Game Observations - Defense Edition: Notre Dame Dominates Navy 42-3

Notre Dame (1-0) kicked the 2023 season off in impressive fashion, blowing out Navy by a 42-3 score. The Irish defense shut Navy down, holding the Midshipmen to just three points and just 169 yards of offense.

Here is my instant analysis and thoughts of the performance of the Notre Dame defense from the victory.

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE

*** Al Golden's defense struggled against Navy a season ago, mainly due to issues defending the fullback and giving up too many big plays. The Irish defense thrived in both areas this year, holding Navy's fullback to just 56 yards on 15 carries. Notre Dame's game plan was clearly geared towards shutting down the fullback runs, and they did just that. Some of those 56 yards were actually on outside runs and not fullback dives, which adds to how good they were defending that part of the triple option. Notre Dame allowed four plays of more than 30 yards against Navy a year ago, but they gave up just one in this game, and it came late when the score was 42-0.

*** Navy threw a lot of different wrinkles at Notre Dame as well. They ran shotgun looks, splitback looks, some single wing looks, they used jet motions and ran Power Read, something Navy had never done before and I didn't much of, if at all, when watching Kennesaw State film. Golden and the defensive staff were prepared for it all and remained disciplined with its execution no matter the different looks. At the end of the day, no matter how Navy lined up the responsibilities remained the same, and Golden had his unit prepared to stay on plan in the face of those looks.

*** Notre Dame didn't have a lot of negative plays in the game that kept the points and yards down. Outside of the minus-24 that Navy had on a muffed snap, the Irish "only" had four tackles for loss. The dominance was just consistently shutting Navy down in key situations and limiting the big plays. Navy had a couple of drives that gave them yards, but Notre Dame settled down in the red zone and both times forced field goals. That's a big improvement for a defense that ranked dead last in college football last season in red zone touchdown defense. So that is a very good early sign.

*** The interior of the defensive line was stout against Navy. There were some gap misses and a missed tackle by Rylie Mills on a potential tackle for loss situation, but other than that the unit was solid throughout and really good at other times. They played a key role in shutting down the fullback runs, and both Mills and Gabriel Rubio had big stops in the second half.

*** Notre Dame's linebackers played very well in the win over Navy. Senior Marist Liufau had one of his best games in an Irish uniform. He was disciplined and played assignment sound football, but he also played fast and aggressive. Liufau was physical at the point of attack taking on blocks and making stops on the ball carrier. His backside pursuit and disciplined was outstanding in the game, which included a forced fumble. Classmate JD Bertrand was also quite good. Bertrand did a great job getting the defense lined up, making checks and he helped the defensive line shut down the fullback. Bertrand also had a key third-down tackle on a Power Read that forced a Navy punt. Jack Kiser led the defense in tackles, and most of that came in the first half. During that first half he had a huge pressure that forced an incomplete pass on a play where the secondary turned a player loose. I actually felt Kiser played better in the second half, although his production doesn't show that. He was better on perimeter run support in the second half and was more disruptive.

*** Vyper Jordan Botelho was the most disruptive defensive lineman in the game. Botelho's block destruction was top notch, he played with a great motor and he showed impressive discipline. He made quick reads and flew to the football. Botelho had a second half pressure where he dominated the right tackle and then blew up the quarterback, forcing an underthrown pass to a wide open receiver. Big end Javontae Jean-Baptiste had two huge stops in the game, including a key 2nd-and-5 tackle for loss that helped force a Navy field goal attempt. That was a crucial time in the game, as Navy was driving and moving the chains late in the second quarter. If Navy got into the end zone it would have made it 21-7, and then Navy starts the second half with the ball. Instead, his stop forced a field goal that was missed, and it gave the Irish offense time to put another score on the board, making it 28-0 at halftime. This was a huge turning point in the game.

*** Senior NaNa Osafo-Mensah wasn't as aggressive as he needed to be and at times was way too late reacting to either the quarterback or pitch. Often I couldn't tell what his responsibility was because he didn't really play the dive or quarterback overly effectively. He was better in the second half, but even then it wasn't a strong performance. It was good seeing Josh Burnham get a shot in the second half, and he had an impressive win on an edge pressure that led to a sack.

*** The Irish safeties didn't do much in the first half, but Xavier Watts was a lot more active in the second half. But the safeties, as a whole, underperformed in the game. DJ Brown had a potential drive ending tackle for loss attempt, but he was out of control and whiffed on the play. He also fell down later and gave up what could have been a long touchdown pass had Botelho not hit the quarterback and caused the ball to float incomplete. A sixth-year senior with his experience shouldn't be out of position as much as Brown was in this game.

*** Cornerback Cam Hart appeared to turn a player loose early in the game as well, but the Kiser pressure forced an incompletion. Other than that I thought Hart played well, mostly against the run. He was forceful against the perimeter runs and blew up an early pitch that caused a fumble. Jaden Mickey was very good against the run and Navy largely avoided Benjamin Morrison.

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