Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 NOV. 6, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Niumatalolo trusted sophomore quarterback Tai Lavatai to throw the ball more in the Cincinnati game than he had all season. Lavatai completed 11 of 15 throws for 116 yards. His previous season high for completions was four. He also smashed his previous season-high of 64 passing yards. Still, this Navy offense is dependent on the run. Lavatai has run 99 times for 178 yards and four touchdowns. He has run the ball more than anyone on the roster, but has the lowest yards per carry aver- age (1.8) of any player who has recorded nine or more attempts. That's been a bit of a handicap on the triple option. "Moving forward, we definitely have to minimize mistakes," Lavatai said. "That's what kills you in close games. And we just have to finish drives. We'd love to get seven points, but we just haven't been doing it lately." Senior fullback Isaac Ruoss has 98 carries for 388 yards and two touch- downs. Fellow senior fullback James Harris II has 67 carries for 273 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Xavier Arline had a stretch of five games in a row with 16 or more carries in the middle of the season, but he ran five times for minus- five yards against Cincinnati. Lavatai has likely won the job over for good, barring a setback of his own. But again, Ruoss and Harris are the bell cows of the Navy offense when Lav- atai elects to give the ball up. There really aren't any wide receivers for Notre Dame to worry about. Through seven games, seniors Mychal Cooper (eight recep- tions for 160 yards and one touchdown) and Chance Warren (six catches for 110 yards) have led the way. Lavatai had only thrown two touchdown passes. Stop the run, and you stop Navy. It's really that simple. ANOTHER MEASURING STICK The Navy defense hasn't been elite by any means, but it hasn't held the Mid- shipmen back as much as the offense has. Navy made Cincinnati look like any- thing but a top-10 team in the country, let alone the No. 2 team in the country, in their Oct. 23 game. The Bearcats could only muster a season-low 271 total yards, 95 of which came on the ground and 176 through the air. Cincinnati also ran a season-low 51 total plays against Navy. 2021 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 5 at Florida State W, 41-38 (OT) Sept. 11 Toledo W, 32-29 Sept. 18 Purdue W, 27-13 Sept. 25 vs. Wisconsin* W, 41-13 Oct. 2 Cincinnati L, 24-13 Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech W, 32-29 Oct. 23 USC W, 31-16 Oct. 30 North Carolina W, 44-34 Nov. 6 Navy (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Virginia TBA Nov. 20 Georgia Tech (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 27 at Stanford TBA * at Soldier Field in Chicago 2021 NAVY SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 4 Marshall L, 49-7 Sept. 11 Air Force L, 23-3 Sept. 25 at Houston L, 28-20 Oct. 2 Central Florida W, 34-30 Oct. 9 SMU L, 31-24 Oct. 14 at Memphis L, 35-17 Oct. 23 Cincinnati L, 27-20 Oct. 29 at Tulsa W, 20-17 Nov. 6 at Notre Dame (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 20 East Carolina (CBSSN) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 27 at Temple TBA Dec. 11 Army (CBS) 3 p.m. Senior fullback Isaac Ruoss leads the Midshipmen with 388 rushing yards and has scored two touchdowns. PHOTO COURTESY NAVY ATHLETICS