Nov 1, 2014; Navy Midshipmen running back Geoffrey Whiteside (29) runs for a touchdown in front of Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Cole Luke (36) in the third quarter at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
The Notre Dame – Navy rivalry is steeped in history and tradition, and each time the two teams meet it is almost always a battle to the finish. But this year’s Irish win over the Naval academy is a bitter-sweet one as it also saw the loss of star senior linebacker, Joe Schmidt. How did the Irish defense perform in this week’s 49-39 win over the Naval Academy? Lets take a look!
After being off two weeks since their last game against Florida State, the Irish defense didn’t look nearly as impressive as their offensive counterparts. Navy ran for 336 yards against Notre Dame’s defense, the most yards run against the Irish defense this season, and Notre Dame has now given up a total of 113 points in their last three games.
The positives of the Irish defense are bitter-sweet with the loss of Schmidt. Freshman linebacker Greer Martini was the top performing defender with nine tackles, closely followed by Schmidt who had eight tackles prior to his injury (broken ankle). The Irish defense forced Navy to punt three times, and the Naval Academy offense was only able to convert on third down 7 of 16 times, and on fourth down 3 of 5 times.
Another impressive stat … the Notre Dame defense has now intercepted a pass in 11 straight games.
The Navy offense attempted 16 passes against Notre Dame only completing six. Notre Dame defended five of the passes (four break ups and one interception) and added two sacks.
Matthias Farley had his first two career solo sacks.
Greer Martini, Drue Tranquill and Justin Utupo all made their first career starts tonight on Notre Dame’s option-focused defensive unit. Martini did a great job of stepping up with the loss of Joe Schmidt.
A few words from Coach Kelly …
On Joe Schmidt’s ankle: “Yes. He has a fracture and a dislocation of his ankle. He’ll have surgery on Tuesday, so he’ll be out for the year.”
On Justin Utopo making his first start of the season: “Well, you know, that’s why it’s so important to have fifth year players. They’re mature. He’s a guy that can come in in the fourth quarter, and he made two huge plays. If he doesn’t deflect that pass that’s intended for the tight end down the middle of the field, who knows where the game ends up, and then of course the interception.”
“To have a veteran like that on your football team, it’s so important. That’s why I’m such an advocate of having these guys hang in there. They’re going to get a chance to play, and you know, contribute. But I think it says a lot about him, sticking with his teammates and wanting to be part of Notre Dame where you’ve got a lot of other guys that just are not thinking about their teammates, they want to go play. That’s why Justin is a special kid.”
On the loss of Joe Schmidt: “I think everybody is going to have to pick up a little bit. Jaylon is going to have to pick up. I think the defensive line is going to have to be more assertive in making sure they’re taking care of their end of things. I think our safeties. I think everybody is going to have to pick up the slack for the loss of a guy that really did most of the work.”
“Yeah, he’s a big loss, but I think our guys understand that it’s a next man in, and let’s get ready to roll.”
On the defense giving up 113 points in the last three games: “We’re aware of how many points we’ve given up. We think that obviously that’s not what we want to do, but each circumstance is different, and we know what our challenges are as they lay in front of us. We’ve got to play great offense, defense and special teams against Arizona State.”
The loss of Schmidt is definitely a concern moving into Arizona State week, but I’m confident that Coach Kelly has the personnel he needs to regroup and be ready on Saturday. The Irish need to make sure they are only focusing on the game at hand and to not get caught up in looking too far down the road. That is the key to success as they round out the season.
Cheers & GO IRISH!
Her Loyal ... Daughter
Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.
Read all posts by Lisa
- Breaking Discoveries in CTE Research? - March 12, 2018
- A Football Player’s Lucky Charm? - February 22, 2018
- Part II: From Football to Coffee Beans? - January 31, 2018
