Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1484072
26 NOV. 19, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED taking over after a missed field goal into a 35-13 edge by halftime. That deluge in the opening part of the middle eight — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second — flipped a tense moment into a setup for a rout. "We ended the first half the way we wanted to," Freeman said. "That middle eight is so important. We have to start the second half the right way." Notre Dame, though, did the opposite in the final 30 minutes but hung on for a 35-32 win. Turns out, that middle eight didn't propel it to a blowout. It proved to be the difference in a game that nearly slipped away from the Irish. Within it, one play stands out. Junior cornerback Clarence Lewis' interception one play after kicker Blake Grupe's missed 45-yard field goal didn't just give Notre Dame the ball back. It felt like a 14-point swing. Lewis picked off a throw that might have been a 72-yard touchdown if com- pleted. And three plays later, Notre Dame scored its fourth touchdown of the half. With his roughly 30-yard sprint from the far hash mark to the sideline, Navy's best chance to put some pressure on Notre Dame in the first half disappeared. Navy went big-game hunting on its first snap after starting at the 28-yard line following the miss. The Midship- men are not a prolific passing team, es- pecially when starting a backup quar- terback. They wanted to take a shot with some trickery and called for a pass from wide receiver Kai Puailoa-Rojas to quarterback Xavier Arline. Lewis began the play lined up slightly outside the far hash mark, with the ball on the other hash. His man was Puailoa-Rojas, who broke toward where the ball was snapped and stayed behind the line of scrimmage. Arline handed off to tight end John Amell, who had mo- tioned across the formation. It looked like a jet sweep headed Lewis' direction. But Lewis didn't bite. He saw Puailoa- Rojas readying for the ball. And he saw Arline leaking out to the other side with nobody on him. No defender was even in Arline's way on that side of the field. Amell's motion took junior safety Xavier Watts with him. Receiver Mark Walker NAVY VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Navy 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:35 6:57 12:02 6:05 12:32 18:07 30:39 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 0-1 1-5 1-3 1-3 2-8 3-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position Navy-25 Navy-24 Navy-29 Navy-29 Navy-25 Navy-29 Navy-27 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:25 8:03 2:58 8:55 17:28 11:53 29:21 Third-Down Conversions 3-4 2-3 0-1 1-5 5-7 1-6 6-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 Average Field Position ND-22 Navy-43 ND-24 ND-48 ND-40 ND-40 ND-40 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards Navy ND Nega ve 4 11 0-5 37 27 6-9 8 6 10-19 5 3 20-29 3 4 30-39 2 4 40-49 0 0 50 or more 1 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Navy 3 2 1 0 Notre Dame 2 2 0 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 3-8 Navy30 Pyne pass complete to Estime for 30 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 Navy38 Pyne pass complete to Lenzy for 38 yards and a touchdown • 3-12 ND15 Pyne pass complete to Colzie for 29 yards to ND44 • 3-10 ND44 Pyne pass complete to Thomas for 38 yards to Navy18 • 2-8 Navy39 Estime rush for 28 yards to Navy11 • 1-10 Navy37 Pyne pass complete to Thomas for 37 yards and a touchdown Navy • 3-5 Navy30 Arline pass complete to Walker for 36 yards to ND34 • 2-10 ND36 Fofana rush for 36 yards and a touchdown • 2-12 Navy18 Fofana rush for 50 yards to ND32 • 1-10 ND32 Arline rush for 26 yards to ND6 Junior cornerback Clarence Lewis diagnosed a Navy trick play and snagged a momentum- flipping interception late in the first half. PHOTO BY TAVAN SMITH MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Junior safety Brandon Joseph, freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather and ju- nior linebacker JD Bertrand all missed the game against Navy due to injury. As a result, freshman linebacker Junior Tuihalamaka and sophomore safety Xavier Watts made their first career starts vs. the Midshipmen. • Freshman running back Gi'Bran Payne saw his first action of the season in the game's opening kickoff, while freshman linebacker Jaylen Sneed made his first appearance for the Irish in the first quarter. • Junior quarterback Drew Pyne played a role in all 5 of Notre Dame's first-half touch- downs (4 passing, 1 rushing), which is the most for an Irish player since Jack Coan ac- counted for 5 touchdowns in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl. The 4 touchdown passes thrown by Pyne in the first half are the most for an Irish QB since in the first 30 minutes of a game since Coan threw 4 in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State. • Sophomore running back Audric Estime scored the game's first touchdown on his first career touchdown reception, a 30-yard strike from Pyne. • Sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas's 38-yard touchdown reception late in the sec- ond quarter is the longest reception of his career. • Graduate student defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola posted a career-high-tying 6 tackles against the Midshipmen.