Will Notre Dame rebound from crushing Clemson loss? Bet on it

Navy QB Keenan Reynolds vs. Notre Dame LB Joe Schmidt. I would expect much of the same in this game.

While being pressed on last year’s game against Navy – when the Irish fell behind after blowing a 21-point lead, before escaping with a 49-39 victory – Schmidt was asked about the importance of finishing strong after building a lead. A 30-minute documentary aired earlier this week.

Each “RESPECT” football was custom-tailored by Big Game to the preferences of the Navy quarterbacks.

After a rain-soaked weekend in South Carolina, it looks like a dry Saturday in South Bend.

A significant loss from that game is safety Drue Tranquill, who suffered a torn ACL that afternoon. He has shown great poise since being thrust into the starting role.

“He plays the role that Shu played”.

“It’s still assignment football in all cases”, Kelly said. Flores moved into defense after playing the last two games off the bench. It was just collectively everybody not playing their very best. Can his silver-lining performance trigger a more explosive offense? “I thought that we were connecting between the lines better….” Yet that’s what Brian Kelly did, and Kizer very almost pulled a rabbit out of the hat. And just to remind fans of the history, Notre Dame released this awesome hype video about the rivalry.

The Notre Dame football team comes home this weekend after a dramatic and devastating loss on the road at Clemson last Saturday night. I’m not going to name which one because it would give you too much information relative to the scheme. “As a receiver, my one job is to catch and I didn’t do that”. “It’s just buying into the gameplan that’s put in front of us”.

Yes, this is a different Midshipmen team entering Notre Dame Stadium, the best Brian Kelly’s Irish will have faced in his six years here. Navy is giving up 15 PPG through their first four games.

“Coach Kelly, I’ve always admired the way he calls plays”. “We got him a few individual, we got him a little team time [Wednesday] and [Thursday]. That’s really part of it”, Kelly said, sounding unworried about the slide to No. 15.

The Irish did play very well against Georgia Tech, but I am not ready to say they have finally figured out the option attack. “We did not play up to the level we’re capable of and you should fall considerably because of it”. The Irish have a much bigger front than Navy, so they should be able to push them around. And while it’s still way, way, way too soon to be wondering if the Irish have the schedule needed to qualify without a conference title game, Kelly seemed to think winning out would solve all of those problems. Navy is receiving votes in both major polls; Notre Dame ranks 15th in both.

Navy: The Midshipmen are led on offense by senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds. The senior quarterback and leader of the Midshipmen will finish his college career as one of the most prolific players in college football history. In fact he only needs five more rushing scores to break the all-time rushing TD record set by Montee Ball of Wisconsin. KeiVarae Russell was featured, where his determination and conviction to come back after his academic suspension was underscored by his solid play and leadership. “I wouldn’t want to go out any other way”, Reynolds said.

Notre Dame can’t afford to get ahead of itself on Saturday and look ahead to its primetime date with USC October 17. I was happy with what I saw.

“We were looking to mix it up”, Romagnolo said. Reynolds is Navy’s leading rusher, but he has a plethora of guys he can pitch it to.

“It’s priority each and every week”.

Defensively, Dale Pehrson has taken over for Buddy Green as defensive coordinator while Green recovers from offseason surgery. They routed the worst Navy team of the Niumatalolo era in 2011 two weeks after beating Air Force as well.

“We’ve had a hard time making the plays”, Niumatalolo said about the last four years. “If we all read our keys on the same page at the time we need to, we’ll all (have) success. They’re really good. Always have been”.