Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 6, 2021 45 GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Senior linebacker Diego Fagot, a two-time All-AAC selection, led the Midshipmen with 63 tackles and 9.0 tackles for loss through seven games. He also recorded a fumble recovery and an interception. PHOTO COURTESY NAVY Staff Predictions Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 45, Navy 7 Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo has beaten Notre Dame four times in 13 tries, with two of those victories coming against Irish head coach Brian Kelly (2010 and 2016). But with the Navy program on a downslide — only four wins in its last 17 games heading into last weekend — Notre Dame's talent advantage and familiarity with defending a triple-option offense leave this as the easiest game on the Irish schedule. Kelly has won three straight games in this series, the previous two by 22 and 32 points, respectively. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 41, Navy 3 Playing against the Midshipmen is always a chore because of the discipline required to defend their triple-option attack. Just ask No. 2 Cincinnati, which struggled against Navy before eventually notching a 27-20 win Oct. 23. However, Notre Dame has seized control of this series — winning eight of the last nine — and has won the last two matchups by an average of 27 points per game. Navy lacks the kind of game-changer at quarterback it has had in previous years, such as Keenan Reynolds and Malcolm Perry, and it has shown. The Midshipmen rank 122nd nationally in scoring offense (17.9 points per game) and 127th in total offense (278.6 yards per game). The Navy defense has been serviceable, but the burden put upon it by its weak offense has still resulted in it allowing 31.9 points per game, which ranks just 107th nationally. The Irish will win this one in a runaway. Patrick Engel: Notre Dame 35, Navy 14 I get the sense Notre Dame fans rarely feel rewarded with wins over Navy, save for the 2019 disposal. The triple option is a pain to defend and wears down opponents, even in games where the Midshipmen trail wire-to-wire. Peskiness only goes so far, though. That's the theme of this series overall, especially in recent years with Navy's success. This season has been any- thing but successful, though. Navy averages 2.01 fewer yards per play than its opponents (3.97 to 5.98). The former figure is last among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. This feels like the game where everything clicks for Notre Dame. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 38, Navy 14 We've seen Notre Dame play what were supposed to be far inferior op- ponents rather closely this season. The Irish beat Florida State and Toledo by three points, for instance. This won't be one of those games. Not only is Notre Dame superior to Navy on both sides of the ball, the Irish get the Midshipmen in South Bend at a time in which the blue and gold appear to be jelling offensively far better than they did in the first half of the season. It'll be a rather smooth afternoon for the Notre Dame offense, and the Notre Dame defense won't have too much trouble stopping a Navy offense that ranked in the bottom five of all FBS offenses through Week 8. Mike Singer: Notre Dame 31, Navy 21 This is the ultimate trap game spot. Notre Dame is coming off a stretch of a handful of marquee opponents and has lowly Navy coming to town, but don't let the Midshipmen's abysmal record fool you. They played tough against Cincinnati and SMU this season despite losses, and ran past UCF. Notre Dame may be caught looking ahead to Virginia, but I still like the Irish to win by 10 points. It will help Notre Dame's defense considering that new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has coached against the triple option regularly.