ND FOOTBALL: Irish continue rivalry with Navy

Nov. 11—SOUTH BEND — Three weeks ago, the sky was falling within the Notre Dame football program.

Sitting at 3-3, there were questions whether the Fighting Irish would even get to six wins to earn bowl eligibility.

Fast forward to this week — following wins over UNLV, then-No. 16 Syracuse and then-No. 4 Clemson — and head coach Marcus Freeman and his team could realistically end the season with six consecutive wins and a 9-3 record.

The journey to finish 9-3 starts Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland, where the No. 20 Irish (6-3) will matchup with longtime-rival Navy (3-6).

Notre Dame and Navy will be meeting for the 96th time this weekend, with the Irish dominating the series 80-13-1. Notre Dame had won nine of the last 10 meetings, including four straight dating back to 2018.

The Midshipman have struggled this season in the American Athletic Conference, but have proven to be a pesky group to face during almost every contest this season.

Navy's wins have come over Temple, Tulsa and East Carolina by a margin of 14 points per game.

In their six losses, the Midshipmen fell by 10 or less in four of those contests, including a six-point loss to SMU and a 10-point loss to Cincinnati.

Navy presents a unique challenge every year regardless of its record, and Freeman is well aware of what the Midshipmen can do.

In 2017, while at Cincinnati, Freeman's defense allowed the Midshipmen to run rampant all over the field during a 42-32 loss.

"We gave up 569 yards rushing to them that day," Freeman said. "It's a number I'll never forget. It was a long day, and I didn't have any answers. That was a helpless feeling.

"I needed answers after that. That was the biggest thing. ... The great thing for me was being able to come here last year and really collaborate with a group of coaches that have played Navy for many years. So last year, we were able to enhance our package. And this year, we'll do the same with being able to add Al Golden's expertise from his time at both Temple and Miami against Navy. Hopefully all of that will help with our execution Saturday."

SCOUTING NAVY'S OFFENSE

There's no secret what Navy's strategy is when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.

The Midshipmen are going to run the football in a variety of ways behind their triple-option offense.

Four different rushers have at least 200 yards rushing this season in fullback Daba Fofana (502 yards and five touchdowns), running back Maquel Haywood (406 yards), quarterback Tai Lavatai (309 yards and five touchdowns) and running back Anton Hall (222 yards and two touchdowns).

Unsurprisingly, the Midshipmen rank ninth in the country in rushing offense with 237 yards per contest.

However, Navy struggles to score — 108th in the country in scoring offense (21.9 points per game) — and when they get behind in games and are forced to throw, the Midshipmen don't do it very efficiently.

So far this season, Lavatai is 42-of-91 for 785 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. His team ranks 129th out of 131 teams in passing offense (99.4 yards per game).

Last season, in a 34-6 win, Notre Dame held Navy to just 184 total yards, with 166 of those coming on the ground. It was Navy's second-lowest rushing total of the season.

To win comfortably again, the Irish defense will need a similar performance in Baltimore Saturday.

SCOUTING NAVY'S DEFENSE

Defensively, the Midshipmen play well in one aspect, but heavily struggle in another.

Navy's front seven has been one of the best in the country this season, allowing just 88 rushing yards per game — good for seventh in the NCAA.

Linebacker John Marshall is on one of the most productive defensive players in college football so far this season, leading Navy with 72 total tackles (13.5 for loss). He also is second on the team with five sacks.

Elsewhere up front for the Midshipmen, defensive lineman Jacob Busic is a force off the edge. He leads the team with six sacks.

Another key piece in the middle of the defense is linebacker Colin Ramos, who has 57 total tackles (six for loss) this season.

Navy has also had a knack for forcing opponents into mistakes this season, having recovered five of nine forced fumbles through nine games.

In the pass game, though, Navy's secondary has been picked on all season long.

The Midshipman rank 115th in the country in passing defense — allowing 275 yards per game — which should allow for Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne to have some much-needed success through the air.

Navy's top player in the secondary is defensive back Mbiti Williams Jr., who has 33 tackles and four pass break ups so far in 2022.

"Navy's defense is similar to Syracuse's in terms of the amount of stunting and moving that they do," Freeman said. "They are really aggressive. They'll attack you, but then at times, they'll surprise you and drop eight. We're going to have to be physical with them, but we can't be out of control, because they like to move around so much."

Evan Lepak can be reached at evan.lepak@goshennews.com or {span}574-533-2151, ext. {span}240326.{/span}{/span} Follow him on Twitter @EvanMPLepak.