Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1183432
36 NOV. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI IT'S ABOUT TIME: PART I One of the more overrated stats in football sometimes can be time of possession. If one has a quick-strike, explo- sive offense, then time of possession can be inconsequential. None of last year's four College Football Playoff teams finished among the top 50 in that category, including Oklahoma with Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray at No. 89 and national cham- pion Clemson at No. 95. In Clemson's four touchdown "drives" during their 30-3 Cotton Bowl victory versus Notre Dame that covered 65, 85, 80 and 71 yards, it took a grand total of 6:03 (only 1:31 per possession). That's what occurs with explosive, game-changing athletes. However, make no mistake about it: When one plays Navy and its methodical triple-option attack that milks the clock and shortens the game, time of possession becomes a focal theme in the matchup. The two absolutes about Navy football this century have been that it will rank among the nation's top five — if not No. 1 — in rushing offense, and there will be an emphasis on playing "keep away" while keeping the clock moving with each series. Those two constants have re- mained during the 7-1 start for the Midshipmen this year while once again cracking the nation's top 25. Navy far and away led the nation in rushing with a 357.9 average (at 6.08 yards per carry), about 35 yards more than No. 2 Air Force at 323.1. No other teams are past 300. The time of possession is "only" 17th with a 32:41 average per game, but Notre Dame is 113th among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams at 27:18. Aiding Navy's possession time is ranking No. 14 nationally in third- down conversions at 48.5 percent — and No. 7 on fourth down at 15 of 18 (83.3 percent). The latter in par- ticular is what can demoralize a de- fense while methodically keeping the chains moving. Recent history demonstrates that each series on offense by Notre Dame needs to be maximized in a game where opportunities might be mini- mized, which brings us to … IT'S ABOUT TIME: PART II Former Navy head coach Paul Johnson (2002-07) used to joke that whereas the Notre Dame football team had 40 or so Parade All-Ameri- cans (the standard for "star system" decades ago), his Midshipmen only had guys that would march in a parade. The Notre Dame-Navy series saw the Fighting Irish record an NCAA- record 43 consecutive victories from 1964-2006. Since 2007, however, the Midship- men have registered four victories against the Fighting Irish, most re- cently in 2016 (28-27). They also have taken Notre Dame to the wall several other times before losing by scores such as 27-21 (2008), 38-34 (2013), 49-39 (2014) and 24-17 (2017). If the outcome in these games was predicated solely on recruiting "star rankings," Notre Dame would be a likely five- to six-touchdown favorite every year. The 2014 and 2015 Navy recruiting classes were not ranked in the Rivals' top 100, while 2016 was No. 88, 2017 was tied for No. 76, and the last two were No. 91 and No. 84, respectively. However, this game is not neces- sarily about talent; it is about time (see above) — and preparation — for Navy's triple-option attack. One year after coming off the 28-27 loss to Navy in 2016, the 8-2 Fight- ing Irish in 2017 trailed 17-10 against the Midshipmen midway through the third quarter before rallying for a 24-17 victory on 30- and nine-yard touchdown passes from Brandon Wimbush to Kevin Stepherson. Notre Dame clinched the victory when it forced a Navy incomplete pass on fourth-and-five from the Irish 25-yard line with 1:25 remaining. Navy possessed the ball 42:42 to Notre Dame's 17:18, although the Irish did amass 327 total yards (164 rushing and 163 passing) on those seven series. Unofficially, that might be the greatest disparity in posses- sion time by the Irish. GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Top STorylineS Head coach Ken Niumatalolo did a massive overhaul of his program's infrastructure by hiring seven new assistants after last year's 3-10 finish. PHOTO COURTESY NAVAL ACADEMY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION