what we learned: navy
A day after Notre Dame's 49 to 10 win over Navy, this was as complete a performance as the team has produced all season, and it came against an opponent whose unique option based scheme has historically given the Irish trouble.
The Positives
CJ Carr was nearly flawless on Saturday, completing 16 of 19 passes, an 84 percent completion rate, for 253 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. That kind of efficiency against a Navy defense built to confuse quarterbacks with disguised looks is not an accident, and it pushed Carr's touchdown to interception ratio for the season to a level that has quietly become one of the best in the country. Notre Dame's rushing attack was just as productive, piling up 249 yards on 38 carries, a 6.6 yards per carry average, and four touchdowns as a group. Between the ground game and Carr's efficient day through the air, Notre Dame finished with 502 total yards of offense against a Navy defense that had been stingy against option heavy opponents earlier in the season, and the Irish controlled the ball for over 30 minutes despite Navy's own ball control approach.
Jeremiyah Love produced the single best individual highlight of his season, a 48 yard touchdown run on which he appeared to be stopped for a loss in the backfield before breaking free and outrunning Navy's entire secondary. Aneyas Williams added a 54 yard touchdown run of his own, and between the two of them, Notre Dame had two different backs eclipse 50 yards on a single carry in the same game, a testament to the explosiveness of this backfield even in a contest that was never particularly close. Notre Dame finished the game with zero turnovers and zero penalties, a remarkable level of discipline for a team that had struggled with exactly those issues just weeks earlier against NC State. Defensively, Jaylen Sneed had his best game of the season reading Navy's option looks, consistently taking correct angles to the dive and pitch and helping hold a Navy offense that entered the day averaging well over 300 rushing yards per game to just 206, a firmly below average output for the option attack. Marcus Freeman's postgame comments about Love, calling him one of the best players in the country and making the case for his inclusion in the national Heisman conversation, are already generating buzz this morning as one of the more notable coach endorsements of the season.
The Negatives
There is genuinely little to criticize from this performance, but the box score does reveal a few soft spots worth flagging even in a laugher. Navy still finished with 206 rushing yards on 45 carries, a 4.6 yards per carry average, numbers that are respectable for an option offense regardless of the final score, and the Midshipmen actually out carried Notre Dame 45 to 38 for the game. Navy also held a 29 minute and 23 second to 30 minute and 37 second time of possession split that was far closer than a 39 point final margin would suggest, a reminder that Navy's approach is built to control the clock and stay competitive in the possession battle even in a lopsided loss.
Drayk Bowen was slow to fill on a couple of Navy's fullback dive runs in the second quarter, part of the reason the Midshipmen were still able to grind out that 206 yard rushing total despite the lopsided final score, and it is a small technique issue worth cleaning up before facing more explosive rushing attacks later in the year. Notre Dame's defense also recorded only two sacks and a single forced fumble on the day, modest pressure numbers against a Navy offensive line that is not typically viewed as one of the stronger units the Irish will face, and playing without star quarterback Blake Horvath due to injury, Navy was clearly overmatched in the passing game, completing just 3 of 10 attempts for 22 yards. Notre Dame took full advantage of that limitation without the kind of self inflicted mistakes that had plagued earlier wins, but the underlying rushing and time of possession numbers suggest there is still room for the front seven to tighten up its edges against option based teams.
Who Shined
Jeremiyah Love's highlight reel touchdown run headlined a complete team performance, and CJ Carr's efficient, mistake free day, 16 of 19 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, continued his steady development heading into the most important stretch of the season. Jaylen Sneed's discipline against the option was the clearest individual defensive improvement of the night, and Aneyas Williams' 54 yard scoring run showed the kind of explosive depth Notre Dame now has at running back beyond its top two options.
Who Disappointed
It is hard to find a Notre Dame player who had a bad day in this one. Drayk Bowen's occasional slow read on Navy's dive game is the only real individual note, and even that came in a game decided well before halftime. Still, the 206 rushing yards allowed and the fairly even time of possession battle are numbers worth watching, since they suggest the final score flattered the run defense's overall effort more than the day to day tape probably will. The zero turnover, zero penalty performance suggests a program that has fully turned the corner from its early season struggles, and this game stands as one of the cleanest, most complete efforts of the year so far, even if the underlying defensive rushing numbers were not quite as dominant as the scoreboard indicated.
