Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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part to the huge completions it had to enhance the triple-option looks. ADVANTAGE: Navy NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. NAVY RUN DEFENSE Sophomore running back Tarean Folston has taken complete command of the Irish running attack with his second straight 100-yard output (a career-high 149 yards on 20 carries) — and 367 yards with a 6.2 yards per carry average over his last three contests. Just like Navy, Notre Dame averaged 5.6 yards per attempt while amassing its 218 rushing yards. The continued improvement of the offensive line, coupled with senior quarterback Everett Golson's ad- lib skills that helped him rush for three touchdowns, enabled the Irish to control the line of scrimmage against the smaller defense. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NAVY PASS DEFENSE Other than a miscommunicated route late in the first half that resulted in an interception, Golson showed outstanding accuracy and field vision while completing 18 of 25 passes for 315 yards and three scores. The slip screen and slants were not nearly used with the frequency they had been, but the vertical passes across the middle were especially effective, with tight end Ben Koyack catching a season high five passes for 54 yards. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Two uncharacteristic missed field goals (one blocked) by senior kicker Kyle Brindza in the fourth quarter, the absence of any return game and a nearly lost fumble by Riggs in the fourth quarter on a punt return inside his 20 could have been costly. One saving grace was junior slot receiver C.J. Pro- sise's recovery of Navy's onside kick after the Mid- shipmen had cut the deficit to 42-39. The Mids get the slight edge because kicker Austin Grebe's career- long 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half provided a huge momentum boost to Navy while it scored 24 unanswered points. ADVANTAGE: Navy THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS Notre Dame was 7 of 10 (70.0 percent) to Navy's 7 of 16 (43.8 percent), but the Midshipmen did keep drives alive and controlled the clock by converting 3 of 5 fourth-down situations. The most crucial conver- sion was Notre Dame's 30-yard check down toss to Folston on third-and-six at the Navy 33 to set up the final touchdown and clinch the game. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame TURNOVERS Both teams had only one, but Golson's intercep- tion toss from the Navy 33 with 24 seconds left in the first half had an uplifting effect for the Midship- men, even resulting in a field goal right before inter- mission. Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Justin Utupo had an interception in the fourth quarter, but the Irish were not able to capitalize in Navy territory with any points. ADVANTAGE: Even SUMMARY This is what was anticipated of the 2014 Notre Dame team: Needing to win games by 50-43 or 49-39 scores with its promising offense but rebuilding defense that included three freshmen in major roles. With Schmidt now sidelined because of an injury, it might be more of the same at Arizona State — although the Sun Devils have allowed only 10, 10 and 16 points the past three weeks in defensive-oriented games versus Stanford, Washington and Utah, respectively. The Navy game served as another example of why coaches cannot concentrate on College Football Playoff conversations in early November when there are so many improvements that need to be made within the team. Look for the Irish to be sharper against ASU, just like they were versus FSU the week after the North Carolina game. ✦ ON PAPER REVISITED BY LOU SOMOGYI