Blue and Gold Illustrated

GAME PREVIEW: NAVY look beyond what's coming up this weekend. "Certainly big picture, they want to accomplish something special this year, but right now it's all one week at a time for them. From the fan's per- spective it's a lot of excitement. From the player's perspective it's been much more measured. "However, playing Air Force is hugely emotionally draining for them. It's going to take some effort to get them back to full strength. Obviously the Notre Dame game isn't exactly overlooked on the schedule, but the No. 1 priority for Navy is to win the Commander-in-Chief's trophy." A major storyline following Navy this season is that this is its first year as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The Mids notched victo- ries in their first two league games, topping East Carolina 45-21 and Con- necticut 28-18. Prior to joining the league this sea- son, Navy had been independent for more than a century. Wang said the move shifts the focus of the season maybe a bit for Navy internally, but not as much as one might expect. "It's certainly different because they can play for a conference cham- pionship," Wang said. "If everything breaks right for them, they have a chance to play in a really big bowl game. But if you go week to week, they've played a lot of teams in the AAC previously — like Temple, SMU, Connecticut and East Carolina — so it's not like they're going into an en- tirely different scenario. "Certainly it's significant in Navy football history, after being indepen- dent for 134 years, but looking at it week to week for them it's whoever's on the schedule, then let the chips fall where they may when the season ends." Navy's chance at an upset bid versus the Irish begins and ends with senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds, whose 73 career rushing touchdowns enter- ing the Air Force game are the most for a quarterback in NCAA history and only trailed Wisconsin's Montee Ball by four to lead all players in college football history. The Irish held Reynolds to only 47 rushing yards on 18 carries last sea- son, but he completed six passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-39 Irish victory at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. NAVY Date: Oct. 10, 2015. Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795). Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET. Television: NBC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 89th meeting between Notre Dame and Navy. The Irish lead the series 75‑12‑1. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (49‑21, sixth season); Navy — Ken Niumatalolo (61‑35, eighth season). Noting Navy: The Midshipmen are 40‑10 (.800) when scoring 30 or more points in a game under Niumatalolo … Navy has rushed for more than 300 yards in 18 of its last 24 games … The Mid‑ shipmen are 15‑1 (.938) over the last four years when winning the turnover battle.

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