Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 NOV. 23, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED H ere are several ob‑ servations from N o t r e D a m e ' s 52‑20 win over Navy. DEFENSE: EXECUTING TO PERFECTION Navy came into this game averaging 357.9 rushing yards and 456.8 yards of total offense per game. Say what you want about the compe‑ tition that the Midship‑ men played leading up to the clash with Notre Dame, but they were ranked in both the As‑ sociated Press poll and College Football Playoff rankings coming into this game. Regardless of how he played today, Malcolm Perry is the real deal at quarterback for Navy. It is not a fluke that he is a semifi‑ nalist for the Davey O'Brien Award that annually goes to the nation's best quarterback. Notre Dame ha‑ rassed him the entire time he was in the game and forced him into three fumbles, which essentially ended the game for the Midshipmen. Defensive coordinator Clark Lea once again outdid himself with the game plan, switching from both an even and an odd front in alternat‑ ing series, making sure not to give Navy the same look back to back. We talked about it a lot during the week — if you are going to be successful against Navy you cannot show them the same look over and over. Not only did Lea switch up the looks, but the Irish were able to execute his game plan practically to perfection. The player of the game for me be‑ fore he went out with a lower body injury was Jayson Ademilola. He was dominant in the middle today, not allowing Navy to block him whatso‑ ever. He showed his athleticism by jumping over cut blocks and his speed by getting off the ball faster than the offensive linemen tasked with block‑ ing him. He made a beautiful play in the backfield for a four‑yard loss that came one play before he was injured. He did not return to the game, but it was more of a precaution. OFFENSE: AERIAL ATTACK PUNCTUATES WIN My keys to the game today were threefold: establish the run, contain Malcolm Perry and build off the of‑ fensive explosion from the Duke game. Two out of three isn't bad. The one I missed on was establish‑ ing the run. Senior quarterback Ian Book again led the Irish in rushing, but he was about 100 yards shy of last week, racking up only 31 yards against the Mids. There were no de‑ signed runs out of the read option the way there were last week, so he did not really have the opportunity to light up the stat sheet on the ground. There was a good reason for that, because Navy was determined to take away the Irish running game and did a good job for the majority of the game. I thought this was a very well called game by offensive coordinator Chip Long. He got sophomore wide receiv‑ ers Lawrence Keys and Braden Lenzy involved early in the run game with reverse and jet action, which opened up plays later in the game. The goal was not only to get the ball in the hands of the fast playmakers but also to try and get the Navy defense to loosen up in the box. Once Notre Dame realized that Navy was bound and determined to stop the run, it went to the air and never looked back. Book put this team on his shoulders and exe‑ cuted at a high level for the vast majority of this game. His final line was 14‑of‑20 passing for 284 yards with five touch‑ downs. His passer rat‑ ing was a 271.8. He was calm and smooth in the pocket and was clearly going through his reads throughout the game. On a flood play to his right he had junior tight end Cole Kmet wide open for a mid‑level gain of about five to 10 yards, but instead went to the next level to fifth‑year senior wide receiver Chris Finke on the deep out‑cut for a 28‑yard gain. In the past he would have taken the check down and moved on. He was throwing with confidence and poise, and when he is able to do that, the offense follows suit. SPECIAL TEAMS: IRISH BOTTLE UP MIDS There was not a whole lot to see with the special teams outside of Jonathan Doerer's 32‑yard field goal in the second quarter to keep the con‑ secutive scoring drives streak alive for the Irish. Freshman punter Jay Bramblett was asked to punt only after the reserves entered the game, and he punted twice at that. The coverage units did their jobs during this game, with the majority of their work done on kickoffs. It was clear that Navy had no interest in returning kickoffs, fair catching most of their opportunities. Sophomore linebacker Bo Bauer continues to im‑ press on coverage units. Finke had a 62‑yard punt return for a touchdown, but it was called back on a penalty. ✦ Assessing Notre Dame's Bombardment Of Navy THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESS BOX VINCE DEDARIO Vince DeDario has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2019. He can be reached at vdedario@blueandgold.com Senior quarterback Ian Book was at the top of his game against Navy, completing 14 of 20 throws for 284 yards with five touchdowns for a passer rating of 271.8. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS