Navy welcomed Notre Dame to MetLife Stadium on Saturday for a unique “home” game in New Jersey. The meeting was the 97th time the teams had met, but this year felt different. The Midshipmen were looking to move to 7-0 for the first time since 1978 and just the fifth time in program history.
It was not to be as Riley Leonard threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as Notre Dame defeated Navy, 51-14, in front of 76,112 fans on a beautiful fall day in the Garden State.
“I’m still trying to figure out whether we got it or not,” Leonard said. “Having that little bit of fear of there’s always more in the tank. It’s been a work in progress obviously, but I think we’re getting better every week.”
Navy deferred the kickoff and Notre Dame took advantage early with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown capped off by a Riley Leonard one-yard QB dive to give the Irish the early lead. On their first possession after picking up two first downs, Alex Tecza fumbled, and Amin Hassan recovered, setting up Notre Dame for another shot at points. The subsequent recovery placed Notre Dame at the Midshipmen’s seven-yard line. The Irish capitalized as Leonard threw a strike to the back of the end zone to Kris Mitchell for a six-yard touchdown that put Notre Dame up 14-0 with 5:44 left in the first quarter.
Navy got back to work on offense as Blake Horvath completed a 32-yard pass to Tecza out of the backfield to put the Midshipmen in good field position to the Notre Dame 43-yard line. All the good feelings were fleeting as guard Javan Bouton was called for a chop block that stopped the Navy’s momentum. On the very next play, Horvath fumbled, and Junior Tuihalamaka recovered it for another Navy turnover. Navy held their ground on defense as Notre Dame’s Zac Yoakam missed a chip shot 36-yard field goal to keep the deficit to 14 points as the first quarter ended.
Down 14-0 to start the second quarter, Navy cut the lead in half as Horvath retained the ball on the option and ran 47 yards for a touchdown, the Midshipmen’s first score of the game at the 13:33 mark of the second quarter. The touchdown was Horvath’s 11th rushing touchdown of the season in the option-styled offense of Navy.
After Navy’s score, Notre Dame answered immediately as Jeremiyah Love broke through the line for a 64-yard touchdown run to put the Irish back up by 14 points. The score was the eighth straight game in which Love scored a touchdown, the fourth-longest streak in Notre Dame history.
After forcing a Notre Dame punt, Isiah Bryant muffed the return and Jack Kiser recovered, giving the Irish the ball. A clutch fourth-and-7 conversion kept Notre Dame in business and Love picked up his second touchdown, running the ball in from two yards out to move out ahead 28-7 with 5:05 left before the half.
Horvath continued his wizardry running the option as he gained 59 yards on a keeper to put Navy in Notre Dame territory. Even with Horvath’s great play (175 total yards in the first half), the Midshipmen was held to just seven points in the first half as Nathan Kirkwood missed a 40-yard field goal as Navy went into the locker room at halftime down 31-7.
Navy came out in the second half looking for the comeback as Eli Heidenrich ran it in from the one-yard line to cut the Fighting Irish lead to 31-14. After that, the game was all Notre Dame as they scored 20 unanswered points, capped by a Kedren Young four-yard TD run as the Fighting Irish went up 51-14.
For Notre Dame, Love finished with 108 yards (8.4 yards per carry) and two touchdowns, while linebacker Jack Kiser and Jaylen Sneed each finished with nine total tackles for Notre Dame.
Horvath led the Navy offensively, picking up 217 yards of total offense. The Midshipmen committed six turnovers that resulted in 13 Fighting Irish points. Senior linebacker and Wayne, NJ native Colin Ramos was all over the field, finishing with 15 total tackles.
“We challenged the group. We had to play complimentary football today, that was a point of emphasis,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “This team (Navy) was number two in country turnover margin. I just told the guys we were plus-6 in turnover margin. That’s huge, that’s a straight reflection of complimentary football.”
“When you look at almost every single turnover or fumble, it was something we did,” said Horvath. “They almost didn’t touch the ball. That is the most frustrating piece from our point. We wanted it really bad and we bit ourselves.”
Navy could not generate consistent offensive momentum besides the early touchdown drive in the second half. For an offense heavy on running plays, getting down early was an issue for the Midshipmen as they cannot go score for score with many teams in the nation, let alone a Notre Dame team fighting for a berth in the College Football Playoff.
“Sometimes you want something so bad you play outside yourself and I think we did that today,” said Navy head coach Brian Newbery after the game.
What’s Next For Navy and Notre Dame
Coming off their first defeat of the year, Navy will look to recover as they travel to Texas to face Rice next Saturday. Notre Dame has a bye week and will host a struggling Florida State team on November 9th.
