Notre Dame Is Still Pretty Much Undefeated: Navy Preview

Okay, okay. Notre Dame didn’t go undefeated. It took a Clemson, a hurricane, and Notre Dame to beat Notre Dame, but they lost. You were right, I was wrong. You’re smart, I’m stupid. You’re good looking, I am…not attractive. Let’s move on because the fact of the matter is that Notre Dame is still alive in the playoff hunt. I believe that the SEC and the Pac12 will continue to cannibalize themselves, there can only be one undefeated team in the Big12, and the B1G contenders look like they could lose against virtually anyone at any time. ND needs some help, but it’s not impossible if they win out even though their strength of schedule took a big hit last night with USC losing at home to Washington. There is no bigger fraud program on Earth than USC. Even when they were rolling with Pete Carroll they’d always drop some bullshit game to Stanford or Oregon State. But I digress. We’re on to Navy.

Notre Dame Defense vs Navy Triple Option Offense:

I don’t know what to make of this game. Coming off an emotional loss against Clemson and trying to avoid looking ahead to USC, you’d think that this would be a trap game against a non-traditional offense. However, ND was DOMINANT against this same offense just a few weeks ago vs Georgia Tech and GT definitely has better athletes than Navy. You’d think that Notre Dame would be able to attack with the same discipline they showed against the Yellow Jackets. All things being equal, ND crushes Navy, but where this game falls on the schedule makes me nervous.

The key to this game will be stopping Navy QB Keenan Reynolds. Justin Thomas got all the preseason love, but Reynolds is actually the better trigger man in this option offense. He’s the best QB Navy has had since Roger Staubach. Reynolds is only 4 TDs away from breaking the all-time NCAA rushing TD record held by Montee Ball. It will take great focus, eye discipline and communication to slow the Navy attack, but Notre Dame has already showed that they are capable of stopping the option this year. If Notre Dame is mentally right, this game should look similar to the GT game.

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Notre Dame Offense vs Navy Defense

While this is absolutely the best Navy team of the Niumatalolo era, they’ll need Notre Dame to make a lot of mistakes on offense to keep this game tight. On paper, Notre Dame should be able to do whatever they want against Navy. However, as I said above, this could be a trap game. If ND is sloppy with the football like they were against Clemson, then Navy will have a shot. Navy’s best defense will be their offense though. If they can shorten the game with long drives and keep the ball out of Kizer’s hands then every possession becomes magnified.

The Rivalry With Navy

Everyone always gives Notre Dame shit for playing the Service Academies(Navy is the only annual opponent), but I love it. It’s a great tradition and one of the highlights of the season for Navy. It’s a traditional opponent going all the way back to the Knute Rockne era. For some reason ND seems to get more heat for playing this game than Power 5 schools get for playing FCS schools. Doesn’t makes sense to me since Navy goes to a bowl game almost every year. They’re a good football team and a tough team to prepare for. A lot was made of Notre Dame having a 43 game winning streak vs Navy, but in the last 7 games Notre Dame holds just a 4-3 advantage. I hope they play this game forever, because it’s a game that’s good for college football. Here’s a pretty cool doc about the rivalry

Prediction:

Notre Dame is a 14 point favorite at the time of this blog. This is a game I’m not going to touch. If ND is focused and prepared like they were for the GT game then the Irish should blow Navy out. If there are lingering affects from last week then Navy(who is 4-0 by the way) will probably be inside the number the entire game. I think there’s a sense of urgency inside the ND program. They know they still have a chance to have a special season, and that starts this Saturday. Notre Dame 38, Navy 17