Notre Dame's offense was an unstoppable force, and Navy's turnovers ultimately decided their fate as the Irish took down the undefeated Midshipmen 51-14.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Navy needed a near perfect game to defeat Notre Dame, and by no means did the normally disciplined Naval Academy play one, as Notre Dame dominated on all fronts and routed the Midshipmen 51-14.
Even though Navy had many self-inflicting blows, the credit absolutely must be given to the Fighting Irish who were clicking on all cylinders.
The Notre Dame offense only punted twice all game, and both resulted in muffed punts recovered by the Irish. Riley Leonard continues to grow into an elite-level passer and has Mike Denbrock's offense rolling.
Week by week, I keep highlighting Leonard's progression as a passer. His awareness and confidence in the pocket now compared to week one is night and day.
He ended the day with 178 yards on 13/21 throwing, including two touchdowns through the air. He also added 83 yards with his legs and a rushing touchdown.
Jeremiyah Love extended his every game touchdown streak as well with an explosive 64-yard home run. He added a two-yard touchdown score later in the game and ended with 102 yards.
Multiple wide receivers made key impacts in this game as well. Jordan Faison was the leading receiver as he had his best game of the season ending with four catches and 52 yards. Beaux Collins added onto his stellar season with a 37-yard touchdown catch, and Kris Mitchell added another touchdown catch, as well.
The Irish defense played a stout game. Besides two explosive runs from Navy's Blake Horvath, Al Golden dialed up a great game plan to hold Navy's previous high-octane offense.
Although Navy's new spread look created some confusion, their offense made too many mistakes to keep up with the Fighting Irish.
Navy had five fumbles, one of which was a strip sack in the end zone that Jaylen Sneed jumped on for a Notre Dame touchdown.
Sneed was one of the best performers from the Notre Dame defense, but experienced veteran Jack Kiser led the team in tackles.
I mentioned Kiser as one of the keys to this game, and the sixth-year senior did not disappoint.
Two other players with standout performances were Junior Tuihalamaka and Josh Burnham, who both excelled in setting the edge and maintaining their assignments. Both did a great job setting the edge on the line and sticking to their responsibility.
In Navy's revamped offense, the key to success was Horvath's ability to spread the ball in the air. Notre Dame held the Junior quarterback to 88 yards of passing, and Leonard Moore collected his first career interception.
On the special teams front, the Irish are desperately missing Mitch Jeter, who was listed as available in the pregame depth chart report, but was inactive for back-to-back weeks. Zac Yoakam went 1/2 as his replacement.
At the end of the day, Notre Dame controlled this game from start to finish, and in consecutive years have successfully dominated the Midshipmen. All week, Notre Dame heard that Navy wasn't the same old team, and that this matchup was worthy of a Top 25 ranking. After this blowout, I hope the narrative about this Navy team remains the same.
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