‘Force on force’
Midshipmen defense ready for Notre Dame’s powerful rushing attack
Navy defensive coordinator Brian Newberry didn’t need to think twice when asked what Notre Dame has done to turn around its season.
The Fighting Irish have won six of their last seven games after starting 0-2.
In the wake of losses to Ohio State and Marshall and a lackluster offensive performance in a win against California, firstyear coach Marcus Freeman decided Notre Dame needed to implement a ground-andpound philosophy on offense.
“Notre Dame is a very different team right now than it was early in the season. They’re obviously playing at a very high level on offense,” Newberry said. “I think the biggest difference is that they’ve really established the run game. They’re totally committed to running the football.
“I don’t think that philosophy is going to change. We know what they’re going to do, so we have to do our best to slow them down.”
Notre Dame debuted its ground-based offense against North Carolina, running the ball 51 times for 287 yards in a 45-32 victory. The Fighting Irish have surpassed 200 yards rushing in all four of their subsequent wins.
Notre Dame flexed its muscles big time last Saturday night against then-No. 4 Clemson. The Fighting Irish piled up 263 rushing yards on the way to a 35-14 rout.
“Clemson has NFL talent across the board along the defensive front seven and I think our offensive line took it as a challenge,” Freeman said. “It was a case of playing to your strengths within the flow of the game. We were having success so we continued to run the ball.”
Freeman said the mentality starts with
active Thursday, hustling and making plays on defense to give himself a confidence boost.
“Things that don’t show up on the stat sheet got me going and I was able to score more,” said the soft-spoken Reese, who goes by JuJu.
Transfer guard Jahmir Young added 16 points and five rebounds after missing five of his first seven shots. Senior guard Hakim Hart scored 10 points while senior forward Donta Scott registered seven points and six rebounds as the Terps shot 44.3% from the field.
But on a night when Maryland improved to 2-0, Reese was the shining star.
“[Reese] was special,” Young said. “We really followed him tonight. He was doing all the little things and we made sure to give him touches. He was aggressive.”
Reese’s stellar performance coupled with Maryland’s lockdown defense overshadowed poor outside shooting.
The Terps shot just 2-for-19 from the 3-point line, but they made it hard for the Catamounts (0-2) to generate any offensive rhythm. Maryland held Western Carolina to 15 points in the first half, the fewest by any Terps opponent since 2014, while forcing 17 turnovers. Western Carolina struggled to make a basket from anywhere on the floor, shooting 27% overall and 7-for-28 from deep while scoring just 20 points in the paint. When Willard went to his bench late in the game, Western Carolina’s offense finally came alive, going on a 14-1 run in the final three minutes.
The first half was far from an offensive showcase. After Maryland jumped out to a commanding 20-10 lead with nine minutes left, the Terps limped through a rough stretch that included three turnovers in four minutes, including a pair of bad passes from Scott and junior guard Ian Martinez.
Maryland missed eight of 10 shots while shooting a dreadful 0-for-8 from the 3-point line. Redshirt freshman Ike Cornish checked into the game with seven minutes left in the half and missed a pair of outside shots.
“They’ve never practiced this long [or] played this hard,” Willard said. “[But] if they are playing this hard, I’m going to let them keep firing. They gotta learn how to make buckets when they are tired.”
Fortunately for the Terps, Western Carolina wasn’t any better offensively. The Catamounts shot just 1-for-12 from the field and were held scoreless for nearly five minutes.
The Terps’ defense kept Western Carolina in check long enough to make a run in the final minutes. Young scored five consecutive points before Hart converted back-toback layups in transition to give Maryland a 32-15 lead at halftime.