Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/904117
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2017 23 NAVY RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Even though Navy had 72 rushing plays, only one broke loose for more than 13 yards — a 19-yard scamper by fullback Anthony Gargiulo in the third quarter on third-and-15 — and merely four (5.5 percent) were 10 yards or more. Not yielding the big plays enabled the Irish to hold Navy 93 yards under its No. 1 national average of 369.8 yards a game, to merely 3.8 yards per carry (it had averaged 5.9) and to half of its 33.6 scoring mark. Navy spread the wealth in an effort to keep the defense off balance. The quarterbacks kept the ball 32 times for 93 yards (2.9 per carry), the fullback 20 times for 87 yards (4.4 per carry) and the slot backs 20 times for 97 yards (4.85 per carry), so Notre Dame not permitting the home-run ball was crucial. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NAVY PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Two of Navy's three completions occurred on the touchdown drive to open the second half, a 21-yard wheel route to Gargiulo on fourth-and-six, and the scoring toss from Zach Abey (3-of-6 passing for 41 yards with one touchdown and one interception) to Craig Scott on third-and-goal from the 12-yard line. The Midshipmen took a couple of other shots downfield, but could not capitalize. On the last two series for Navy, sophomore cornerback Troy Pride Jr. inter- cepted Abey inside the Irish 20-yard line, and senior defensive end Andrew Trumbetti's pressure on the fourth-down halfback pass by slot back Darryl Bonner to a briefly open wide receiver Tyler Carmona forced an errant throw. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. NAVY RUN DEFENSE Similar to the Irish holding the Midshipmen well under their average on the ground, Navy reciprocated by limiting Notre Dame to 163 yards — 140 below its average. Junior running back Josh Adams was held relatively in check (18 carries for 106 yards) other than one 30-yard run. Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush's (eight carries for 41 yards) most cru- cial run gained only two yards — a draw for a touchdown with only eight sec- onds left in the first half and no timeouts remaining. He had to barrel through a defender past the goal line when it appeared briefly that he might be stopped short and time would elapse. ADVANTAGE: Navy NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NAVY PASS DEFENSE Following a miserable first quarter in which he went 1-of-5 passing for three yards while overshooting the most elementary of passes, Wimbush settled in and was clutch after both Navy touchdowns. Trailing 10-3 and with 1:08 left in the first half, he completed 23-yard darts to sophomore wide receivers Kevin Stepherson and Chase Claypool during a 62-yard touchdown march. Down 17-10 in the third quarter, he floated a 30-yard score to Stepherson in the end zone. Finally, on the game-winning drive he was 4-of-6 passing for 62 yards with the tally to Stepherson on third-and-eight from the 9-yard line. Stepherson's 18-yard catch and run off a screen on third-and-10 during that march was pivotal. Stepherson was the centerpiece after both Claypool and junior wideout Equanimeous St. Brown left the game with injuries. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Navy put the Irish in catch-up mode after junior Chris Finke was quickly swarmed on a punt return and lost a fumble at his 39-yard line to set up a short field and touchdown. That was a huge momentum shift. Navy's Owen White missing a 37-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the third quarter with the score tied at 17 was a negative on their side. An underrated play was C.J. Sanders' 20-yard kickoff return for Notre Dame to his 38-yard line to set up the 10-10 tie right before halftime. ADVANTAGE: Navy THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS The reason why Navy had 25 more minutes possession time in this game was it converted 12 third- or fourth-down plays (out of 24) compared to Notre Dame's four (out of eight). The Midshipmen were successful on six third or fourth downs during their two touchdown drives. Credit also goes to Notre Dame for its triumph on third-and-eight and third- and-10 with tosses to Stepherson on the game-winning drive. ADVANTAGE: Navy TURNOVERS Both teams had one, with Notre Dame's on the punt return setting up seven Navy points on a 39-yard drive for a 10-3 lead. The Irish didn't score on their gener- ated turnover, but Pride's fourth-quarter interception at his 14 — after Navy had run on eight straight plays for 39 yards to the Irish 36 — was a second guesser's delight. ADVANTAGE: Even ANALYSIS Navy was like a baseball team that gets 15 hits over nine innings, but 14 were singles that resulted in two total runs. It seems unlikely that a team that runs the ball 72 times, dominates time of pos- session (42:42-17:18) and is 1-1 in turn- overs would come up on the short end, but the second-half Irish defense on its side of the field and the Wimbush-to-Step- herson passing attack were just enough to carry Notre Dame to victory in an ex- tremely hard-hitting, blue-collar contest. ON PAPER REVISITED BY LOU SOMOGYI Senior end Andrew Trumbetti and the Irish defense did an excellent job containing Navy quarterbacks Garrett Lewis and Zach Abey, limiting the duo to just 93 rushing yards on 32 carries (2.9 yards per attempt). PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA