Notre Dame Football: Winners and Losers from Fighting Irish's Win vs. Navy

The Notre Dame Irish rebounded from the disheartening defeat last week against USC by routing the struggling Navy Midshipmen.  In the process, they avoided dropping three straight games to a service academy for the first time in school history.

Throughout the week leading up until Saturday, turmoil surrounded the Irish football program.  Accusations the Irish "quit" by USC quarterback Matt Barkley put the Irish's heart and commitment to head coach Brian Kelly in question.

Kelly also did himself no favors.  He made provocative statements during the week that angered several veteran Irish players.

After Saturday's blowout, though, all those wounds seem to be healed.

The Irish may be out of the BCS bowl hunt in 2011, but they took a very positive step forward.  They showed a lot of character in the face of thick internal and external adversities.

Winners: Brian Kelly

As mentioned, Brian Kelly did himself no favors when he commented to the media about the players left over from the Charlie Weis era in South Bend.  Kelly allegedly insinuated his recruits were farther along than the players he inherited from Weis.

This sparked junior standout linebacker Manti Te'o to take to Twitter.  According to the Chicago Tribune, Te'o tweeted: "Playin for my bros and that's it!!!!"

The Irish have, for the time being, looked to have put those concerns behind them.  As running back Jonas Gray said after the game, Notre Dame was a unified team on the field Saturday.

Kelly, already feeling the heat from the highly-visible Notre Dame Irish throne, did some good in silencing his critics.

At least for one more week.

Winners: Michael Floyd

In big games, big-time players rise to the challenge.

Michael Floyd rose to the occasion and put the Irish passing game on his shoulders.  He recorded nearly half of the total Irish passing yards (120) on six receptions.

He also added the lone Irish passing touchdown on a 56-yard bomb.

Floyd's draft stock is soaring and he did nothing but improve it on Saturday.

Winners: Notre Dame Rushing Attack

The Irish used a plethora of rushing options to demoralize the Navy defense.  On the afternoon, the Irish averaged over five yards per carry and finished with 182 yards rushing. 

They also added seven rushing touchdowns—the most in a game by the Irish in 19 seasons.

Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray also became the first running back tandem to record multiple rushing touchdowns in the same game since 2001 (ESPN Stats).

Michael Floyd, unsatisfied with his dominant performance through the air, added a rushing touchdown of his own on a 10-yard end around in the third quarter.

Winners: Defense and Special Teams

Notre Dame's defense and special teams stifled a potent Navy rushing offense.  They played extremely well throughout the game and put the offensive unit in a position to be effective.

The defense halted an imposing Navy rushing attack that averaged over 300 yards per game entering into Saturday's game.  They allowed only 196 yards on the ground and no touchdowns.

Navy's passing attack didn't fare very well, either.

Backup Navy quarterback Trey Miller was a putrid 5-of-13 for 33 yards passing on the game.

Losers: Miscues

The miscues that have hampered the Irish all season were not absent in Saturday's routing of Navy.

Irish wide receiver Theo Riddick lost the handle on a swing pass at the Notre Dame 27-yard line.  Navy recovered and then marched down quickly into the red zone.

That turnover led to a Navy touchdown several plays later and closed the gap of the Notre Dame lead to 14-7.

Against better competition, miscues like that could have cost the Irish dearly.