Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 NOV. 15, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED first seven Notre Dame games this sea- son, the redshirt senior defensive back started to learn the basics of defending Navy's triple option. Notre Dame's second bye week of the season following the Oct. 18 win over Southern Cal gave Smith and his teammates an early look ahead at the Midshipmen. He put his preparation on display with 5 tackles in the 49-10 win over Navy in Notre Dame Stadium. "This is my first time going against a triple option, so everything was foreign to me," Smith said. "Preparing before the game, I felt so confident just be- cause we had an extra week to prepare for it. That allowed me to play fast to- day, for sure." The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Smith made his third start in his lone season at Notre Dame. The graduate transfer from Alabama entered this game with just 4 tackles in an Irish uniform. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry, who recorded a team-high 8 tackles, was the only Notre Dame player to make more tackles against Navy than Smith. Smith credited his coaches and team- mates, including redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler and redshirt fresh- man safety Tae Johnson, for helping him understand his role against Navy. "I can shout out Adon for that," Smith said. "Tae Tae, even though he didn't play last year, but he was around and knew the system. Really all the DBs def- initely helped me get a grasp on what they were going to do and allowed me to play fast, for sure." Smith's up-and-down season was derailed by a right ankle injury that forced him to miss games against Texas A&M and Purdue. He returned to start against Arkansas, but he reaggravated the injury against Boise State the fol- lowing weekend. Smith missed two more games before making his return against Boston College after Notre Dame's second bye week. "It's definitely been tough," Smith said, "But trusting in God and His plan, knowing He makes no mistakes, and knowing that I will get back out there on that field and be able to contribute for my team. That's really how that process has been." Because the playing op- portunities have been so lim- ited for Smith this season, he didn't take the opportu- nity of playing against Navy for granted. The Irish played without junior cornerback Christian Gray, who is deal- ing with a left hip injury, for a second consecutive game. So, Smith and freshman corner- BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 3-10 ND6 Carr pass to Love for 27 yards to ND33 • 1-10 ND33 Carr pass to Fields for 52 yards to NAVY15 • 3-8 NAVY32 Carr pass to Pauling for 27 yards to NAVY5 • 1-10 NAVY48 Love rush for 48 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 NAVY34 Carr pass to Smith for 34 yards and a touchdown • 4-3 ND46 Williams rush for 54 yards and a touchdown Navy • 2-1 NAVY25 Woodson rush for 41 yards to ND34 In his first career game against a triple-option team, Smith recorded 5 tackles — more than his season total of 4 entering the game — to help the Irish contain Navy's vaunted ground attack. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • This contest between the Irish and Mid- shipmen was 98th between the two rivals, but marked the first time Navy competed in a night game at Notre Dame Stadium. • Notre Dame improved to 84-13-1 in the all-time series against Navy, which includes a 33-5 mark in Notre Dame Stadium. The last time the Midshipmen won in South Bend was a 23-21 triumph over head coach Charlie's Weis' Irish in 2009. • Head coach Marcus Freeman is now 4-0 overall against Navy and 1-0 against the Mid- shipmen in Notre Dame Stadium. • Junior Jeremiyah Love scored a pair of rushing touchdowns against the Midshipmen, while redshirt junior Jadarian Price also tallied a rushing score. It marked the 12th time that both running rushed for a touchdown in the same game and the sixth time this season — the most by a running back duo in Notre Dame history. • Freshman wide receiver Jerome Bettis Jr. made his first career appearance for the Irish and notched his first career reception, a 6-yard connection with redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey. • Junior tight end Ty Washington hauled in a 4-yard touchdown reception from redshirt freshman CJ Carr for his first touchdown re- ception as a member of the Irish. NOTRE DAME VS. NAVY QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:33 8:03 6:41 10:20 13:36 17:01 30:37 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 2-3 3-3 1-2 3-5 4-5 7-10 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-2 Average Field Position ND-13 ND-33 ND-39 ND-20 ND-25 ND-35 ND-30 Navy 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:27 6:57 8:19 4:40 16:24 12:59 29:23 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 1-3 1-4 0-1 2-6 1-5 3-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 Average Field Position NAVY-32 NAVY-25 NAVY-25 NAVY-25 NAVY-29 NAVY-25 NAVY-27 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND NAVY Nega ve 5 5 0-5 28 34 6-9 6 8 10-19 10 7 20-29 4 0 30-39 1 0 40-49 1 1 50 or more 2 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 5 4 0 1 Navy 2 1 1 0