Notre Dame Football: 5 overreactions from win over Navy

4. Defense is already back on track

Navy’s offensive attack can get out of control pretty fast when defenses are not prepared. However, Notre Dame held the Navy triple option attack to less than 4.0 yards per carry on 72 attempts. More importantly, Navy was held to just one rushing touchdown.

Notre Dame’s had a strong defense for most of the season, despite a rough two game stretch against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Miami where 78 points were allowed. The defense responded by allowing just 14 in this one, and picking off Navy quarterback Zach Abey once.

Abey was the leading source of offense for Navy, but he was held to less than 130 total yards, a big accomplishment for this group. On only one other occasion was Abey held to less than 100 rushing yards this season, against the Temple Owls.

It would have been easy for this Notre Dame defense to crumble under the pressure and scrutiny from the past two contests. However, a sign of a truly great defense is learning from past mistakes and coming through when it matters down the stretch.