Notre Dame Offense Will Need To Start Fast Against Navy

Notre Dame had a strange offensive performance against Navy in 2022, but in the end it was good enough. The Fighting Irish ripped off 35 points in the first two quarters in last season's victory over the Midshipmen, but the offense was held scoreless in the second half.

Navy defensive coordinator Brian Newberry brought pressure throughout the half, and from all over, which caused fits for the Irish offense. Newberry is now the head coach, but the defense will keep his DNA, as new DC PJ Volker has been with Newberry for six seasons.

The Navy offense will present Notre Dame with a tough initial test, and we'll learn a lot about the Irish. It's quite the welcome for offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, as his first game is against a complex, pressure heavy defense. As we continue the preview of the Notre Dame vs Navy matchup, let's take a look at how the Irish offense stacks up against the Midshipmen defense.

Notre Dame Rush Offense vs. Navy

Advantage: Navy

If you want to make the argument that Navy ranks third in rush defense because of how bad it is defending against the pass, I would tell you there is some merit. But make no mistake, the Navy rush defense was still very, very good. In fact, Navy finished with a Top 10 rush defense in two of Newberry's four seasons in charge of that unit.

We saw that in action against Notre Dame last season when Navy held the Irish offense to 66 rushing yards on 34 attempts (1.9 YPC) while racking up nine tackles for loss. It was the second most tackles for loss Navy racked up all season, behind its 12 against Delaware. It was also the most tackles for loss that Notre Dame allowed all season, and as the numbers above show, outside of this game Notre Dame was quite good at limiting tackles for loss.

Notre Dame returns its leading rusher, a veteran center in Zeke Correll and arguably the best tackle tandem in college football in Joe Alt and Blake Fisher. Finding a way to get Audric Estime and the other Irish backs going in this game will be very, very important, but also challenging.

Navy returns all three of its starting defensive linemen from last season and three of its four linebackers. The only loss, however, was a big one as linebacker John Marshall led the Navy defense with 18.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks.

Notre Dame Pass Offense vs Navy

Advantage: Notre Dame

As good as Navy was at stopping the run last season it was equally bad at stopping the pass game. Its pass game numbers were bad across the board outside of sacks, but they were actually worse than you think. Navy played two option teams last season, and if you remove those two opponents (Air Force, Army), the Midshipmen actually allowed 281.8 passing yards per game. That would rank them 124th nationally.

Navy does return all four of its starters in the secondary, but the Middies will likely continue to struggle in the pass game.

Notre Dame needs to be able to take advantage in hopes of softening up the run defense. Quarterback Drew Pyne ripped up the Navy defense in the first half last season, and he finished the game with 269 yards and four touchdowns while completing 17 of 21 passes. Pyne missed opportunities to put Navy away in the second half, something Sam Hartman cannot do this season.

Navy will bring pressure from all over against Notre Dame, and the line will need to hold up. Skill players like Chris Tyree, Tobias Merriweather and Jayden Thomas need to take advantage and make Navy pay for being aggressive. That means winning one-on-one battles, making plays after the catch and dominating an inferior opponent.

Notre Dame Scoring Offense vs Navy

Advantage: Notre Dame

Notre Dame holds the advantage here due to its better numbers with situational football. Neither team was very good from a points or yards standpoint. Notre Dame holds the advantage in scoring and yards per play, while Navy's total defense ranked higher than Notre Dame's total offense.

Notre Dame had one of the best third-down offenses in the nation last season, and Parker will need to keep that going in 2023. Navy had good third-down defense, but it doesn't come close to Notre Dame's numbers on offense. Notre Dame has a much better red zone offense than what Navy had on defense, and while both are good with their touchdown rate, Notre Dame was even better.

Notre Dame was good on third-down and in the red zone against Navy last season. Notre Dame went 6-13 on third-down against Navy last fall and it scored touchdowns on both of its red zone trips.

The Irish have a clear talent and size advantage. The question will be can Notre Dame handle the pressure, make big plays, play a more complete game and put Navy away in a way it could not do last season. If Notre Dame starts fast in this contest against Navy it will be a very good sign for where the unit is, and what it is capable of.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter