Navy vs Notre Dame: Grading the Irish's Win Against the Midshipmen

Notre Dame has worked its way to a 5-3 record with a win over Navy today. The Fighting Irish have played well this season only losing one game by more than four points. The Irish are looking to continue winning as they should be favored in three of their remaining four games.

Notre Dame was in need of a big win following their loss to USC at home. They got that win tonight. There wasn’t a thing that the Irish could do wrong today as they routed the Midshipmen 56-14.

The Irish finished with 442 yards of offense while holding navy to nearly half of that. Looking back at today’s Notre Dame win, here are the grades for the Irish.

Offense: A

Notre Dame was extremely efficient on offense completing 75 percent of their passes and rushing for 189 yards and seven touchdowns. The Notre Dame offense spread the wealth as four different players had rushing touchdowns against the Midshipmen.

Michael Floyd had a big game as he caught six passes for 121 yards. He added a touchdown through the air and on the ground today.

Tommy Reese looked very efficient for the Irish completing 71 percent of his passes and tossing the Irish’s lone touchdown through the air. Notre Dame also converted 4-of-7 third downs and went 1-for-1 on fourth down. 

Defense: A

Navy brings a unique rushing attack to the table. Running the option offense is rare and can cause confusion for defenses. The Notre Dame Defense wasn’t fooled a bit today as they held Navy to only 229 total yards on the game.

Notre Dame also forced a fumble in the game but lost the turnover battle. The Irish were also able to hold Navy to only five passing completions on the day. Despite being on the field for over half the game, the Irish held the Midshipmen to only 14 points.

Special Teams: B

The Irish didn’t have to turn to the special teams very often in the game against Navy today. They only had to punt away one series and attempted only extra points from the kicker position.

Both returners had decent days but they didn’t do anything special or game changing for Notre Dame. The kick coverage teams played well keeping the Midshipmen at bay. 

Coaching: A

Brian Kelly had his team looking the part in this game. Notre Dame was able to come out explosively and own the game against Navy. The Irish have played close in every game and put themselves in the place to win them all. That is a result of good coaching.

Notre Dame went into this game knowing that a win was needed to push them toward a strong finish. They could have come out flat after the big loss to USC, instead the Irish looked focused and unbeatable today.

Overall: A

The overall performance was an obvious A for the Irish today. Notre Dame looked very good on virtually every snap today. They were able to keep Navy out of the game and successfully rendered the Midshipmen offense ineffective.

Notre Dame set themselves up very nicely to close the season very strong with the win today. The future looks bright for the Irish.