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Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs Navy

By Connor McJunkin

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 26: Cole Kmet #84 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates his second half touchdown against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 45-14. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 26: Cole Kmet #84 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates his second half touchdown against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 45-14. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame football got back on track last weekend with a convincing 38-7 victory over Duke. Now, the attention turns to No. 21 Navy for a Top-25 matchup.

It’s nice to be a little positive in one of these articles after how the last couple weeks have gone for Notre Dame football. Last week, the main storylines to watch for were offensive improvements and a blowout win, and that’s certainly what we got.

Oddly enough, the Irish slipped one spot to No.16 in the CFP rankings. Regardless, they move to 7-2 and inch closer to another 10-win regular season and possible New Year’s Six Bowl game.

With Duke now in the rear view mirror, all the attention turns to the annual matchup with Navy. Should Notre Dame still even be playing Navy? We can debate that another time. As of right now, the Midshipmen are coming into South Bend at 7-1, riding a five game winning streak and ranked No. 21.

The Navy game scares a lot of Irish fans, and rightfully so. The triple option can be such a hassle to prepare for, especially since hardly any team runs it. Cut blocks, different reads, and misdirection are just a few of the annoyances associated with the outdated style of offense.

If not defended properly, it can lead to a long (well, technically short) game Saturday. The main draw of the offense is it’s ability to play defense as well. It’s easy to not allow points when the opposing team’s offense isn’t on the field, and I don’t like Notre Dame’s chances with Ian Book at linebacker.

Of course we need to take into account Navy has played absolutely no body this year, with their toughest game being a 35-23 loss to Memphis in week three. With that said, they are averaging 40 points a game on offense and sport the nation’s number one rushing attack with 358 yards per game.

Defensively, the Midshipmen are 15th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 18 points per contest. Overall, the defensive unit allows just over 300 total yards per game.

On paper, this seems like it will be a close game, and potentially a season-crushing loss if the wrong Irish team shows up.

Brian Kelly and his squad can’t afford another late season, November collapse like we’ve seen in years past. Tackle the dive, hit the quarterback, and use your size and athletes on offense to score all day.

Here are the top storylines this week vs Navy.

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