Notre Dame Football: Navy may give Irish more trouble than anticipated

A game that looks on paper to be bound for a huge blowout between Notre Dame football and the Navy Midshipmen could surprise some.

One of the heaviest lines of any AP Top 25 team in Week 9 involves Notre Dame football holding roughly a 24-point edge in the spread over the slipping Navy Midshipmen. Notre Dame football is coming out of the bye week with one of its brightest outlooks since making the run to the 2012 BCS National Championship.

Meanwhile, Navy is having one of its worst seasons in recent memory with just two wins thus far. Navy has lost four straight games, including the most recent defeat at the hands of a top team in the American Athletic Conference in the Houston Cougars. Notre Dame football is the only Power Five team (if you count the Fighting Irish as such) on the 2018 slate for the Midshipmen.

After fending off the Pittsburgh Panthers by the final score of 19-14 before the bye week, Notre Dame was dominating some solid competition. Notre Dame took down then ranked No. 24 Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium by a 22-point margin. Before beating Virginia Tech, the Irish knocked off then ranked No. 7 Stanford at home 38-17.

Pitt can be a stingy opponent for top 10 teams like Notre Dame now, but Navy appears to be more harmless. Yet, a Navy squad that wasn’t very good last year either took it right down to the wire against Notre Dame near the end of the 2017 campaign.

A good amount of the fortune that Notre Dame will see against Navy rides on how prepared its defense is to face the elusive triple option system. Navy is still averaging more than 300 rushing yards per game and can put up some points given the right situation.

Malcolm Perry already has more than 700 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the year. He could go off if Notre Dame isn’t ready to contain the option scheme. Although the Irish front seven is experienced enough to shut down the Navy offense, this team can always take you by surprise.

The one area where Notre Dame holds the distinct advantage is in the passing game. Navy is very prone to giving up a ton of passing yards to solid quarterbacks. The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors posted 435 passing yards and six touchdowns, with no interceptions, on Navy. And, Houston posted 413 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, last week.

Notre Dame junior quarterback Ian Book should have himself a nice game against the Midshipmen. Yet, the Navy ground game can allow them to control the clock a bit more than Notre Dame might be used to seeing. That can take some points off the board for the Irish and make the final score closer than many anticipate.

In fact, the last time that Notre Dame beat Navy by at least a 24-point margin was back during the 2012 season, when it won 50-10 on its way to the BCS National Championship Game. Navy even beat the Irish in 2016.