Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 7, 2026 27 For the second straight game, Notre Dame's opponent marched up and down the field throughout the game's first 30 minutes. "Stop panicking," Freeman said of the defensive response. "Don't come up with some magical calls that our guys don't know how to execute. It's not a call. What are they doing? How do we make sure we get adjusted?" The Irish allowed points on Navy's first three possessions. The Midship- men controlled the ball for 23:33 of the first half and rushed for 163 yards on 35 attempts (4.7 yards per carry). Defenders were uncharacteristically unsound with their assignments against Navy's option. This was exemplified when both Bowen and junior defensive end Bryce Young went after the quar- terback and neither covered the pitch, which gained 16 yards. Notre Dame's first-half effort was ex- actly as inspired as it was in the first half at BYU, which is to say, not very. "What you saw in the first half wasn't really our brand of football," senior de- fensive end Boubacar Traore said. "I feel like we weren't doing what we were supposed to do." One game is an anomaly. Two games suggest a trend. It's difficult to square what the defense feels its brand of foot- ball is with what it showed in late Octo- ber. While Notre Dame did slam the door shut in the second half (Navy gained just 56 total yards) at Gillette Stadium in Fox- borough, Mass., it can't afford to rely on halftime adjustments again. Because shorthanded or not, if the Irish don't play their brand of football next week in South Bend, they will lose. And losing to Miami is not an option. — Jack Soble 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 10:04 13:29 5:29 3:38 23:33 9:07 32:40 Third-Down Conversions 2-6 2-2 0-2 0-2 4-8 0-4 4-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 2-2 0-0 0-1 0-0 2-2 0-1 2-3 Average Field Position Navy30 Navy31 Navy25 Navy24 Navy31 Navy25 Navy28 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 4:56 1:31 9:31 11:22 6:27 20:53 27:20 Third-Down Conversions 0-1 0-1 2-2 1-4 0-2 3-6 3-8 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-1 1-2 2-3 Average Field Position ND25 ND27 ND37 ND22 ND26 ND31 ND29 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards Navy ND Nega ve 2 1 0-5 31 33 6-9 18 7 10-19 4 10 20-29 0 4 30-39 0 1 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Navy 3 1 2 0 Notre Dame 3 2 0 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ND48 James rush for 52 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 NAVY31 Carr pass to Bettis for 31 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 ND32 Williams rush for 28 yards to NAVY40 Navy • None Senior linebacker Drayk Bowen recorded 7 tackles before leav- ing the game with an ankle injury that is expected to sideline him for an extended period. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Notre Dame now has an all-time record of 85-13-1 against Navy, and improved to 51-8-1 at neutral sites. • The Fighting Irish have now won nine straight games against Navy, dating back to 2017. Head coach Marcus Freeman is now 5-0 against the Midshipmen. • This contest marked the first time Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., has hosted the Notre Dame-Navy rivalry game. It is the northern-most U.S. city to host the matchup and the 12th different NFL stadium to do so (attendance was 61,293). The furthest north the Irish and Midshipmen have ever played are their three meetings in Dublin, Ireland (1996, 2012, and 2023). • The Irish are now 143-23-5 against Ameri- can Athletic Conference opponents, including 7-0 under Freeman. • Senior Drayk Bowen made his 36th con- secutive start at linebacker, the fourth-longest streak for a Notre Dame player at that position. • Junior quarterback CJ Carr fired his 41st career touchdown pass in the first quarter, an 11-yard strike to junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert to give Notre Dame a 7-3 lead. The touchdown pass tied Everett Golson for sev- enth all-time in program history. He moved into sole possession of seventh place on that list with a 31-yard scoring toss to sophomore wide receiver Jerome Bettis Jr. in the fourth quarter. • Senior safety Luke Talich and senior defen- sive tackle Armel Mukam set career highs with 10 and 4 tackles, respectively.