Mids’ big rally falls short
Navy’s game plan against No. 20 Notre Dame has some success, but Irish hold on for 35-32 win
Navy football figured it would have a chance provided the defense could stop the powerful Notre Dame rushing attack.
The Midshipmen, who came into the contest ranked seventh nationally in rushing defense, relished the opportunity to stuff the ground game and force the Fighting Irish into obvious passing situations.
Navy executed the first part of the game plan quite well, shutting down the talented tailback tandem of Logan Diggs and Audric Estime as Notre Dame was held to a season-low 66 rushing yards.
Unfortunately for Navy, third-andlong turned out to be right in the wheelhouse of quarterback Drew Pyne and the Notre Dame offense. Pyne repeatedly torched the Mids through the air, and the 95th meeting between the schools was pretty much over by halftime.
Pyne completed 17 of 21 passes for 269 yards and four touchdowns as No. 20 Notre Dame built a big lead then held on to beat Navy, 35-32, before an announced crowd of 62,124 at M&T Bank Stadium. Pyne did almost all his
damage in the first half as the Fighting Irish (7-3) took a commanding 35-13 lead into the break.
Fullback Daba Fofana finished with 133 rushing yards to lead Navy (3-7), which played much better on both sides of the ball in the second half. Quarterback Xavier Arline acquitted himself well in his second start of the season, rushing for one touchdown and throwing for another.
Inside linebacker Colin Ramos and safety Rayuan Lane led the way as Navy totally shut down the Notre Dame offense in the second half, stuffing the run and recording five sacks. Ramos and Lane both notched seven tackles and a sack as the Fighting Irish were limited to 12 total yards after intermission.
A deflected pass at the line of scrimmage led to an interception by linebacker John Marshall in Notre Dame
territory. Navy immediately capitalized on the turnover with Arline throwing a strike to wide receiver Mark Walker for a 34-yard touchdown. Arline ran in the 2-point conversion as the Mids cut the deficit to 35-24 early in the fourth quarter.
Arline got injured while running the ball on a keeper and backup Maasai Maynor was charged with trying to keep the comeback going. After a pair of three-and-out possessions, Navy got the ball back with just over five minutes remaining and was able to make things interesting.
A nice mix of passing and running plays produced an 11-play, 88-yard drive that ended with Maynor throwing a 20-yard touchdown strike to slotback Maquel Haywood. Slotback Vincent Terrell added another 2-point conversion run and the Mids trailed by three with 1:21 remaining.
Navy needed to recover an onside kick and was unable to do so as Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Salemo easily handled the delivery from Evan Warren. The Fighting Irish took a knee twice to run out the remaining clock and close out their fifth straight victory in the series.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a football team after a game win or loss. I just thought our kids battled to the very end. It was a great testament to who they are — their character, fortitude and resolve,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
“To our kids’ credit, they came back and battled. I wish we had a chance to get the ball back one more time.”
Niumatalolo pointed to the opening possession of the second half as ultimately proving critical. Navy used 16 plays to drive 72 yards deep into Notre Dame territory and had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by kicker Bijan Nichols. The Midshipmen held the ball for 10 minutes, effectively chewing up almost the entire third quarter.
“We’ve got to come away with more than that,” Niumatalolo said. “I just wish that first drive that took 10 minutes would have got more than three.”
Navy was its own worst enemy in the first half, repeatedly giving Notre Dame a short field with miscues. There was a failed onside kick, an interception off a trick play and blocked punt.
“Against a team like that you can’t make mistakes, and we had just a couple too many,” Niumatalolo admitted.
Notre Dame faced third-and-8 in Navy territory on its opening possession. Defensive coordinator Brian Newberry blitzed off the edge and had nose guard Donald Berniard Jr. drop into coverage.
That proved a major mistake as Berniard got matched up one-on-one with Estime, who got wide-open over the middle and turned a short pass into a 30-yard touchdown.
Notre Dame didn’t need long to score another touchdown on its second possession. Pyne lofted a bomb into the end zone with wide receiver Braden Lenzy the intended target. Lenzy was well covered by Navy cornerback Mbiti Williams, but made a spectacular catch that is sure to make the “SportsCenter” Top 10 plays.
Lenzy somehow managed to reach around Williams to catch the ball after it dropped over the head of the unsuspecting cornerback. Lenzy then pinned the ball against the back of Williams before gaining control and using one arm to bring it in and give the Irish a 14-0 lead.
“I think they throw that ball up 10 times, they come down with it once, and that was the one time,” said Marshall, who had six tackles and 1 ½ sacks to go along with the interception.
Navy answered with a touchdown on its second possession with Fofana bursting through a big hole up the middle and racing 34 yards into the end zone. Kicker Bijan Nichols, making his first appearance of the season, missed the extra-point attempt badly and it was 14-6.
On the ensuing possession, Notre Dame converted on third-and-12 and again on third-and-10. Pyne capped a 10-play 83-yard drive by finding tailback Chris Tyree all alone in the flat for an easy 5-yard touchdown toss that increased the lead to 21-6.
“In the first half we had some opportunities to get them on the field and we didn’t. That’s kind of been our Achilles Heel on defense,” Niumatalolo said. “We do a great job on first and second [down] and get teams into third-and-long. We have to find a way to get them off the field.”
Another well executed trap play opened a big hole for Fofana and he rumbled 50 yards into enemy territory. Arline scrambled for 26 yards on first down and four plays later he dove over the goal line from 2 yards out to reduce the deficit to 21-13.
Navy finally got its first defensive stop on the next Notre Dame possession as kicker Blake Grupe missed a 45-yard field goal attempt. That is when things really went south for the Mids.
Niumatalolo dipped into his bag of tricks on first down and it proved disastrous. Slotback Kai Puailoa-Rojas took a reverse handoff then threw a pass that was intended for Airline along the right sideline.
Notre Dame cornerback Clarence Lewis had Arline well covered and easily picked off the pass, which was badly underthrown. The Fighting Irish only needed three plays to tack another touchdown with Pyne rolling right then taking off and darting into the end zone from 11 yards out.
Navy went three-and-out on its next possession and a poor snap led to a blocked punt by Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser. Pyne delivered a perfect pass on the first play from scrimmage, dropping the ball into the hands of tight end Jayden Thomas for a 37-yard touchdown that gave the Fighting Irish a 22-point lead at halftime.
Niumatalolo called what happened at the end of the first half “a very bad sequence of events.” He took the blame for the interception and said the blocked punt “really hurt.”
“I probably got a little too greedy by calling that trick play. In hindsight, we probably should have run the ball a bit,” he said. “We struggled on defense and had a hard time stopping them in the first half so I probably got a little more aggressive than I normally would.”