Notre Dame Football opens their season beating Navy 42-3 Here are three takeaways from the game.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy Midshipman football teams kicked off the 2023 college football season in a rainy Dublin, Ireland at iconic Aviva Stadium. The Irish fans from the United States traveled well, and with many Notre Dame fans living in Ireland, the game felt very much like a home game.
Despite it feeling like a home game, this was the third straight season where Notre Dame opened their season away from the friendly confines of Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish traveled to Florida State in 2021 and Ohio State last year.
Navy is not built to come from behind. Once Notre Dame went up by three scores, it pretty much spelled game over for the Midshipman. Last season, Notre Dame jumped out to a 35-6 lead before giving up 26 straight points and holding on for a three-point victory. Once again Notre Dame jumped out to a big lead, but there was no holding on in the second half as the Irish had complete control.
It might have been week zero, but it looked more like Notre Dame was in mid-season form. Second year Irish head coach Marcus Freeman looked much more comfortable on the sideline in this season’s first game when compared to last year when he was on the sideline in Ohio Stadium against alma mater Ohio State Buckeyes.
When the final whistle blew, Notre Dame had won 42-3. Here are three take aways from Notre Dame’s big win to kick off the 2023 season.
Sam Hartman is a legitimist Heisman candidate
The only people who were mentioning Sam Hartman as a Heisman candidate coming into the season were Notre Dame fans and people who are fans of ACC schools who have seen him play over the past couple of years. Hartman made his first start at Notre Dame and looked like he has been the signal caller for the Irish for a very long time.
He was poised in the pocket and in complete control of the offense. In his first four possessions, he was 14-18 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Irish to four straight touchdowns in the first half and 28-0 score after the first two frames.
Not only was the offensive line giving Hartman plenty of time to throw the football, but the Irish running game also opened up the passing game as well. Audric Estime ran the football angerly, scoring on Notre Dame’s first drive. It was clear that offensive coordinator Gerad Parker had a clear plan to run the football and establish the line of scrimmage early. Even on a third and ten, Parker surprised the Navy defense with an Estime run that went for a first down.
Once the Midshipman became focused on that Notre Dame running game, it was Hartman time. By the end of the first quarter, Hartman threw for his second touchdown, his 112th in his career, tying him with Colt McCoy all-time. On his first possession in the second half, he tied Derek Carr at 15th all-time when he passed for his 113th touchdown pass all-time. In the first possession of the final quarter, Hartman hit Deion Colzie on a quick bubble screen when Navy came on an all-out blitz, and Hartman had his fourth touchdown pass of the game, which tied a Notre Dame record for most TD passes in a debut. It was also his 114th in his career, tying Danny Wuerffel at 14th in college football history.
Hartman’s Heisman trophy campaign has officially begun. He has three really big matchups this season that will give him an opportunity to impress the voters on the biggest stage. A home game against Ohio State on September 23, another home game on October 14 against USC and last years Heisman trophy winner Caleb Williams, and then a road trip on November 4 against Clemson.
Notre Dame stayed discipline in defending Navy’s triple option
Defending the triple option can make a defensive coordinator pull his hair out. Although Navy was able to move the football between the 20’s during the first quarter, Al Golden’s Golden Domer D stayed discipline. Navy wasn’t able to crack the big one all game, and despite the concern by many that Navy might have a more hybrid style of offense that would incorporate more of passing game along with their traditional triple option look, the Irish were more than ready.
Once the momentum of the game favored Notre Dame, Golden was able to become a little more aggressive. The Irish put nine guys in the box and dared Navy’s quarterback Tai Lavatai to pass the football. Lavatai and the Midshipman didn’t take the dare until it was too late, and even when they did, it looked and felt clunky.
In fact, Navy didn’t complete a pass against Notre Dame until the fourth quarter. For a majority of the game, Hartman had more touchdowns than Navy had passing yards. The Irish defense held Navy scoreless until just under four minutes remaining in the game when the Midshipman hit a field goal to finally get on the board.
The fact that Notre Dame held Navy to just three points is impressive. The Irish kept Navy to under 150-yards rushing, which is something very few defenses have done. Freeman and Golden’s stout defense couldn’t have asked for a better start to their season.
Obviously there will be stiffer competition coming up with offenses that will be more high powered than what Navy brought to the table. But given where this team was a season ago, this was exactly what Notre Dame fans wanted to see.
Marcus Freeman looks more comfortable in year two
Marcus Freeman was 9-5 overall as head coach at Notre Dame coming into the season. There is a lot of expectations on Freeman to do for Notre Dame what Brian Kelly could not, and that is get Notre Dame over the hump and back into the college football national championship conversation. Despite all the success Kelly had as Notre Dame’s Head Coach, 92-40 overall, whenever Kelly got Notre Dame to the National Championship game or College Football Playoff, the Irish were severally overmatched.
If Freeman is going to get over that hump, it starts with recruiting. Despite some of the recruiting success he has had the past two cycles, Notre Dame is still missing out on some of the more highly ranked recruits who they will need to land if they plan to compete with the Georgia’s, Alabama’s, and Ohio State’s of the college football would.
With NIL such a huge part of the recruiting landscape, it has been unclear if Notre Dame’s NIL plan has been as organized and as financially deep as some of the bigger programs in the country. If you can’t, or if you refuse to spend the money needed, then you have to win games on the field and give these recruits another reason to want to wear your teams’ colors. That’s the battle Freeman is facing, and on Saturday, he won that first battle, winning big on national television when all eyes were on him.
Later this season when Ryan Day, Lincoln Riley, and Dabo Swinney are standing across the sideline from Freeman, will he pucker up again? If Saturday was any indication, the answer to that question is no. Freeman showed he belonged last season when he outcoached Swinney. Now he will need to do that again and this time he will need to also beat Day and or Riley to show everyone, including the Notre Dame brass that he is worth investing in and opening those checkbooks for NIL dollars when it comes to recruiting.