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✦ top storylines: notre dame vs. navy By Lou Somogyi Where it starts is not difficult to figure out. When Navy won in 2009 and 2010, it outrushed Notre Dame 348‑60 and 373‑122, respectively. Last year, the Irish outrushed Navy 293‑149. Keen On Reynolds Navy's 2012 football season had all the makings of an implosion, especially after coming off their first losing season in nine years (5-7 in 2011). The Midshipmen began the 2012 campaign getting rocked by Notre Dame 50‑10 and ended September with a 1-3 record after San Jose State held Navy scoreless at home for the first time in six years. The season would end with the Mids yielding 62 points to Arizona State. In between, though, head coach Ken Niumatalolo's football program found itself, and its future, with freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds. He began the turnaround by coming off the bench to rally Navy to a victory against military rival Air Force, was named the starter thereafter and helped steer the Midshipmen to seven victories over eight contests. Reynolds became only the third rookie to start at quarterback for Navy since freshman eligibility was first permitted in 1972 and the first since 1991. He also was the first signal-caller at the Academy to win his first four career starts since senior Bob Powers in 1979. While passing for 898 yards (completing 56.5 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and only two interceptions), rushing for 649 and accounting for 19 touchdowns (nine passing and 10 rushing), Reynolds evoked memories of the charismatic Ricky Dobbs, Navy's starting quarterback in 2009-10. During those two seasons, Dobbs propelled the Midshipmen to 19 victories, most notably back-to-back against Notre Dame in 2009 (23-21) and 2010 (35‑17), a feat that not even Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach was able to achieve during his Navy career from 1962-64. "Outstanding quarterback who has re- Staying Healthy Sophomore quarterback Keenan Reynolds has thrown for 667 yards and four touchdowns through seven games, and he leads Navy with 546 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. photo courtesy navy ally been the catalyst for their offense," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of Reynolds. "He can throw the ball extremely well. … If you're just sitting on playing the triple option, he can throw the ball effectively." Hampered by an injury and illness a portion of this 4-3 season so far, Reynolds remains figuratively and literally the aircraft carrier in the Navy football arsenal. In fact, there almost seems to be an overreliance on the 5-11, 185-pound signalcaller to shoulder too much of the load. • In the opener, a 41-35 defeat of Indiana, Reynolds carried 32 times, netting 127 yards rushing. • After trailing at halftime against Air Force Oct. 5, Reynolds took control in the second half, finishing with 28 rushing attempts for 126 yards. • On Oct. 19, he was called upon again to handle most of the carries against Toledo, but this time his 29 attempts netted only 37 yards (but three touchdowns) in a 45-44 double-overtime setback to the Rockets. • In last week's 24-21 fourth-quarter rally to victory against Pitt, Reynolds had 21 carries for 93 yards and one touchdown. Nobody else for the Midshipmen carried the ball more than five times or netted more than 29 yards rushing. In his first two seasons at Navy, Reynolds is far ahead of where Dobbs was at the same time in his career trajectory. If he follows anywhere near a similar path in the ensuing two and a half seasons, the Midshipmen can become a much tougher out for Notre Dame than they have been the past two years. ✦ Page 7 Head coach Brian Kelly has been "Mr. November" at Notre Dame with a 10-1 record in that month (tied with Jesse Harper from 1913-15 for best November record by an Irish head coach in his first three seasons), and he wants to keep it that way — starting with a victory against Navy Nov. 2, while keeping the troops healthy. "There's a lot of things," responded Kelly when asked what have been instrumental in his November success, including 10‑1 at Cincinnati (2007-09) too. "First of all, you've got to stay healthy … sometimes that has to do with being fortunate." Notre Dame will be facing three physical games in a row to cap the regular season, all against teams that had the Irish seemingly beat in their stadium during last year's magical 12‑0 regular season. Pitt (Nov. 9) lost 29‑26 in three overtimes after holding a 20‑6 fourth-quarter advantage, BYU (Nov. 23) fell 17‑14 after leading 14‑7 at halftime, and Stanford (Nov. 30) also was defeated in overtime, 20‑13, after being in front most of the game. Starting senior offensive guard Christian Lombard was lost for the season because of back surgery Oct. 23, and the defensive line has been slowed by injuries since August. Junior end Stephon Tuitt has battled through offseason hernia surgery, sophomore end Sheldon Day missed several weeks with a high ankle problem and senior nose guard and anchor Louis Nix III didn't make the trip to Air Force while battling tendinitis in his knee plus a sore shoulder. Holding Nix out against Navy, espe-