Saturday was a story of two halves as Notre Dame had all of the issues that make playing Navy difficult until Nolan James, Jr. changed everything just before intermission in Foxborough.
Notre Dame moves to 7-1 on the year with the 35-13 win, and now gets its long-awaited date with No. 1 Miami next week.
Before we get to that, though, a few quick thoughts on Saturday's game victory, which gets Notre Dame back in the win column after falling against BYU last time out.
The first half went about as poorly as things could for Notre Dame as it did pretty much everything Navy could have dreamed of, and more, for the first 29 minutes.
Young defensive ends were confused against the Navy offense, playing into the ball control and time of possession the Midshipmen thrive on when playing more talented teams.
Couple that with Notre Dame's offense that had just three possessions in the first half as a result, one of which ended in a three-and-out, and trouble was abound.
Thankfully for Notre Dame, the entire afternoon changed thanks to a young running back in a homecoming of sorts.
Trailing 13-7 with just over a minute remaining before halftime, Notre Dame went to the ground game and was rewarded in a major way.
Nolan James, Jr., a product of powerhouse Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, had one of the biggest runs of his career in going 52 yards to paydirt, giving Notre Dame the lead after Spencer Porath's successful extra point.
I don't fear that Notre Dame goes on to lose this game if it doesn't score there, but it does change the complexion of everything against Navy.
Notre Dame added the touchdown to start the second half, one I thought going for two would have made more sense, as it would have stretched things to a two-score lead, while missing would have kept it a seven-point lead.
Regardless, things went from Notre Dame being down six to up eight in a matter of 6:34 in game time. One quick stop later and the rout was on with Navy not being a team built to come back from multiple scores, especially against an extremely talented team like Notre Dame.
As much as Notre Dame's defense struggled to contain Navy early, a special shoutout for production should be sent to saftey Luke Talich.
When playing Navy, an unexpected defensive standout tends to turn up.
That was Talich today as he not only led Notre Dame with 10 tackles, but had a few stops that kept Navy from breaking off what would have been very long plays early.
In a year the defensive backfield has had its fair share of injuries, Talich continues to step up in a big way.
To Notre Dame's credit, as imperfect as the first half was, a key to putting the game away was not turning the ball over.
Give Navy another first-half score and it can carry out its game plan longer, making what was already an annoying afternoon of sorts for Notre Dame, that much more so.
Credit to CJ Carr for not putting anything in harm's way and the ball carriers for holding onto the ball on a day that turnovers feel almost twice as costly as normal.
And with that, the biggest game of the year is now upon us.
Notre Dame and Miami.
No. 1 against No. 5.
Under the lights in South Bend on an early November night.
While Notre Dame didn't get to that game with a perfect 8-0 record, it did get there with everything still in front of it.
Beat Miami and proceed to win out, and a first-round bye is likely on the horizon, and a national championship is still very much in the picture.
Now the fun really begins.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/notredame as Notre Dame Overcomes Slow Start, Sinks Navy: Quick Takeaways .
