5 Stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s win over Navy

The first half was like it was written as a perfect scrip. The Irish couldn’t do much wrong and raced out to a 35-13 lead. It ended up as a tale of two halves, the second not being as kind to Notre Dame as the first. There were good performances, 5 stars, and not so great, 1 star, ones today. Find out below who earn those the best and worst stars and all of them in between below.

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5 ⭐️ - First half Drew Pyne

After a very average game against Clemson, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees decided to let Drew Pyne play a bit. He just wasn’t asked to do much last week but this week was completely different. In the first half, Pyne was on fire, completing 14/16 passes for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown, having his hand in all of Notre Dame’s 35 points to that point. It wasn’t the same starry in the second half however, as Pyne threw an interception and took multiple sacks as Navy hung around longer than they should have.

4 ⭐️ - Special teams coach Brian Mason

Wow, just wow. Mason has his unit playing at a level that many haven’t seen before. The Irish blocked a punt again, their fourth game in-a-row, and nation leading seventh of the season. This is a group that has starters littered all over, who are giving it their all with brilliant schemed plays from Mason. It’s the perfect mix for results and the Irish have been getting them in bunches. The kicking game still needs some work as Blake Groupe missed an attempt in his fourth straight game. Recovering the final onside kick was huge. A very solid showing from Mason’s group.

3 ⭐️ - Jayden Thomas

The freshman has had an up-and-down season, which is typical for young players, but Thomas was magnificent today. In the first half alone he matched his single-game career high in catches with three and eclipsed his top yardage total with with 80. Oh, and Thomas found the end zone on a great diving catch. It was a banner day for a player whose position group hasn’t performed at a high level this season, which was very nice to see. Would have been higher if he kept making plays in the second half.

2 ⭐️ - running backs & offensive line

Nov 12, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Navy Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Audric Estime (7) runs for a first half touchdown against the Navy Midshipmen at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

This group did not have their best day today, with the backs struggling to do much all game and the line not creating enough holes to run through. Some of the sacks had to do with coverage, which are on Pyne but the line also needs to identify blitzers and get a hat on them, some of that on the backs as well. Audric Estime’s touchdown is what saved these two units. This group didn’t have a very good game and if it wasn’t for first-half Pyne, this game might have gone a different way.

⭐️ - Second half

It wasn’t pretty out of the half for the Irish. They allowed a 16 play, 72-yard drive that ended in a field goal and then proceeded to go three-and-out on their first offensive series. The defense needed a rest and the offense just didn’t help. They did force their own three-and-out the next series but that’s not what you wanted to see from a team that has had second half problems already this season. The sluggish play carried over to the fourth quarter and against a better team, this could have been disastrous.

Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire