Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 8, 2025 43 GAME PREVIEW: NAVY ond level that doesn't have longtime leading tack- ler Colin Ramos (graduation) anymore will struggle to stop Love and Price. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NAVY PASS DEFENSE Navy's pass defense has very much been its is- sue, sitting tied for 103rd in the country at 7.8 opponent yards per attempt. Given the quality of its opponents to this point, that is a significant concern. Like its linebackers, Navy's secondary is relatively young. The departure of longtime starter Rayuan Lane III hurts, and the Midshipmen haven't really replaced his ability to create turnovers. Navy has intercepted only 4 passes so far this season, and defensive backs account for only 2 of them. Safety play has been a concern; it has been far too easy for wide receivers to get open over the top. Up front, Robinson is the straw that stirs the drink with 24 pressures and 5.5 sacks. The sacks are a career high and he needs only 4 more pres- sures for the most he's had in a single season. Robinson can be a menace if you're not care- ful, which underscores the importance of Notre Dame's interior offensive line — all of whom were projected to be backups when the Irish left for summer vacation. Presuming his poor performance against South- ern Cal was an anomaly, however, redshirt fresh- man quarterback CJ Carr should have no issue throwing on Navy's defense. Even with his off game against the Trojans, Carr is still tied for fifth with Ohio State's Julian Sayin at 9.6 yards per at- tempt. He and Notre Dame's wide receivers — this might be the game the Irish take some more shots to redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields — should have no problem beating the Midshipmen over the top. Whatever Navy is able to do offensively — and it should be more than last year — it's difficult to see how the Midshipmen can stop the Irish. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Neither of these teams kicks a ton of field goals, but Navy has the advantage. Midshipmen senior kicker Nathan Kirkwood has made 5 of 6 field goal attempts with a long of 48, as well as all 34 of his point after tries. Notre Dame redshirt senior kicker Noah Burnette is 5 of 6 on field goals as well, but he's been in and out of the lineup this season with a hip injury. His backup, true freshman Erik Schmidt, missed his lone field goal attempt from inside 40 yards. The Irish have missed 2 point after tries this season as well. Notre Dame, however, has the edge in pretty much all other areas. Punting is one; Irish punter James Rendell is 12th nationally in net punting average at 43.9 (among players with at least 10 at- tempts). Midshipmen punter Jacob Carlson is 85th at 39.4. Only 12.5 percent of Rendell's punts have been returned (tied for seventh nationally) and 8 have landed at or inside the 20-yard line. In the return game, Price is one of two play- ers in the country with multiple kickoff returns for a touchdown. Junior wide receiver and punt returner Jordan Faison has been effective in his own right, returning 8 punts for an average of 10.6 yards per return. Navy doesn't bring that kind of threat to the table on special teams. The wild card, as always, is Notre Dame's pen- chant for trickery in the third phase. This gives the Irish the advantage over most teams they play, even while they get their kicking situation sorted out. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Newberry and Cronic deserve a mountain of credit for what they've done with the Midship- men. Navy won a combined 11 games in its final three seasons under former head coach Ken Niu- matalolo. Newberry won 10 games in 2024 and is on his way to a second double-digit-win season in three years at the helm. Those wins also included an upset victory over Army and an Armed Forces Bowl victory over Okla- homa. None of that would have happened without Newberry's vision to modernize Navy's offense and identification of Cronic as the man to actually do it. I can't in good faith give Newberry and company the advantage over Notre Dame's staff, given that Irish head coach Marcus Freeman is now a con- OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 0 Malachi Fields 6-4 222 R-Sr. 5 Cam Williams 6-2 200 R-Fr. WR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 Jr. or 2 Will Pauling 5-10 190 R-Sr. LT 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-4 300 So. 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 292 R-Fr. LG 75 Sullivan Absher 6-8 327 R-So. 55 Chris Terek 6-6 322 R-So. C 64 Joe Otting 6-4 308 R-So. 57 Cam Herron 6-2 285 Fr. RG 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 335 R-Fr. or 75 Sullivan Absher 6-8 327 R-So. RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 300 R-Jr. 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 335 R-Fr. TE 9 Eli Raridon 6-7 252 Sr. 7 Ty Washington 6-4 248 R-Jr. or 85 Jack Larsen 6-3 250 R-Fr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 185 Jr. 11 KK Smith 6-0 176 R-So. QB 13 CJ Carr 6-3 210 R-Fr. 8 Kenny Minchey 6-2 208 R-So. RB 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 214 Jr. 24 Jadarian Price 5-11 210 R-Jr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 5 Boubacar Traore 6-4 250 R-So. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 255 Sr. or 12 Jordan Botelho 6-3 260 R-Sr. DT 47 Jason Onye 6-5 302 R-Sr. 42 Cole Mullins 6-5 275 R-Fr. DT 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 277 R-Jr. 93 Jared Dawson 6-1 288 R-Sr. DE 95 Bryce Young 6-7 271 So. 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 260 R-Jr. WILL 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-2 230 R-Jr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 228 R-So MIKE 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 235 Jr. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 230 So. NIC 0 DeVonta Smith 5-11 195 R-Sr. 14 Dallas Golden 6-0 187 Fr. CB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 195 So. 18 Chance Tucker 6-0 183 R-Sr. or 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 189 So. BS 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 205 R-So. 28 Luke Talich 6-4 210 Jr. FS 9 Tae Johnson 6-2 192 R-Fr. 7 Jalen Stroman 6-1 201 R-Sr. CB 6 Christian Gray 6-0 190 Jr. 24 Mark Zackery IV 6-1 175 Fr. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 210 Fr. PK 98 Noah Burnette 5-10 185 R-Sr. P 16 James Rendell 6-6 225 R-Sr. 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 210 Fr. LS 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 232 Fr. 49 Andrew Kros 6-4 225 Jr. H 10 Tyler Buchner 6-1 206 R-Sr. 16 Anthony Rezac 6-3 201 So. PR 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 185 Jr. or 2 Will Pauling 5-10 190 R-Sr. KR 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 214 Jr. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-11 210 R-Jr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART