Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/747744
24 NOV. 14, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED "The toughest part is the idea of winning on third down … you have to win fourth down, too," senior de- fensive end Isaac Rochell said. "It takes away your ideology of win on third down. It is taxing. You're not done after three." Notre Dame's next drive appeared promising, with Kizer leading the of- fense into the red zone before stalling at the Navy 14. On fourth-and-four, Kelly elected to kick a field goal — a successful 31-yard kick by sopho- more Justin Yoon — to make it 28-27 Navy with 7:28 remaining. Kelly said after the game he con- sidered going for it instead of putting the game in the hands of his defense. "This is a game of trust. We trust in Coach Kelly and his decisions, and Coach Kelly trusts in us to make the plays we need to make," Kizer said. "The way that that game ended ob- viously is going to have a bunch of fingers pointing at that. "But at the same time, if we were out there executing the way we should've in a couple third-down situations on offense and defense, we would've been fine." Navy's offense was able to sustain a final drive and run out the clock. Junior linebackers Greer Martini and Nyles Morgan led Notre Dame with 11 tackles apiece. Onwualu and freshman cornerback Julian Love — who left the game in the second half with a head injury, Kelly said — both finished with eight tackles. Navy freshman safety Alohi Gil- man had 12 tackles to lead the Mid- shipmen defense. Notre Dame — favored by 6.5 points in Vegas entering the game — never looked that good against the Midshipmen. The Irish drove 83 yards on their opening possession and scored a touchdown — a 26-yard pass from Kizer to senior wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. — but Navy responded immediately. Junior slot back Darryl Bonner capped a 73-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7. Senior tight end Durham Smythe scored Notre Dame's only other touchdown in the first half. Kizer was 19-of-27 passing for 223 yards with three touchdowns and no intercep- tions, and sophomore running back Josh Adams was Notre Dame's top rusher against the Midshipmen with 73 yards on 12 carries. "We wish Coach Kelly and Notre Dame the best of luck," Niumatalolo said. "They're still a great team. We found a way to get one more point than them." The Irish (3-6) now must win all three of their remaining regular- season contests, starting with Army Nov. 12 in San Antonio, to become bowl eligible. ✦ Senior wideout Torii Hunter Jr. finished with career highs in catches (eight) and receiving yards (104), and hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass on Notre Dame's opening drive. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA NAVY 28, NOTRE DAME 27 Nov. 5, 2016 ✦ Attendance: 50,867 Everbank Field ✦ Jacksonville, Fla. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot. Notre Dame 10 7 7 3 27 Navy 7 7 7 7 28 ND NAVY FIRST QUARTER ND Hunter 26-yard pass from Kizer (Yoon kick) 11:30 7 0 Drive: 10 plays, 83 yards, 3:30 NAVY Bonner 16-yard run (Moehring kick) 6:30 7 7 Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 5:00 ND Yoon 39-yard field goal 1:47 10 7 Drive: 11 plays, 48 yards, 4:43 SECOND QUARTER NAVY Worth 3-yard run (Moehring kick) 7:43 10 14 Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 4:36 ND Smythe 8-yard pass from Kizer (Yoon kick) 0:30 17 14 Drive: 14 plays, 75 yards, 7:13 THIRD QUARTER NAVY Cass Jr. 37-yard run (Moehring kick) 11:08 17 21 Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:52 ND St. Brown 13-yard pass from Kizer (Yoon kick) 5:51 24 21 Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:17 FOURTH QUARTER NAVY Worth 1-yard run (Moehring kick) 11:51 24 28 Drive: 16 plays, 75 yards, 9:00 ND Yoon 31-yard field goal 7:28 27 28 Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards, 4:23 ND NAVY Total First Downs 21 21 Rushing 10 17 Passing 11 2 Penalty 0 2 Rushing Attempts 29 56 Yards Gained Rushing 148 337 Yards Lost Rushing 1 17 Net Yards Rushing 147 320 Net Yards Passing 223 48 Passes Attempted 27 8 Passes Completed 19 5 Had Intercepted 0 0 Percent Completion 70.4% 62.5% Yards Per Attempt 8.3 6.0 Yards Per Completion 11.7 9.6 Total Offensive plays 56 64 Total Net yards 370 368 Average Gain Per Play 6.6 5.8 Fumbles: No.-Lost 0-0 2-0 Penalties: No.-yards 7-47 1-5 Punts: No.-yards 1-32 0-0 Average Per Punt 32.0 0.0 Average Net Punt 32.0 0.0 Punt Returns: No.-yards 0-0 0-0 kickoff Returns: No.-yards 3-61 2-38 Interception Returns: No.-yards 0-0 0-0 Fumble Returns: No.-yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous yards 0 0 Possession Time 26:07 33:53 Third-Down Conversions 9-13 8-13 Percentage 69.2% 61.5% Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 4-5 Percentage 100.0% 80.0% Sacks By: No.-yards 0-0 1-1