Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/200019
Game Preview: Navy as its opponents," Wagner said. "The option can equalize things offensively, but there's no defensive option if you know what I mean." The Irish offensive line outweighs Navy's defensive line by an average of 55 pounds per man this year. Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green tries to eliminate his group's size disadvantage by keeping the ball in front of them long enough to force the opponent to make a mistake. They conservatively funnel the ball toward the inside linebacker in the 3-4 lineup. Senior Cody Peterson is the man waiting at the bottom of that funnel this year. He averaged 10.0 tackles per game in the first half of the season. The strategy is not much different than what Irish defensive coordinator Bob Diaco employed last year while trying to protect his inexperienced cornerbacks. Make the offense snap the ball as many times as possible, and once they get into the red zone use the shorter field as an extra defender. The problem recently for Navy is that it's been the one making more mistakes than its opponents. The Midshipmen, usually among the least penalized teams in the country, had more infractions and more turnovers than Duke. The offense also gave up a 68-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the close loss to Toledo. "They've just been uncharacteristically sloppy," Wagner said. "Too many turnovers and penalties, which is not typically Navy." The silver lining during those losses was the return of the fullback. Junior Noah Copeland and sophomore Chris Swain have delivered matching body blows with the dive play. Copeland lost his starting job early in the season while both players struggled to break through against defenses that were stacking up the middle of the field and forcing Navy to beat them on the Game Info Notre Dame Vs. Navy Date: Nov. 2, 2013. Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795). Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET. Television: NBC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 87th meeting between Notre Dame and Navy. The Irish hold a 73-12-1 advantage over the Midshipmen and won last year's meeting 50-10 in Dublin, Ireland. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (34‑13, fourth season); Navy — Ken Niumatalolo (44‑29, sixth season). Noting Navy: Since 2011, the winner of this annual meeting has taken home the Rip Miller Trophy; Miller was one of the "Seven Mules" who lined up in front of Notre Dame's famous "Four Horsemen," and he then went on to spend more than three decades as a coach and administrator at the Naval Academy, leading Navy to its first win over the Irish in 1933 … Notre Dame's 43-game win streak against the Midshipmen, snapped in 2007, was the longest for any annual head-to-head matchup in college football history … Notre Dame has scored 50 or more points in each of the last two meetings (56-14 and 50-10); the only other time that has happened in the series' history was in 1993-94 when the Irish won 58-27 and 58-21.