Notre Dame pounces on Navy turnovers, 41-24

Notre Dame WR Will Fuller, who entered the game leading Notre Dame with 22 catches for 454 yards and six touchdowns this season, managed just two catches for 37 yards…

Notre Dame will play 12 regular season games this year.

Navy put up its usual impressive figures with 318 rushing yards and 6.5 yards per carry, but Notre Dame’s defense must be credited for limiting the Midshipmen to three second-half points. He joins Frank Lonergan (1902) and Reggie Brooks (1992) as the only running backs to have two three-rushing TD games for the Irish in the same season.

“You look at our schedule, and then they go, ‘Oh, that team’s not that good, ‘” Kelly said. “If we don’t get people involved they just run it down our throats, and when we do get our guys involved, they throw it over our heads”. Granted they did beat Navy past year right after falling to Florida State, and then losing four straight games after a victory over Navy, but that was a four-loss Navy team. “Navy presents a very hard challenge”. But only Notre Dame is ranked this week, number fifteen. “The fullback was hitting wider than – we couldn’t get our (linebacker), we couldn’t get our five-technique down”. And with Kelly, Mike Denbrock and Mike Sanford keeping the offense moving, it’ll stress the Midshipmen like no other game on their schedule. Notre Dame didn’t want to offer the undersized Schmidt a scholarship.

Earlier this week, Brian Kelly hopped on SiriusXM radio with Stephen A. Smith. “That’s really part of it”, Kelly said, sounding unworried about the slide to No. 15. “We have so many talented players that on any given day, different people can step up and have an impact”. So you would think that the Tigers had a chance to upset the Irish.

“This doesn’t mean a lot if we don’t take care of business”, he said. So facts would say that picking Notre Dame over Clemson at home was ludicrous.

Justin Thomas may have gotten all the preseason attention from Irish fans.

As more becomes available about the injury to Keenan Reynolds, we will keep you updated on the severity. The senior quarterback and leader of the Midshipmen will finish his college career as one of the most prolific players in college football history.

Last week Reynolds ran down 183 yards and threw his second touchdown of the season in Navy’s 33-11 victory over armed-services rival Air Force, and the Midshipmen defense generated four Falcons turnovers.

There was a few consternation in my household late in the first half and early into the second as ND looked a little too 2009 Charlie Weis-like in their efforts to stop the fullback in the triple option for my taste. We are in an era where pressure to join a conference exists and a “13 game” is a buzz phrase supporting opponents of Notre Dame’s playoff merits. The fifth-round selection of the Sabres saved his best for the waning weeks of the 2014-15 season, as Petersen led the nation with a. 962 save percentage in February before making a Div. 1 record 87 saves in a five-overtime contest against UMass Amherst on March 6.

This is Ken Niumatalolo’s best Navy team.