Blue and Gold Illustrated

the deficit to 21-14 the first play after Tillery's exit. After a Kizer interception, Navy cruised down the field on a six-play, 41-yard touchdown drive that culmi- nated in a 22-yard Ezell touchdown with Tillery still sidelined. (Tillery did, however, return in the second half.) Those back-to-back Midshipmen scores to tie the game both came with- out stellar senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who was sidelined by an ankle injury but returned to the field at the beginning of the third quarter. "With the kind of personalities that we have, the leadership, they do not carry that [adversity] with them very long," head coach Brian Kelly said. "They just have a resiliency to them. They just have a way of getting back to work quickly. "Every time there's been any kind of sense of adversity, they go right back to work." Freshman kicker Justin Yoon booted a 52-yard field goal through the up- rights to end the first half and put the Irish up 24-21. On the opening kickoff of the third quarter, sophomore linebacker Nyles Morgan forced a fumble by Navy ju- nior returner Dishon Romine, which was recovered by junior cornerback Devin Butler. Two plays later, senior running back C.J. Prosise reached the end zone on a 22-yard run and Notre Dame led 31-21. "Huge, huge possessions," Kelly said of the two Navy fumbles that led to Irish touchdowns. "We were able to gain more possessions in this game than any other game that we played against Navy. … I think those obvi- ously meant a lot in this game." Notre Dame achieved an important defensive stop after that sequence. Ro- mine returned the kickoff to the Irish 38-yard line, but the Notre Dame de- fense held and forced Navy to attempt a 44-yard field goal, which it missed. The Irish marched 73 yards in 10 plays to add another touchdown to their tally — an 11-yard Prosise run — and build a 38-21 cushion. Prosise, who also scored on a seven- yard run early in the second quarter after a Midshipmen fumble, became the first Irish running back with multiple three-touchdown games in a season since Reggie Brooks accomplished the feat in 1992. Between the 30-22 defeat of Geor- gia Tech Sept. 19 and the 17-point win over the Midshipmen, the Irish held up against the pesky triple-option look that has plagued the defense several times in recent years. "To see it pay off is really good," se- nior defensive lineman Sheldon Day said. "We did it in camp and did it in spring ball. Just to watch us go through it and see the success that we had is pretty good." Kelly awarded the game ball to pre- ferred walk-on Robert Regan, a fresh- man signal-caller welcomed to Notre Dame primarily to run the option for the scout team against the defense. "He did an excellent job of giving us a realistic look at the triple option," soph- omore linebacker Greer Martini said. "He took some big hits this week, and he always got back up and went to the huddle. I can't thank him enough for getting us prepared for this game." Martini excelled as a starter against the triple option for the third time in

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