Yesterday, someone used the word “schmaltz” to describe the annual game with Navy and it’s the perfect word to use. By kickoff, I had grown exhausted by the swirling drums and pastiches of fly-overs and broadsides. Of the explanation for the series’ longevity and how Navy saved Notre Dame back during the Big One. Of the base-layer the players were wearing and of the word “respect,” itself.
There was time when Navy was a reliable port in the season’s storm, a game you circled as a comfortable win. Sure, there were scares, e.g. 1984, but from 1964 through 2006, Navy was a “win” for Notre Dame. Something changed, perceptibly or otherwise, in 2007 and Navy won, and repeated the trick in 2009 and 2010. They came close in 2013, too. Combining the triple-option with the precision of the parade field, Navy transformed itself into a maelstrom under Coach Ken Niumatalolo.
For the Irish under sixth-year head coach Brian Kelly, the 2015 tilt would test whether his staff’s concentration on the triple-option would translate into two wins on the season and whether his captains could rally their squad from the disappointment of the previous week’s loss to Clemson. By the final whistle, it appeared the Irish had passed both tests.
You wouldn’t have guessed that at the beginning, though. The Irish went three-and-out and surrendered a 51 yard run to Keenan Reynolds at the start of a three play, seventy yard drive by Navy, who were quickly up 7-0. Reynolds, four touchdowns shy of the NCAA record in a career, a record held by Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, would not himself find the end-zone but would spend part of the game on the sideline with an ankle injury. He finished the game with fifteen carries for 110 yards.
Notre Dame’s defense was mostly solid and did more than enough to get Navy out of its rhythm and off the field. Navy came into the game averaging 340 yards rushing. The Irish allowed 318 yards, but 238 of those yards were in the first half. Whatever BVG did in the locker room at the half worked. Sheldon Day was a monster and BVG’s charges took the ball away, something notoriously hard to do against a service academy that prides itself on discipline and attention to detail. The Irish recovered two fumbles and intercepted once. They also forced Navy to punt twice.
The Irish offense was just fine. DeShone Kizer turned in another good day, going 22 of 30 for 281 yards and one touchdown. He threw one interception. Eight different receivers caught the ball, to include Will Fuller’s thirty yard touchdown grab. C.J. Prosise continued to deliver on all the hype and hooplah, scoring from seven, eleven, and twenty-two yards. C.J. finished with 129 yards rushing. The Irish ended the day with 459 yards of total offense.
Justin Yoon influenced the game far beyond his stat line. Called upon twice for field-goal duty, he was perfect, and his fifty-two yarder to end the first half gave the Irish a needed boost and cushion.
With Navy in their wake, Notre Dame enters Sark Week 5-1, two point from perfection. Given that Notre Dame’s success has been built upon practice and preparation, perhaps Sark Week should be shed in favor of a new slogan: Culture Beats Cocktails. Go Irish. Beat Troy.
Hating Hurricanes Since 1990.
Bayou Irish is a Jersey boy and Double Domer who fell under New Orleans' spell in 1995. He's been through Katrina and fourteen years in the Coast Guard, so we cut him some slack, mostly in the form of HLS-subsidized sazeracs. But, when he's not face down on the bar and communing with the ghosts of Faulkner and Capote at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone, he's our man in SEC-land, doing his best to convince everyone around him that Graduation Success Rate is a better indicator of success than the number of MNC's won in the last five years.
- Finding Flaws in a Diamond: Clemson’s Rushing Offense - December 17, 2018
- Why Nobody Will Cotton to Notre Dame - December 3, 2018
- Irish Finish Regular Season Perfect 12-0 - November 26, 2018
“Culture beats cocktails” — agh. Guys.