Blue and Gold Illustrated

3 Turnovers forced by Notre Dame against Navy, the first time in nine games the Irish were able to generate more than one. The first two resulted in seven- and 26-yard touchdown drives that signifi- cantly aided the victory. Navy had committed only one turnover through its 4-0 start — and that came in the opening series in its opening game. 5 Plays that were under review in the first half alone when the game seemed to be con- stantly stopped for video analysis. The situation became so bad, combined with team and televi- sion timeouts, that even Notre Dame baseball coach Mik Aoki tweeted out his frustration with the pace of play. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI What Worked • Attack The Perimeter. Notre Dame dom- inated on the ground the first four games of the season, averaging 284.8 rushing yards per contest and 6.7 yards per attempt. Its first four opponents tried to find answers to the rushing attack, but it was not until Oct. 3 against Clem- son that the Irish offense started to show some chinks in the armor. The Tigers held Notre Dame to just 116 yards on 33 attempts (3.5 yards per carry). Navy likes to defend ground attacks with schemes similar to Clemson's, crashing the edge and attacking the line with its inside linebackers. In order to counter that, Notre Dame used shovel passes to senior running back C.J. Prosise and its slot receivers. This approach took the place of the slower developing power read con- cept the Irish had previously used to get outside. By going to this look the Irish were able to get outside with greater speed, and it allowed the line to get up field instead of blocking down, which it does on the power read. Prosise had three catches for 31 yards on this play. Notre Dame also used its screen game to quickly get the ball to the perimeter. When Navy countered in the second half to take this look away, the Irish were able to re-establish domi- nance between the tackles. • Big Plays. The Irish offense struggled with consistency against the Navy defense. Penal- ties, missed reads and overall sloppy play kept Notre Dame from truly taking over the game and putting the Midshipmen away early. Despite those struggles, Notre Dame scored 41 points and racked up 459 yards of offense. The Irish used the big play to churn out yards and points. Notre Dame notched 11 plays of at least 16 yards and seven plays of at least 22 yards, and finished with an average of 6.5 yards per play. Notre Dame's total yards and yards per play were the most Navy had allowed all season, and big plays were the key to success. What Didn't Work • Fullback Woes. Even with record-setting se- nior quarterback Keenan Reynolds on the side- line, the Navy offense was able to score back- to-back second-quarter touchdowns. The Navy fullbacks carried the offense early, with senior starter Chris Swain and senior backup Quentin Ezell combining for 97 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts in the first half. Ezell scored on runs of 45 and 22 yards to erase a 21-7 Irish lead. Notre Dame responded well in the second half, limiting the fullbacks to just 37 yards on 10 car- ries in the final two quarters. • Fourth-Down Failure. Notre Dame's defense was stout against Navy, holding the Midship- men to just two conversions on 11 third-down attempts. But fourth down was a different story, with Navy converting all four of its fourth-down attempts. — Bryan Driskell TAKING A CLOSER LOOK

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