and marked his longest receception on the day.
Next Up
Notre Dame now begins its final bye week before resuming action on Nov. 9 with a home matchup against Florida State. Beforethe start of the 2024 campaign, this game was seen as perhaps the biggest on the Irish’s schedule, with both teams being seen as having national championship potential. For the Seminoles, that promise has turned to disaster, with the team at 1-6 prior to Saturday’s game against the Miami Hurricanes. Florida State hosts North Carolina and will simply be looking to salvage its season when it takes on the Irish.
