Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/408565
capping a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took 7:31 off the clock. The Midship- men forced a three-and-out to get the ball right back and went 66 yards on six plays to take a 31-28 lead with 4:09 remaining in the third quarter. The key play on the drive was se- nior fullback Noah Copeland's 54- yard run on fourth-and-two from the Navy 42. Junior fullback Chris Swain capped the march with a four-yard scoring run. Once behind, Notre Dame turned to G olson an d Folston for tw o straight touchdowns. The Irish went 70 yards on 10 plays, with Golson's three-yard run putting them back up 35-31 with 14:55 to go in the game. The Notre Dame defense forced a punt after some trickery from Navy failed. On third-and-seven from the Midshipmen 39, Copeland received a pitch and attempted a pass to Reyn- olds, who was open but could not haul it in. "We understood we needed to rally," Irish sophomore safety Max Redfield said. "Our offense was play- ing really well for us, putting up a lot of points, obviously. We under- stood that they scored way too many points. Our whole team was looking to us to make a stop, and that's what we did." Fifth-year senior cornerback Cody Riggs nearly fumbled the ensuing punt away, but fell on it to set up a two-play, 86-yard quick strike march with Folston's 25-yard burst up the middle restoring a double-digit lead, 42-31. When the Irish failed to convert a pair of long field goals (44 and 46 yards), Navy struck back once more on Swain's 12-yard reception from Reynolds, followed by a two-point conversion, at the 4:18 mark, to pull within three on the scoreboard, 42-39. After the Irish recovered an onside kick, Golson's miscue-turned-touch- down put the Midshipmen away for good. Folston had a career day on the ground, rushing for 149 yards on 20 carries, but it was a 30-yard reception on third-and-six from the Navy 33 that set up Golson's eight-yard scor- ing scamper. Golson worked through his progressions and found Folston underneath the defense. The run- ning back turned up field and did his best to reach the end zone, only to be knocked out at the 3-yard line. "Where [Folston] showed him- self was that … where he went out of bounds on the three," Kelly said. "That's the kind of player he is. He can really make some extraordinary plays at times." In the final stanza, Notre Dame out- gained Navy by 37 yards and forced an interception. On the Midshipmen's first three possessions in the fourth quarter, the Irish allowed two total first downs, finally slowing the potent triple-option attack that produced 336 yards on 30 rushing attempts. "Navy is never going to quit," said sophomore linebacker Jaylon Smith, who finished with six tackles. "It's all about having that mindset of con- stant effort. There's going to be some adversity. It's all about the ebbs and flows in the game. "We came out on top. That's the most important thing." ✦