Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 20, 2017

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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34 NOV. 20, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED touchdowns on the ground. He also caught 10 passes for 267 yards and two scores. High was second on the team in carries with 101 while seeing action in seven of eight games, and has com- piled 440 yards and one touchdown. "They've done as best they can," James stated. "Their real issue has been a lack of touches because defenses wanted Abey to get the ball. Chris High has been hurt, so he missed some time and didn't have a chance to get too many touches the last couple of games. The coaching staff tries to get Perry the ball as much as they can and he's responded. He's been the big-play guy. "… [Perry's] the go-to playmaker. At times, when he gets the ball, he can be electric with it, but he hasn't been able to get the ball as much as the coaching staff has wanted. I think they'll continue to find ways to get him the ball. They've put him on kickoff returns now, and he threw a touchdown pass against Temple. … He's that good of a playmaker." Navy replaced three starters on the offensive line heading into the season and the unit hasn't been as consistent as most expected it to be. "It's kind of been a mixed bag a little bit," James said. "They've had some games where they've been dominant. In the Air Force game, they reset the line of scrimmage two yards down the field every play. It's probably the best game the offensive line has played in a couple years. "But in the AAC, like against Tem- ple, they just got beat physically on the interior and the tackles. Every- one kind of had a bad game there. It's kind of a variant from game to game." On defense, Navy is going through a schematic change, per James, mov- ing from a "bend but don't break" style to a more attacking and aggres- sive unit to counter the offenses in the AAC. The Midshipmen allowed an average of 408.1 yards in the first eight games, which ranked 80th nationally, and gave up 29.1 points per contest, which was 85th in the country. Navy finished 40th in total defense in 2015 before slipping to 84th last sea- son. James believes two factors have played into Navy's slide on that side of the ball over the past two seasons. "One has been joining the Ameri- can Athletic Conference and lining up against team likes Tulsa, Mem- phis, Houston and SMU," James said. "These teams score points on everyone and no one stops them. Combine that with the kind of back- off, non-attacking scheme and … it didn't go well for the Navy defense. "It started a little bit better at the beginning of the year with the change, but they are still working out the kinks. The coaches are still figuring out how to best call a game with this new approach. It's been a learning process for them this year." Senior linebacker Micah Thomas is one of the top players on the Midship- men defense, registering 52 tackles (second on the team) and a team-high two interceptions in the first eight games. Thomas adds a little bit more versatility to the Navy linebacker unit compared to previous teams. "He's a smart player," James said of Thomas. "If you look at tradition- ally what Navy inside linebackers have been asked to do, it's fill in the gap and counting on the defensive line to absorb the blocks and let that linebacker kind of step up into the gap and stop the run. "… But Micah Thomas has been able to be a more flexible player. He can step up and stop the run, but he can drop into coverage a little bit. … He's a much more well-rounded linebacker." Senior linebackers D.J. Palmore and Jerry Thompson led the team in sacks through those eight games with 2.5 and 2.0, respectively. Palmore also was third on the team in tackles with 47. Junior defensive back Sean Wil- liams led the team in tackles with 57. Though Navy will have confidence it can defeat Notre Dame in South Bend based off last year's result, the Mid- shipmen will face a tough task which many teams haven't figured out in 2017 — stopping the Irish rushing attack. Along with limiting turnovers and penalties, Navy will need to slow down junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush, junior running back Josh Adams and company to shock the college football world. "It makes it a lot more physical matchup up front and that's not something Navy is traditionally go- ing to win against Notre Dame," James said. "They have to find some way to force Notre Dame to do things that they don't want to do. Make Wimbush throw the ball, try to do the best they can to stack the box and plug the middle as best they can. "That's easier said than done. … Who hasn't tried to do that against Notre Dame this year?" ✦ GAME PREVIEW: NAVY 2017 NAVY SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 1 at Florida Atlantic W, 42-19 Sept. 9 Tulane W, 23-21 Sept. 23 Cincinnati W, 42-32 Sept. 30 at Tulsa W, 31-21 Oct. 7 Air Force W, 48-45 Oct. 14 at Memphis L, 30-27 Oct. 21 Central Florida L, 31-21 Nov. 2 at Temple L, 34-26 Nov. 11 SMU W, 43-40 Nov. 18 at Notre Dame (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 24 at Houston (ABC/ESPN) TBA Dec. 9 vs. Army* (CBS) 3 p.m. * at Philadelphia Senior linebacker Micah Thomas led Navy with two interceptions and ranked second with 52 tackles through eight games. PHOTO COURTESY NAVY 2017 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 Temple W, 49-16 Sept. 9 Georgia L, 20-19 Sept. 16 at Boston College W, 49-20 Sept. 23 at Michigan State W, 38-18 Sept. 30 Miami (Ohio) W, 52-17 Oct. 7 North Carolina W, 33-10 Oct. 21 USC W, 49-14 Oct. 28 NC State W, 35-14 Nov. 4 Wake Forest W, 48-37 Nov. 11 at Miami (Fla.) L, 41-8 Nov. 18 Navy (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at Stanford TBA

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