After a scary first half, Notre Dame righted the ship and beat Navy handily, 35-13. However, the win came at a price. A banged-up Fighting Irish defense might have lost yet another veteran defender for next week's Miami game, at the very least.
After two-time captain Drayk Bowen missed the second half with an injury to his lower right leg, walking off after the game with a boot on his foot/ankle area, the linebacker's availability next week against top-ranked Miami is in question, but his availability for the rest of the season might also be quite iffy.
“He was just out for the game,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said when talking to the media after the game. “We’ll get an injury report on Sunday, so we’ll see how significant that injury was.”
While Freeman doesn't want to spill the beans on how bad the injury is, USA Today reported Bowen suffered a "significant" injury, with one source telling John Brice the standout is "likely done for the rest of the regular season, at least."
Notre Dame football could face Miami without Drayk Bowen after significant lower-leg injury
The biggest takeaway from Saturday is that he will miss the Miami game. This is especially notable because another starting linebacker, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, has missed a lot of time this year after returning quickly from a torn ACL he suffered last season. KVA has a thumb injury he's tried to play through several times, but he sat out the Navy game, likely hoping to play next week.
Meanwhile, Bowen is a former Indiana Mr. Football and Gatorade Player of the Year. Bowen entered Saturday with 197 career tackles and quickly blew past the 200-tackle milestone. He finished with seven tackles, including two solo stops, before leaving the game.
Bowen missed a second half where Notre Dame's defense was lights out without him. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash's unit allowed just 56 total yards in the 3rd and 4th quarters, but next Saturday it'll face a much tougher task trying to slow down star quarterback Darian Mensah and superstar receiver Malachi Toney.
Notre Dame also spent Saturday with star cornerback Leonard Moore on the sideline as he sat out the entire game. However, in his post-game press conference, Freeman said Moore could have played in an emergency after battling back issues this week. He will hopefully be ready to go on November 7.
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