Notre Dame lost its way in Provo against BYU, and in the first half against Navy, the Irish still had yet to get out of the weeds. Fortunately for Notre Dame, they started to find the clearing right before halftime.
With the first two possessions of the game for Navy, the Middies executed two of the most Navy of drives. The Middies chewed up almost 15 minutes of clock by using 30 plays for 110 yards… and two field goals. In between the field goals, Notre Dame scored on a long drive with a CJ Carr touchdown pass to Micah Gilbert, but… they also had an awful 3 and out that consisted of 3 incompletions.
Navy followed that forced 3 and out against Notre Dame with a magnificent 11 play, 63 yard drive that ended with a touchdown and a 13-7 lead over the Irish with under 2 minutes until halftime.
Notre Dame took that opportunity and cashed in with a quick score. On the 5th play of the drive, Nolan James broke loose for a 52 yard touchdown run. James had a nice day and ran for 107 yards on 9 carries.
The rich got the ball back to start the second half, and they did't squander the opportunity to take back control of the game. The Irish went 78 yards on 11 plays and got in the end zone with a 3 yard touchdown run by Jonaz Walton to make the game 21-13.
The Irish defense, for all of its faults in the first half, really clamped down in the second half with a shutout, and gave Notre Dame a leg up to put the game out of reach. Nolan James put the Irish up 28-13 with a 23 yard TD run in the next drive, and after the Irish got the ball back by stopping the Midshipmen on 4th down on their next drive — CJ Carr hit Jerome Bettis Jr. for a 31 yard score to make it 35-13.
More to come on OFD.
