Notre Dame-Navy: Report Card

For 58 minutes of the Fighting Irish's game with Navy, it seemed liked Notre Dame would easily get their sixth win of the year.

Unfortunately, for the remaining two minutes, two Navy Touchdowns off of two successful onside kick recoveries, the Irish and Coach Weis were holding on for dear life in ND's 27-21 win at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

QB: C

Once again, Jimmy Clausen had a rough outing, throwing two interceptions and fumbling once. After that, he actually managed the game well completing 15 of 18 passes for 118 yards. In the pivotal third quarter, Clausen guided the Irish down the field on two scoring drives that seemed to put the contest out of reach.

RB: A-

The Irish rushing attack had the second-most rushing yards this season, gaining 230 against a formidable rushing defense in Navy. It's almost a rarity that the Midshipmen get out-rushed by their opponents.

James Alridge led the charges with 80 yards, while Robert Hughes (64 yards) and Armando Allen (60 yards) each had a rushing touchdown for the Irish. Allen also was Notre Dame's leading receiver with seven catches for 60 yards.

Jonas Gray got some meaningful carries (seven rushes for 20 yards) but fumbled at the two-yard line during a downpour in the fourth quarter.

FB: B

Asaph Schwapp is making the most out of his time on the field, that's for sure. Schwapp made some key lead blocks for his fellow Irish backs. He'll be expected to do the same this coming Saturday, as Syracuse is not that great at stopping the run.

TE: C

It was an average day for Kyle Rudolph, as he only had one catch for eight yards. He had a few good blocks down the field on some runs. Other than that, just a ho-hum afternoon for the freshmen.

WR: B

Things looked to go south from the get-go when Michael Floyd went down with a knee injury on the third play from scrimmage. Navy, like Boston College, put six and seven defenders in pass coverage all day to stop the Irish passing attack, which forced Notre Dame into short, intermediate passes.

David Grimes led the receiving corps with three receptions (22 yards), while most of Clausen's passes went to Armando Allen out of the backfield.

OL: B-

The offensive line did a tremendous job with running plays up the middle, en route to 230 rushing yards for the Irish. However, there are still some lingering issues of missed assignments, which led to Clausen's fumble and second interception.

It should always be a given that Notre Dame can rush on Navy, since they outman the Midshipmen by over two inches and 50 pounds across the line.

Overall Offensive Grade: B/B-

Defensively, this was most impressive showing of the season before the starters were pulled late in fourth quarter. The Irish defense held the second-leading rushing team in the country to only 178 yards. But wait, that's not the most surprising stat of the game. Notre Dame forced Navy into eight three-and outs for the game. Coming into the game, Navy only had 17 on the year.

DL: A-

I'm not sure if it has to do something with Navy, but Ian Williams seems to shine when the Irish face the Midshipmen. Williams led the defensive front with seven stops. Justin Brown had a good outing with five tackles and one fumble recovery, while Pat Kuntz had four stops, including a key half sack at the end of the game.

LB: A

Toryan Smith stepped up like the player he was touted to be when he first arrived in South Bend. Smith led Notre Dame with 10 tackles and a touchdown off a blocked punt in the first quarter.

Maurice Crum bounced back after having no tackles the previous week at Boston College with seven stops and a forced fumble.

DB: B-

For most of the contest, the defensive backs were all over the field shutting down the vaunted Navy option attack. Even good secondaries have some blunders, which the Irish did on the first Navy touchdown, but they almost gave it away at the end if the Midshipmen receiver didn't cross up his feet with a dropped pass inside the 10 yard line.

Now for the positives! Once again David Bruton (six tackles, two passes broken up) and Kyle McCarthy (five stops) led the way for the Irish secondary.

Overall Defensive Grade: B+

ST: C-

If it wasn't for the way things ended, Notre Dame's special teams would be looking at a significantly higher mark. Mike Anello's blocked punt which was returned for a touchdown was the play of the game and set the tone for the Irish.

Brandon Walker has now become Mr. Reliable, connecting on his two field goal attempts of the day. Since his last miss against Stanford, Walker has made nine out of his lat 10 field goals.

Giving up one onside kick is alright, but giving up two is uncalled for in this type of game. Players need to go after the ball and fall down, period! It's a huge problem if you don't even attempt to go after or try and stop the defenders from knocking you down on your ass.

I'm sorry, but I have a major problem with what happened. Hopefully Notre Dame won't have to be in that situation again this season.

Coaching: C-

Weis coached a decent game through three and a half quarters, but again he failed to finish them strong. I didn't have a problem with him pulling some of his offensive starters in the fourth quarter. They almost put it out of reach with a touchdown or field goal, but unfortunately Jonas Gray fumbled at the two.

Another Weis hiccup was not electing to punt the ball on the Navy 40-yard line, and pinning them deep into their territory. Instead, he elected to go for it, and turned the ball over on downs. Navy made the most of their short field, scoring five plays later with a minute and change left. A 15-yard personal foul penalty didn't help either.

I didn't mind seeing Golden Tate in the Wildcat formation whatsoever. I do have a problem of how he set it all up. Coming out of a timeout, the Irish lined up and showed the Midshipmen exactly what they were doing.

The proper way would have had the Irish still huddled up and then go in formation with a quick snap. That would have forced Navy to either A) call a timeout, or B) run around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Overall Grade: B-/B (2.73)

Next Game: Syracuse

Next to Washington and San Diego State, Syracuse is the worst opponent the Irish will face this season. After Greg Robinson was officially fired this past Sunday, the Orange have nothing to lose and will give it their all. Unlike Washington, where they just rolled over and took it, I expect Syracuse to have some fight in them.

Under Weis, the Irish have fared extremely well in their home finales: going 3-0 with wins over Syracuse (34-10), Army (41-9), and Duke (28-7). That's an average score of 34-8. The last time Notre Dame lost a home finale was Coach Willingham's last season in 2004 when the Irish lost to Pittsburgh 41-38.

Saturday should not be in doubt whatsoever, as they will go 7-4 on the year before heading out to Los Angeles for their annual showdown with Southern Cal.