Will Worth’s stature grows as Mids refuse to give in to Irish
Long drives, staunch ‘D’ lift Navy over Notre Dame for first time since 2010
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — And the legend of Will Worth continues to grow.
Thrust into the starting quarterback role because of an injury, Worth just gets better each week and is accomplishing things not even his legendary predecessor Keenan Reynolds did.
Worth rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns as Navy won a back-andforth game against Notre Dame, 28-27, on Saturday before an announced 50,867 at EverBank Field. Worth operated the triple option to perfection as the Midshipmen had 323 rushing yards in beating the Fighting Irish for the first time since 2010.
“I’m running out of adjectives for our team. We have such tough, hard-nosed kids — resilient with a ton of grit,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “I’m just so
College football inside
■ Maryland allows 660 yards, is hammered by No. 3 Michigan, 59-3 ■ No. 1 Alabama 10, No. 13 LSU 0 ■ Miss. St. 35, No. 4 Texas A&M 28 ■ No. 6 Ohio St. 62, No. 10 Neb. 3 COVERAGE, PGS 8-9 VARSITY FOOTBALL proud of the way our players fought to the end. It’s a great day for Navy football.”
Navy sealed the win with a timeconsuming drive. After a field goal got the Irish to within one, the Mids took over at the 25-yard line with 7:28 remaining in the game.
A pass-interference penalty on thirdand-9 kept the drive alive, and Navy converted a fourth-and-2 with just over four minutes left. Worth got the first down on a sneak with the aid of 255-pound fullback Shawn White pushing from See
behind.
Slotback Dishan Romine picked up another first down by taking a pitch for a 10-yard gain on third-and-3. Navy faced one more conversion when Niumatalolo went for it on fourth-and-6 with 1:19 to go.
Worth completed a pass over the middle to wide receiver Jamir Tillman for a 15-yard gain and the celebration along the Navy sideline began as the clock hit 45 seconds. Worth took a knee on first down, and Notre Dame could not stop the clock because it was out of timeouts.
“We knew we didn’t want to give them the ball back. We put the pressure on our offense to eat the clock,” Niumatalolo said. “Ivin called some great plays and Will executed them.”
Niumatalolo told Jasper on the headset that the entire drive was fourth-down territory. Navy had no intention of punting and giving Notre Dame a chance to drive for a winning field goal.
“We were trying to eat the clock, but we didn’t want to slow down and lose momentum. We wanted to snap the ball within five seconds,” Niumatalolo said. “It came down to we needed first downs. We told the players to just think in terms of first downs.”
Slotback Calvin Cass Jr. rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown while Tillman had four catches for 41 yards for Navy (6-2), which became bowl-eligible for the 13th time in the past 14 seasons. The Mids are contractually obligated to play in the Armed Forces Bowl, held Dec. 23 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
For the Navy seniors, it was the last chance to play against the most storied program in college football.
“It’s crazy to finally beat them. There’s no better feeling,” Tillman said. “When I came here, the first thing I wanted to do was beat Notre Dame. And we’ve been so close, so close. We displayed our culture by the way we played today.”
Quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 19 of 27 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns for Notre Dame (3-6), which must win its final three games to finish .500 and earn a bowl berth. Wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. had eight catches for 104 yards and a score for the Irish, who have lost to the Mids four times since 2007.
“Congratulations to Navy. They executed flawlessly. It’s what we expect every time we play Navy,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “It’s always a game where it comes down to the last quarter. You’ve got to make a play late. They made the plays necessary to win the game.”
Reynolds had some remarkable achievements during his record-setting career, but he never beat Notre Dame. Worth, who set a single-game school record with 428 total yards last week against South Florida, has achieved a couple other milestones Reynolds did not.
“The kid has played phenomenal. We are where we are right now because of Will Worth,” Niumatalolo said. “He has given our team belief, helped create an image for our football team. We’re a scrappy team that’s not going to back down from anybody. A lot of that comes from the way Will plays.”
Worth directed a nine-minute drive that used much of the third-quarter clock and led three other touchdown marches that took between four and five minutes off the clock. Navy accomplished one of its primary goals by winning the time-of-possession battle, 33:53 to 26:07. Notre Dame also helped shorten the game with several lengthy drives, including one that lasted more than seven minutes.
“We had six possessions the whole game,” Kelly said. “Anytime you’re limited to six possessions, you have to be very extremely efficient.”
Notre Dame punted once and was forced to settle for field goals twice, three missed opportunities that ultimately decided the game.
Kelly sent Justin Yoon out to kick a 31-yard field goal with 7:28 remaining when faced with fourth-and-4 at the Navy 20.
“It made sense that 28-27 was the right call on fourth-and-4. I don’t question the decision to go for the field goal there, other than the fact we couldn’t get the ball back,” Kelly said.
Notre Dame drove 83 yards with ease to score a touchdown on its opening possession. Kizer found Hunter running wide open on an inside slant route for a 26-yard scoring pass as the Irish overcame consecutive false-start penalties to take an early 7-0 lead.
Navy responded on its first possession with Worth directing a 73-yard drive that took five minutes off the clock. Worth converted a third-and-2 in Notre Dame territory and slotback Darryl Bonner ran 16 yards on a pitch to tie the score at 7.
The Mids followed with a defensive stop that forced the Irish to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Yoon that made it 10-7 with 1:47 remaining in the first quarter. Notre Dame Navy FIRST QUARTER ND: Hunter 26 pass from Kizer (Yoon kick), 11:30 NAV: D.Bonner 16 run (Moehring kick), 6:30 ND: FG Yoon 39, 1:47 SECOND QUARTER NAV: Worth 3 run (Moehring kick), 7:43 ND: Smythe 8 pass from Kizer (Yoon kick), :30 THIRD QUARTER NAV: Cass Jr. 37 run (Moehring kick), 11:08 ND: St. Brown 13 pass from Kizer (Yoon kick), 5:51 FOURTH QUARTER NAV: Worth 1 run (Moehring kick), 11:51 ND: FG Yoon 31, 7:28 10 7 7 7 7 7 3 7 — — RUSHING: Notre Dame, Adams 12-73, Kizer 9-52, Folston 4-13, D.Williams 3-7, Sanders 1-2. Navy, Worth 28-175, Cass Jr. 3-48, High 6-28, Gulley 3-22, D.Bonner 4-21, Romine 3-18, Tillman 1-6, Sh.White 2-4, T.Walker 4-3, (Team) 2-(minus 5). PASSING: Notre Dame, Kizer 19-27-0-223. Navy, Worth 5-8-0-48. RECEIVING: Notre Dame, Hunter 8-104, St. Brown 5-62, Stepherson 4-48, Smythe 1-8, Adams 1-1|Navy, Tillman 4-41, Jos.Brown 1-7. 27 28