Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 NOV. 5, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED What Worked Top-Notch Defensive Game Plan With Strong Early Exe- cution: Notre Dame was well prepared for the triple option thanks to defensive coordina- tor Clark Lea and his staff. The Fighting Irish shut Navy down on four straight plays to start the game, highlighted by a crucial fourth-down stop to give the offense the ball back. On that opening drive — and the five that followed be- fore halftime — Notre Dame displayed a defense that was aligned and aggressive versus the option, and a game plan that was designed to shut it down. Lea used the defensive line to attack the Navy option, taking the fullback out of the game in the first half and forc- ing the quarterback to bend back when he stretched option plays outside. That aggressiveness forced the Navy line to stay on the Irish front, allowing the linebackers and safeties to flow extremely hard to the football. Notre Dame attacked Navy when it tried to pass as well, which is why the Midshipmen had just two pass- ing yards to go with 70 rushing yards in the first half, enabling the Irish to jump out to a 27-0 lead at the break. Balance Works For The Irish Of- fense: Notre Dame had matchup ad- vantages in the throwing game and run game, and offensive coordinator Chip Long did a good job striking a balance between the two in the win over the Midshipmen. Notre Dame ran the ball 41 times for 256 yards (not counting the two plays where it took a knee at the end), and junior quarterback Ian Book completed 27 of 33 passes for 330 yards. Long established the ground game early. After Notre Dame fum- bled on the opening play following a completed pass, Long went right to the ground on the ensuing drive, setting a tone for the game. Senior running back Dexter Wil- liams carried the ball three times for 46 yards, and sophomore Jafar Arm- strong finished the drive off, scor- ing from one-yard out to kick off the scoring. Second Quarter Creates Separa- tion: Notre Dame played well in the opening quarter, but it was the sec- ond quarter that truly put separation between the Irish and the Midship- men. After a quick three-and-out from the defense to start the period, Long called a drive that combined ef- fective runs with short passes. Notre Dame converted a pair of fourth- downs with quick throws, and the drive was capped off by a nine-yard touchdown run by Williams. Another defensive three-and-out was followed by maybe the best se- ries on offense in the game. On the first play of the series Long put Arm- strong — a running back — in the slot, something Navy was clearly not ready to handle. He ran a deep cor- ner route, but Navy didn't cover him and the drive started with a 25-yard completion. After a quarterback sneak con- verted a fourth-and short — Notre Dame's third of the first half — Long dialed up a play-action toss that got sophomore tight end Cole Kmet open up the seam for a 24-yard gain. On the next play, he sprinted Book out to the left and had his receivers to the right run deep routes, but it was all meant to get Williams open backside on a throwback, which went for 16 yards, setting up the final score of the quarter four plays later. What Didn't Work Pass Game Mistakes Prove Costly: When you complete 27 of 33 passes it's hard to find too much wrong with the pass game, but there were three misses that kept this game from getting even more out of hand. O n N o t re D a m e ' s f i r s t drive of the second half, Book missed a wide open Kmet for what might have been a score down the seam on third down. Notre Dame had to settle for a field goal. Leading 37-14 in the fourth quarter, Book locked onto a slant route and didn't recognize the zone defense, which allowed the backside safety to jump the route and pick off the pass. Navy scored two plays later to make it 37-22. Sloppy Second Half On Defense: After holding Navy to just 72 yards of offense in the first half, the Irish de- fense yielded 272 yards in the second half. Sloppy tackling played a role — especially on the opening drive of the third quarter — but Notre Dame wasn't as aggressive with its play calling in the second half, and the Irish staff didn't react well to Navy's adjustments. Navy started running its fullbacks tighter to the center, which had two benefits. One is it opened up cut back lanes for the fullbacks, who ripped off a number of long runs in the final two quarters. It also served to force the edge of the Irish defense to collapse inside, which allowed Navy to quickly pitch the ball outside, which helped take the inside linebackers and safeties out of the game. ✦ Navy Game: What Worked And What Didn't CLOSER LOOK BRYAN DRISKELL Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com. Sophomore running back Jafar Armstrong compiled 116 total yards (52 rushing and 64 receiving) and scored one touchdown for a balanced Fighting Irish offense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA