Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2016 45 per carry, down from its average of 5.6 yards per attempt in 2015. Sophomore running back Josh Adams — who averaged 7.1 yards per carry in 2015 as a true fresh- man — went for just 4.7 yards per rush during the first seven games. He led the Irish with 416 yards during that period, while junior quarterback DeShone Kizer paced the team with seven rushing touchdowns and was second with 285 yards. Advantage: Navy NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NAVY PASS DEFENSE The primary weakness for Navy this season has been its porous pass defense. Through its first six games, the Midshipmen were giving up 256.0 yards per game through the air, which ranked 94th in the country. Opponents averaged 8.1 yards per attempt and 13.0 yards per completion during that stretch, which ranked 106th and 94th, respectively. Navy's 143.24 defensive pass efficiency rating ranked 103rd na- tionally. The Midshipmen do get after the quarterback well, racking up 14 sacks in the first six contests. Pal- more led the way with five quarterback takedowns during that period. Navy's struggles with the pass game play into a Notre Dame strength. The Irish ranked 37th nation- ally in passing yards per game (263.9) through seven contests. In addition, they were 10th in yards per completion (14.9) and 20th in yards per attempt (8.4). Kizer scuffled in back-to-back losses to NC State and Stanford, passing for a combined 208 yards and no touchdowns with three interceptions. It dropped his passer efficiency rating from 175.38 — which ranked him 14th nationally at the time — to 147.4 (34th). Sophomore wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown remained Notre Dame's top pass catcher after seven games, leading the team with 31 receptions for 611 yards. His average of 19.7 yards per catch ranked 19th in the country through the first eight weeks of the college football season. Kizer has spread the ball around well, with five players catching at least 10 passes through seven games. Notre Dame struggled to protect the quar- terback through seven games, though, allowing Kizer and senior backup Malik Zaire to be sacked 19 times. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Navy's coverage and return units have been good for much of the season, with the Mids rank- ing 43rd nationally in kick coverage and 49th in punt returns through six games. Romine ranked 12th in the nation for kickoff returns (28.4 yards per return) and ripped off an 85-yard runback against Houston. Notre Dame has been dynamic at times with its return game thanks to the explosive playmaking ability of sophomore C.J. Sanders. Outside of a few big Sanders returns, however, the Irish have struggled on special teams. Notre Dame ranked 53rd nationally in kick cov- erage through seven games, and the 96-yard kick return score it gave up to Duke proved to be a turning point in that loss. Notre Dame also ranked an abysmal 123rd in punt coverage, allowing op- ponents to average 15.8 yards per return. After nailing 15 of 17 field goal attempts as a true freshman in 2015, Irish placekicker Justin Yoon missed three kicks in the team's first seven games. Notre Dame has blocked two extra points this season, both of which it returned for two-point conversions. Advantage: Navy COACHING Brian Kelly's overall career numbers (228-85-2) are more impressive than Ken Niumatalolo, but the Navy head coach has done an impressive job with the Midshipmen. Now in his ninth season, Niumatalolo has gone 73-38 and has won at least nine games four times. Last season — Navy's first in the American Athletic Conference — he led the Midshipmen to an 11-2 record and its best finish (No. 18) in the Associated Press poll since 1963. Kelly's career against Niumatalolo got off to a rocky start, with Navy beating the Irish 35-17 in 2010. The Irish bounced back, beating the Mid- shipmen by a combined score of 106-24 in 2011 and 2012. Navy competed well against Notre Dame the next two seasons, losing twice by a combined 14 points, but the Irish beat Navy convincingly last season, winning 41-24. Advantage: Even INTANGIBLES Navy has become a consistent program under Niumatalolo. Despite suffering heavy personnel losses, the Midshipmen continue to win. Notre Dame has not been able to sustain that same level of success despite having a much more talented roster. The Midshipmen are a more disciplined foot- ball team, which gives them an advantage. Notre Dame, on the other hand, is the more talented football team. There aren't any players left on the Navy roster who know what it's like to beat Notre Dame, which is another factor that swings in the favor of the Irish. Advantage: Even GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Z-WR 4 Jamir Tillman 6-4 212 Sr. 87 Brandon Colon 6-4 223 Jr. LT 79 Blake Copeland 6-4 281 Sr. 57 Jake Hawk 6-6 312 So. LG 72 Adam West 6-3 297 Sr. 70 Maurice Morris 6-2 327 Sr. C 70 Maurice Morris 6-2 327 Sr. 62 Parker Wade 6-2 271 Jr. RG 71 Evan Martin 6-3 294 Jr. 72 Adam West 6-3 297 Sr. RT 61 Andrew Wood 6-4 300 So. 57 Jake Hawk 6-6 312 So. X-WR 88 Tyler Carmona 6-4 222 Jr. 82 Craig Scott 6-2 189 Jr. SB 28 Dishan Romine 5-11 178 Sr. 21 Tre Walker 5-9 190 So. QB 15 Will Worth 6-1 205 Sr. 9 Zach Abey 6-2 218 So. SB 2 Toneo Gulley 5-8 196 Sr. 20 Calvin Cass Jr. 5-10 206 Sr. FB 33 Chris High 6-0 224 Jr. 31 Shawn White 6-1 255 Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. LE 90 Jarvis Polu 6-3 280 So. 91 Tyler Sayles 6-2 255 Jr. NG 68 Patrick Forrestal 6-4 305 Sr. 99 Jackson Pittman 6-3 315 Fr. RE 52 Amos Mason 6-1 266 Sr. 97 Nnamdi Uzoma 6-3 251 Sr. Star 48 Josiah Powell 6-3 224 Sr. 3 Brandon Jones 6-4 225 Jr. Mike 53 Hudson Sullivan 6-2 240 So. 49 Mike Kelly 6-1 230 Sr. Sam 44 Micah Thomas 6-1 249 Jr. 54 Taylor Heflin 6-2 224 So. Raid 45 D.J. Palmore 6-3 236 Jr. 55 Ted Colburn 6-3 230 Sr. LCB 17 Tyris Wooten 6-1 180 Jr. 9 Jarid Ryan 5-11 203 So. FS 26 Daiquan Thomasson 6-0 205 Sr. or 6 Sean Williams 6-1 190 So. SS 1 Alohi Gilman 6-0 200 Fr. or 6 Sean Williams 6-1 190 So. RCB 14 Elijah Merchant 5-10 196 Jr. 1 Alohi Gilman 6-0 200 Fr. NAVY DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. K 16 Bennett Moehring 5-9 180 So. 43 Erik Harris 5-10 184 So. KO 16 Bennett Moehring 5-9 180 So. 43 Erik Harris 5-10 184 So. P 18 Alex Barta 6-3 213 Sr. 43 Erik Harris 5-10 184 So. LS 94 Josh Antol 6-1 214 Sr. 85 Ronnie Querry 6-1 208 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. H 15 Will Worth 6-1 205 Sr. 43 Erik Harris 5-10 184 So. PR 82 Craig Scott 6-2 189 Jr. 20 Calvin Cass Jr. 5-10 206 Sr. KR 28 Dishan Romine 5-11 178 Sr. 2 Toneo Gulley 5-8 196 Sr. Special Teams