Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547434
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 7, 2026 21 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B- We're grading on a curve here, because Navy entered the game as the third-worst pass defense in the country in terms of opponent yards per attempt. Still, junior quarterback CJ Carr had a relatively efficient day. Carr completed 19 of 29 passes for 210 yards (7.2 yards per attempt) with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His second series did not represent his finest work, with a ball in traffic that was de- flected and could have been intercepted and an ill-advised deep ball to senior wide receiver Jordan Faison on third-and-10. Faison caught the ball out of bounds, but Carr could have hit senior wideout Jaden Greathouse underneath for a first down. In between, junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert was open for a sizable gain but inexplicably wasn't looking for the football. The point is, the operation looked bad for a second. But Carr settled down, locked in and went right back to taking what the Midshipmen gave him. He led touchdown drives on each of his next four possessions. He took a liking to sophomore wide receiver Jerome Bettis Jr., finding him 5 times for 66 yards and a 31-yard touchdown — all in the second half. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: A+ Navy's run defense is actually its strength, but you wouldn't have known it by watching the Notre Dame offensive line maul the Midshipmen in Fox- borough, Mass. The Irish rushed 29 times for 204 yards (7.0 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns, led by sophomore Nolan James Jr.'s 9 attempts for 107 yards and 2 scores. James broke free for a 52-yard touchdown late in the first half, which was huge because Notre Dame trailed 13-7 at the time. Otherwise, this was simply a dominant performance up front. Sophomore left tackle Will Black, junior left guard Anthonie Knapp, fifth-year center Ashton Craig, senior right guard Sullivan Absher and junior right tackle Guerby Lambert all deserve their flow- ers for this performance. So does offensive coordi- nator Mike Denbrock, who notably found success running outside zone out of the pistol. For those who wanted freshman running back Jonaz Walton more involved, you got that as well. Walton didn't quite have the space James was provided, but he ran hard and tough for 51 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: C This is a weird one to grade, because Navy doesn't throw a lot. But the Midshipmen used the forward pass to extend their scoring drives in a couple instances, despite finishing 5-of-9 passing for just 33 yards overall. Notably, backup quarterback Braxton Wood- son found starting quarterback Jackson Gutierrez (that's Navy for you) for a first down on fourth- and-4 in the second quarter. A few plays later, Gutierrez's pass to wide receiver Truman Brasfield fell incomplete but drew a pass-interference flag on senior Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler after fellow senior safety Luke Talich missed a golden opportunity for a sack. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: D Credit to Notre Dame for slamming the door shut on Navy in the second half. Navy rushed for just 49 yards on 13 carries after the break, which saved the Irish from turning in a failing grade. Of the previous 30 minutes, Navy held the ball for 23:33 and rushed for 163 yards (and 4.7 yards per carry) during that time. Notre Dame looked as lost against the triple option as it has since scrap- ing by Navy 35-32 in 2022. A defense that usually gets to the Midshipmen's spots before they do was constantly chasing, which is a recipe for disaster against that offense. Navy's sweeps and counters also hurt Notre Dame, in large part because the defensive tackles often got blasted off the line of scrimmage at the point of attack. It could have been worse, too. On a drive that would wind up resulting in a field goal, Gutierrez ran down the Notre Dame sideline for a 64-yard touchdown. It was called back due to a holding penalty drawn by freshman Irish defensive end Rodney Dunham, which was the correct call … but it did not look like the hold was necessary for Gutierrez to get the edge. NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS: C+ Notre Dame tried to pooch its kickoffs and make Navy return them, but freshman kickoff specialist Micah Drescher sent the first one out of bounds. Navy did the same thing, specifically kicking it to junior running back Aneyas Williams instead of Walton. Williams combined for 44 yards on his 3 returns. NOTRE DAME COACHING: C- When I spent some time on the field at Gillette Stadium during warm-ups, I saw a great deal of energy from the players in white jerseys. I did not see a ton of urgency. The Irish were lively as they huddled outside the tunnel. They cheered for each other and hyped each other up as they dispersed for stretching. I'm not saying they should have been miserable — confident is a good thing — but the urgency, intensity and anger one might expect following a loss wasn't necessarily there. Notre Dame's coaching staff deserves credit for the halftime adjustments that led to a 21-0 margin after the break, and if the sluggish start was a one- off, that would be one thing. However, "they came out flat" is something we've said about the Irish far too often this season. It's on the coaching staff to get their players ready to go, even if the opponent shows them a look they haven't seen before. It's also the coaches' job to show looks their opponents haven't seen before, which hasn't happened enough this year. Looking ahead to Miami? Perhaps. But that, head coach Marcus Freeman believes, would be an excuse. "If I say we were thinking about Miami, I'm blam- ing it on something it's not," Freeman said. "It's up to us to go and execute on this play and do our job." REPORT CARD BY JACK SOBLE Freshman running back Jonaz Walton rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries as Notre Dame averaged 7.0 yards per rush in its 35-13 victory over Navy. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE