Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547434
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 7, 2026 23 6 Receptions for 78 yards and his first career touchdown, a 31-yard connection with junior quarterback CJ Carr in the fourth quarter, for soph- omore wide receiver Jerome Bettis Jr. He entered the contest with 5 career catches for 98 yards. 9-0 All-time record for Notre Dame against Navy on Halloween. The Irish have out- scored the Midshipmen 335-69 (an average of 37.2-7.7) in those nine matchups on Oct. 31: Year Result 1942 Notre Dame 9, Navy 0 1953 Notre Dame 38, Navy 7 1959 Notre Dame 25, Navy 22 1964 Notre Dame 40, Navy 0 1970 Notre Dame 56, Navy 7 1981 Notre Dame 38, Navy 0 1987 Notre Dame 56, Navy 13 1992 Notre Dame 38, Navy 7 2026 Notre Dame 35, Navy 13 The Irish have never lost on Halloween, going 17-0 overall. 11 Touchdowns through eight games for soph- omore running back Nolan James Jr., after his career-best 52-yard scoring run late in the first half and a 23-yard scoring run in the third quarter. James has scored at least 1 touchdown in all eight Notre Dame games this season. 13 Points for Navy on its first three drives against Notre Dame. In converting two field goals and scoring a touchdown, the Midship- men became just the third opponent to score on each of their first three drives of the game against head coach Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish. The first two to do it were Northern Illinois on Sept. 7, 2024, and Ohio State in the national cham- pionship game on Jan. 20, 2025. The Irish lost both of those games (16-14 to NIU and 34-23 to OSU), but rallied to defeat Navy. 15 Rushing yards on just 4 attempts for Notre Dame during the first 29 minutes of the game. At that point, Nolan James Jr. ripped off a career-best 52-yard touchdown run. Beginning with that run, the Irish had 25 rushing attempts for 189 yards (7.6 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns to take over the game. 23:33-6:27 Advantage in time of possession for Navy in the first half. The Irish responded by con- trolling the ball for 20:53 compared to just 9:07 for the Midshipmen in the second half. 28 Unanswered points for the Fighting Irish to end the game after they fell behind 13-7 with 1:52 remaining in the first half. Notre Dame scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions of the game, with the lone ex- ception being a three-and-out midway through the second quarter that allowed Navy to take a brief lead with its lone touchdown of the game. During that decisive stretch, the Irish scored touchdowns on four consecutive possessions, with those drives covering a combined 262 yards, including 30 yards on Navy penalties, while the Midshipmen man- aged just 11 plays for 36 yards. 50 Career victories for Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. He did it in just 63 games, joining Ara Parseghian in a tie for the third- fastest Irish head coach to reach 50 wins, trailing only Knute Rockne (57) and Frank Leahy (58). 56 Total yards for Navy in the second half af- ter gaining 189 in the first 30 minutes. The Midshipmen converted 4 of 8 third downs and 2 of 2 fourth downs in the first half, but were 0 of 4 on third down and 0 of 1 on fourth down in the second half. 107 Yards on just 9 carries for sopho- more running back Nolan James Jr., marking his second career 100-yard game on the ground. 163 Rushing yards for the Midshipmen in the first half against the Irish, which was more than Notre Dame allowed in any of its first seven full games. The Notre Dame defense locked in during the second half and limited Navy to just 49 yards on 13 carries. Navy finished the game with 212 yards on 48 carries, the most rushing yards allowed by Notre Dame this season. The Fighting Irish entered the game ranked third nationally in rushing defense, surrendering just 67.3 yards per contest. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 80.0 Completion percentage for junior quarterback CJ CARR in the second half. He opened the second half with 10 consecutive completions and connected on 12 of 15 throws after going 7 of 14 before halftime. He finished with 210 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE