Notre Dame Opponent Preview: Navy Midshipmen

The 13th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish kick off the 2023 season on Saturday against long-time rival Navy as the Midshipmen kick off the Brian Newberry era. Navy moved on from long-time coach Ken Niumatalolo, who went 109-83 in 15 seasons with the Middies.

Location: Aviva Stadium (Dublin, Ireland)
Game Date: Saturday, August 26
Start Time: 2:30 PM ET
Network: NBC
Current Line: Notre Dame -20.5, O/U 50.05

Let's take a look at Navy.

HEAD COACH: Brian Newberry

Newberry enters his first season as the head coach at Navy, which followed four seasons running the Midshipmen defense. Navy gave up 30.3 points per game in the three seasons prior to Newberry's arrival as the defensive coordinator, but he turned things around pretty quickly. Navy gave up just 24.3 points per game a season ago, and its rush defense ranked 3rd nationally.

This is Newberry's first head coaching job. He served as the defensive coordinator at Kennesaw State from 2013-18, one season in the same role at Northern Michigan in 2012 and a season in the same role at Sewanee (2011).

Newberry played defensive back at Baylor (1992-96), and he started his coaching career at Southern Arkansas in 1999.

Offensive Coordinator: Grant Chestnut (1st season)
Defensive Coordinator: PJ Volker (1st season)

2022 RESULTS (4-8)

Delaware - Lost 14-7
Memphis - Lost 37-13
at East Carolina - Won 23-20
at Air Force - Lost 13-10
Tulsa - Won 53-21
at SMU - Lost 40-34
Houston - Lost 38-20
Temple - Won 27-20
at Cincinnati - Lost 20-10
vs. Notre Dame - Lost 35-32
at UCF - Won 17-14
vs. Army - Lost 20-17

2022 STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

2022 RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS

Rushing: FB Daba Fofana - 186 att., 769 yards, 4.1 YPC, 6 TD; SB Anton Hall Jr. - 89 att., 390 yards, 4.4 YPC, 3 TD; QB Xavier Arline - 96 att., 376 yards, 3.9 YPC, 3 TD; QB Tai Lavatai - 115 att., 309 yards, 2.7 YPC, 5 TD

Passing: QB Tai Lavatai - 42-91, 46.2%, 787 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT

Receiving: WR Jayden Umbarger - 16 rec., 265 yards, 16.6 YPC, 2 TD; SB Anton Hall Jr. - 1 rec., 62 yards, 1 TD; SB Kai Puailoa-Rojas - 4 rec., 33 yards, 8.3 YPC, 0 TD

Tackles: LB Colin Ramos - 79 tackles; S Rayuan Lane III - 72 tackles; S Eavan Gibbons - 54 tackles; CB Mbiti Williams Jr. - 42 tackles; LB Jianni Woodson-Brooks - 42 tackles; DE Jacob Busic - 38 tackles; NG Donald Berniard Jr. - 35 tackles; LB Will Harbour - 30 tackles

Tackles For Loss: LB Colin Ramos - 8.5; DE Jacob Busic - 8.5; DT Clay Cromwell - 6.0; S Eavan Gibbons - 5.0; NG Donald Berniard Jr. - 4.5; LB Will Harbour - 3.5; CB Dashaun Peele - 3.0

Sacks: DE Jacob Busic - 6.0; LB Colin Ramos - 4.0; DT Clay Cromwell - 1.5; LB Will Harbour - 1.5

Interceptions: CB Elias Larry - 2; three players tied with 1

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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

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