Notre Dame started off fast last night versus Navy by
jumping out to a 28-7 lead, but the Midshipmen fought their way back to score
24 unanswered points to take a 31-28 lead late in the third quarter. However,
the Irish responded with two touchdowns to start the fourth quarter and they
added another score late to seal the 49-39 victory. It wasn’t the prettiest
game for the Irish, but they got the win. Unfortunately, a close win against a
service academy will likely not impress the playoff committee. Regardless of
what the committee thinks right now, Notre Dame just needs to keep winning and
they will probably be hard to leave out of the final four come December.
Other than the third quarter, Notre Dame was terrific on
offense last night by racking up 533 yards of total offense and scoring seven
touchdowns. The Irish were led by the impressive performances of Everett Golson
and Tarean Folston. Golson threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns while adding
33 yards of rushing and another three scores. Folston enjoyed his third consecutive
outstanding game with 149 yards rushing and 38 yards receiving. Folston has
totaled 367 yards rushing and 109 yards receiving over the past three weeks to
solidify his case as the lead running back. Right now, it is hard to imagine
that there are many quarterback-running back duos playing more effectively than
Golson and Folston, so the Irish offense should continue to cause problems for
the remaining four teams on their schedule. While the offense was successful
for most of the night, there was one error that changed the momentum of the
game. Whether it was a bad play call, wrong route, or just a bad throw; the
interception thrown by Golson right before the half was simply inexcusable.
That turnover, followed by an unacceptable cover bust, led to a Navy field goal
that cut the Irish lead to 28-17 at halftime. Since Notre Dame was driving and
appeared capable of scoring again before the half, the costly miscue resulted
in a likely 10-point swing and wiped away the probability of a commanding 35-14
lead at halftime. As a result, Navy was able to continue playing their game
offensively and they gave the Irish all they could handle for four quarters.
Ultimately, Notre Dame’s talent would prevail, but it was another frustrating
game in this historic series.
Notre Dame’s defense had plenty of difficulties stopping
Navy’s triple option attack by allowing the Midshipmen to accumulate 454 yards
of total offense. Of course, most of the success came on the ground with 336
yard rushing on 60 attempts, but Keenan Reynolds completed a few big passes to
help Navy keep up with the Irish offense, including a 42 yard completion and
two touchdowns. Reynolds also added 47 yards on the ground, but the big threat
in the running game was Noah Copeland. Copeland scampered for 138 yards on 16
carries and gashed the Irish defense for a 54 yard gain on fourth-and-two. That
long run set up a Navy touchdown on the next play to give them a 31-28 lead.
Everyone knew what Navy was going to do offensively, but the Irish couldn’t
stop them. Part of Notre Dame’s struggles on defense was the injuries that
forced the Irish to play even more of their younger players. At one point, I believe
the Irish had five true freshmen and four sophomores playing together on
defense. That combination is not ideal when you need discipline and knowledge
to effectively stop Navy’s triple option. With or without the injuries, Navy’s
offense just executed better than Notre Dame’s defense and the Midshipmen
deserve all the credit for playing such a great game.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Twitter: @etichel07
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