First Half Analysis: Notre Dame Leads Navy 35-13

Notre Dame leads Navy 35-13 at the half. The Irish jumped all over Navy early, allowed the Midshipmen to claw back, and then made strong plays in the final minutes to jump out to a huge lead.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

*** Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees did a good job getting the pass game rolling early in this game. Navy is a very good rush defense but a struggling pass defense, and Rees took advantage. The Irish still tried running the ball, but Rees used a nice mix of play-action, bootlegs, RPOs and some drop backs to get the ball out to the wideouts.

*** The issue was Notre Dame couldn't get its run game going. Navy was loading the box and the Irish line didn't get much of a push. There were a lot of stunts from Navy and the line didn't pick them up overly well. They were able to lean on Navy on a few snaps, but overall the Irish got very little downhill push, and the creativity we saw formationally and mixing up the run calls that worked so well last week weren't there. I did like the

*** Even on the 28-yard run by Audric Estime to set up the final touchdown of the half, tight end Mitchell Evans was beat inside (he had a rough first half blocking) and Estime had to spin off a defender in the backfield.

*** Quarterback Drew Pyne had the best half of his career, completing 14-16 passes for 197 yards, and he also rushed for a touchdown on a bootleg where he decided to keep the football. There were a couple of missed reads, but for the most part Pyne showed poise in the pocket and did a good job going through his progressions. The deep in cut he threw to Deion Colzie was the best anticipation throw he's made in a Notre Dame uniform. It was one of a two third-and-10+ completions he made on the drive.

*** Pyne also got deeper drops in this game, so when he stepped up he had more depth behind the line. This looks different than we've seen in the past when his drops were shorter and he'd end up throwing from where he received the snap. I'll go back and look at the film, but if this is what I think it is it is a very, very smart move by the Irish coaches to get him deeper on his drops. When Pyne is deeper in the pocket and can step into throws you saw in this game he can attack downfield and get the ball over the top of a defense.

*** If this is true growth for Pyne and not just a bad defense this offense is going to be very, very, very dangerous down the stretch.

*** One area I want to see Pyne improve, and this has been an issue for a few weeks, is to throw the ball to the check downs. He forced a ball over the middle to Jayden Thomas in the red zone, but if he hits Estime on a check down he has a lot of room to run. This is often true.

*** Despite that, this was an excellent half for Pyne. He was poised, he took advantage of the poor pass defense and he made all the throws he needed to make.

*** Wide receiver Braden Lenzy FINALLY got some chances to make plays and he was excellent in the first half. His brilliant behind the back catch was without question the catch of the year for Notre Dame, but he also made a great leaping catch on a high hitch RPO in the first half.

*** Navy also had a very tough time handling Thomas, who Rees used a lot over the middle, which is where he is at his best. Great usage of his talent, Pyne rewarded Thomas with targets and he made strong catches. Thomas over the middle is where he is very dangerous, especially against a defense like Navy.

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE

*** Notre Dame's defensive game plan was puzzling. They mixed up three and four man looks all game, but the way the interior defenders attacked was troubling. Notre Dame had a poor plan for the fullback dive, which gashed them in the first half. The two keys to stopping the option are take away the fullback and limit big plays, and Notre Dame did neither. Notre Dame will have to adjust at halftime and figure out a plan to take away the fullback dives.

*** Notre Dame's inside backers had a rough performance. They were eaten up by guards throughout the game, and defensive coordinator Al Golden decided to blitz them on the first long run by Navy, which was a bad decision. They'll need to do a better job getting off blocks, but the game plan can't allow Navy's guards to get up field that easily without having the defensive tackles just blowing up the fullback.

*** To make matters worse the linebackers weren't aggressive enough when asked to read, and Marist Liufau had a big missed tackle on the long 50-yard run. I'd move Liufau to the edge and put Jack Kiser inside. Kiser had an excellent first half on defense and special teams.e

*** Clarence Lewis and Benjamin Morrison made back-to-back plays that blew this game open. Lewis made a great read on a trick play to pick off a pass, and Morrison's open field tackle on third down gave the Irish the ball in great position. The offense turned both plays into touchdowns and a 21-13 game turned into a 35-13 halftime lead for the Irish.

*** Cam Hart bumped into Prince Kollie on the first long pass. That kind of mistake by both can't happen and it allowed Navy to flip the field early and ultimately got them into the end zone.

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