All week long, the feeling around the Notre Dame football program is that they couldn't overlook Navy while keeping one eye on Miami for next week's game. In the first half of Saturday afternoon's contest, it was very obvious that's exactly what the Fighting Irish did.
Things were going so poorly, especially defensively for ND in the first half that Marcus Freeman even issued what most of the college football world took as a warning aimed at his defensive coordinator.
"We got to get them off track. We're not getting them off track right now. They're doing a couple new things, but it's just the execution. We can't panic," Freeman said. "You can't start calling things that your guys don't know how to execute, so we gotta make sure we clean up what they have to do, and then they gotta play physical. We gotta play on their side of the line of scrimmage, but you can't be out of control."
In the second half, Notre Dame looked more like Notre Dame. They ended up winning 35-13 but there's still some serious questions now that Miami is the next team up. So who were the winners and who were the losers in a win over Navy that won't sit right with most fans?
Winner: Jerome Bettis Jr. introduces himself to Notre Dame football faithful
Marcus Freeman and wide receivers coach Mike Brown both said they want the wide receiver rotation to be better. Brown added that players needed to earn trust to get more snaps. It's safe to say that Jerome Bettis Jr. won some trust. In fact, he ended up leading the Fighting irish in receiving with 6 catches for 78 yards and his first career touchdown.
Loser: Micah Gilbert's brain fart cost him
One big reason why Bettis got plenty of playing time on Saturday is likely because Gilbert took himself out of the game. He started off well enough, catching 2 passes for 21 yards and the Irish's first touchdown. However, on Notre Dame's second offensive possession, Carr threw to a wide-open Gilbert who, for some reason, wasn't even looking for the ball. He didn't have a target after that play and spent most of the game on the sideline.
Winner: Nolan James Jr. was the man on the ground for Notre Dame
One of the biggest guessing games of Notre Dame's offense this year is who will be the main ball carrier from one game to the next. On Saturday, Nolan James ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns on just 9 carries. That yardage included a career-long 52-yard touchdown. It's looking more and more like it's Nolan James' show with Jonaz Walton as the other option.
Loser: Chris Ash isn't avoiding the allegations
Yes, Notre Dame's defense looked much, much better in the second half, but it's supposed to look like that against Navy. In the first half, the Irish defense looked confused, uninspired, and unprepared. Navy ran for 163 yards in the first half. None of that can happen after the defense performed as poorly as it did against BYU and then had a bye week to reset to rejuvenate.
Ash's unit played like it thought Navy would roll over, and it didn't. Even with the corrections that held Navy to 56 total yards in the second half, there will be a lot of talk this week about Notre Dame's lack of confidence in big games.
Winner: Marcus Freeman
We never get a real look at what a coach says to a team at halftime, but after Freeman's comments going into the locker room, it's clear that he had some choice words for his defense. Maybe all he needed to say was what he said to the sideline reporter.
Notre Dame dominated in the second half and could have dominated even more if they didn't call off the dogs late in the second half. This was far from Notre Dame's best game of the year, but the adjustments were there, and it feels like a lot of them were made because of Freeman setting his coordinators straight.
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