Why settle into a new football season at home against a tricky but familiar opponent when you can fly all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, earn less money, and make it more difficult on all the student-athletes? For the 96th time it’s Notre Dame vs. Navy. Debt status = not repaid and we lace ’em up once again versus the Midshipmen. The Irish open the 2023 season this Saturday live from Ireland with a 7:30 PM local kickoff and a fairly normal 2:30 PM broadcast here in the eastern United States.
This is an Irish home game and it will be televised by NBC. It was announced Jac Collinsworth wasn’t feel well and didn’t travel to Ireland to call the game so NBC dipped back into the nepotism bag with Noah Eagle stepping up to work alongside Jason Garrett this weekend.
Navy (+20.5) vs. #13 Notre Dame
Aviva Stadium
Dublin, Ireland
Date: Saturday, August 26, 2023
Time: 2:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock
Series: 81-13-1 Notre Dame
I am offended by these representation of each gold helmet.
While it’s the 2nd season of the Marcus Freeman era there is a new leader for Navy as former defensive coordinator Brian Newberry steps up as head coach after Ken Niumatalolo was let go after 2022 following 15 seasons leading the Midshipmen. The change does add some intrigue to what otherwise has become a bit of a chore game for the Fighting Irish.
Navy’s Offense
You can read about Navy bringing some modernity to their passing game with new offensive coordinator Grant Chesnut HERE.
Navy has a decent amount of experience with their offensive linemen returning left tackle Connor McMahon (6-4, 279, 10 starts), center Lirion Murtezi (6-3, 315, 9 starts), right guard Joshua Pena (6-2, 278, 20 starts), and right tackle Sam Glover (6-3, 270, 12 starts). They were expecting junior Javon Bouton (6-3, 285) to hold on to the left guard position as the Notre Dame game approaches but sophomore Ben Purvis (6-3, 293) won the job.
The team was hit hard by a couple of slotback transfers as 2022’s 2nd-leading rusher Maquel Haywood exited for Appalachian State and Vincent Terrell (4th leading non-QB rusher a year ago) was suspended in the spring then entered the transfer portal. They will be relying mostly on the tiny sophomore Brandon Chatum (5-9, 167) who does not have a career carry yet and junior Amin Hassan (5-7, 176) who only has 1 carry to his name.
For sure, the Middies will rely heavily on fullback Daba Fofana who led last year’s team in carries (186), rushing yards (769), and rushing touchdowns (6). They will be looking to build some depth in the passing game as 2nd-leading receiver Mark Walker and his 33 career receptions are gone and sophomore Nathan Kent is out with a knee injury. However, senior Jayden Umbarger returns after leading the team with 265 receiving yards last year and was named one of the team captains this month.
Why is our guy smaller?
What will Navy do about the quarterback position?
Right up until August camp it looked like sophomore Teddy Gleaton was poised to win the job easily after a strong spring performance. However, he ran into academic trouble this summer and has fallen out of the competition.
Xavier Arline played quite a bit at quarterback last year but suffered an injury during lacrosse season that set him back and now Navy is working him in as a slotback more than a signal caller.
That leaves veteran senior Tai Lavatai (18 starts in 2021-22) battling with sophomore Blake Horvath for reps. Lavatai missed spring dealing with a knee injury suffered last October but looks to be reasserting himself in the competition. Head coach Newberry stated a couple weeks ago that both quarterbacks would likely play against Notre Dame.
It’s worth noting that Navy missed over a third of their field goals last year and senior Evan Warren moves up from the kickoff only specialist in 2021-22 to the new placekicker in 2023.
Navy’s Defense
Navy promoted linebackers coach P.J. Volker to defensive coordinator but this is still Newberry’s defense. Since he arrived in Annapolis 4 years ago, Newberry’s defenses have averaged just under 60th in FEI with a very solid finish of 40th last year. They have a ton of talent returning in 2023 with 9 starters coming back and this might be the best Navy defense in quite a while.
Their defensive line in the 3-4 scheme will be anchored by a trio of seniors in defensive end Jacob Busic (6-4, 256), nose guard Donald Berniard (6-0, 256), and defensive tackle Clay Cromwell (6-3, 292).
Their middle linebackers return with senior Will Harbour (6-1, 230) who missed the second half of 2021 but bounced back last year and junior Colin Ramos (5-11, 205). Where the Middies will need help is replacing the incredibly productive Striker outside linebacker John Marshall who racked up 18.5 tackles for loss in 2022. They are turning to senior Xavier McDonald (5-11, 207) who has special teams experience or sophomore Jaxson Campbell (5-10, 197) who played sparingly last year. On the other Raider outside linebacker spot Navy has a new starter in junior Jordan Sanders (6-5, 227) with a lanky frame.
I always say ‘c’mon Irish.’
The entire secondary returns, although they moved senior Eavan Gibbons (5-10, 199) with 19 career starts to the safety Bandit backup role in favor of junior Mbiti Williams (5-9, 180) who started 10 games at corner last year. At the free safety spot junior Rayuan Lane III (5-11, 197) will be making his 19th career start in Ireland and made 4 pass break-ups in 2022.
Junior corner Elias Larry (6-0, 186) comes into his second season of starting and fellow junior Dashaun Peele (5-11, 197) made 1 start last year, got hurt in the Notre Dame game, but has worked his way back to win the field corner position.
Prediction
In what has traditionally been a mid-to-late season matchup, this will be the 2nd time Notre Dame and Navy begin the year against each other after the last visit to Ireland back in 2012. Navy used to have a quality football blog the Birddog but they closed up shop after the 2016 season. Today, it’s pretty much one reporter Bill Wagner at the Capital Gazette covering the team and his work is behind a paywall.
So, we really don’t know a ton about the Middies off-season and we have to pretend this excursion isn’t a wine ‘n dining affair for both schools’ continued Partnership™ and instead promote the sacred duty and respect inherent in this rivalry.
Can the Chesnut-led Offense Surprise Notre Dame?
This is the biggest tactical advantage that either team will have prior to kickoff–Notre Dame doesn’t know for sure how different this Navy offense will look or what kind of wrinkles the Middies will be throwing at them on Saturday. It’s possibly a major challenge for Al Golden and the Irish challenge to get grips on Navy’s approach early on in the game.
How Short Will the Game Be?
Over the last 3 meetings, Notre Dame has averaged 56 offensive snaps against Navy, or roughly 3 fewer plays per quarter than the average from those seasons. Now, the new NCAA rules allowing the clock to roll after a 1st down is going to leak away how much game time in a game against a service academy? Will we lose 3 or 4 minutes of game clock over the course of the game?
This play was a sack for Navy last year.
It’s possible that Navy’s desire to throw the ball a little more counteracts this and we see them stopping the clock after several incompletions. But maybe it’ll make them a little more successful while keeping the ball longer. Remember last year, the Irish didn’t see the ball until 4:59 remaining in the 3rd quarter once the 2nd half began.
Can Notre Dame Score 30 Points?
This is my mantra every year with Navy–have a good day on offense and you are guaranteed to win. The Irish are 43-1-0 against Navy when scoring at least 30 points and everyone knows that one loss by now. Although, they really flirted with disaster last year but scoring all of their 35 points in the 1st half and then gaining TWO yards and no points in the 2nd half.
Spigot the Kool-Aid and Surprises
Navy typically isn’t the ideal opponent to measure success or even progress from the off-season. Notre Dame heads into the game feeling awfully good at some positions while a little unsure about the prospects developing at other spots.
Watching the interior of the offensive line dealing with Navy’s blitzing and delayed blitzes will be crucial. How will Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler perform in their debut starts at both guard positions? Will Sam Hartman slice apart Navy’s aggressive approach? Can Notre Dame truly show it has depth at running back while controlling the ball on the ground and will we see a few receivers have big performances?
The Irish came into August camp still a little wary of how this defensive line was going to look and the reports thus far have been honestly shockingly positive. Notre Dame will be pleased to have JD Bertrand for the game this weekend at linebacker but I’ll be most curious to see how the defensive line performs against the triple option and if they’re physically dominant.
I tend to lean towards Navy installing a slightly different offense as a bad thing for them ultimately (in this game) especially as they’ve dealt with such uncertainty around their quarterbacks. If this were a normal Coach Ken season with 17 starters returning I think there’d be a little more concern on Notre Dame’s side–even if they were really struggling towards the end of his tenure.
This game should only be close if there’s plenty of weirdness, jitters, and jet lag drama for Notre Dame. If you have faith that Sam Hartman is poised to have a big year this should be a game where he’s able to guide the Irish to an impressive win.
I take your point, but Ireland is not exactly known for wine or dining. Anywho:
The sea was angry that day, my friends!
Not really. ND’s offense will cruise and show off a long-absent ability to strike all parts of the field. Navy goes down 2-3 scores early and that’s pretty much a wrap.
I don’t think Navy’s plan to incorporate more passing is going to work long-term. Army tried that a while back and it was a disaster; they just weren’t good at anything. That said, Navy’s offense will catch ND’s defense off-guard a few times on Saturday and we’ll give up a frustrating number of big plays. The new clock rules will prevent a gaudy blowout.
Comfortable win that leaves us optimistic about the offense and a little nervous about the defense. 38-17 ND.
O/U on frustration personal fouls by Navy once they go down by 2 scores is set at 3.5
Called or uncalled?
Re: ireland not known for wining and dining. I spent a week there in march, and i agree, I didnt go there specifically for the food, I was amazed at how clean the food tasted! To the point, I got sick when I got back to the states and ate food here. My conjecture is EU legislation on food quality, coupled with the agricultural abilities of the land (non supported claims)
These damn try hards always drive me bonkers, but I put my faith in sam hartman, week 0 prep time, and experience at LB.
28-13 irish, navy has gone under I think in 12 of last 14 games, and with the new clock rules, I’m not sure how many possessions will exist in the first game. But our talent takes over. Go irish!
I haven’t studied for what makes for good YAC, but I have a feeling anticipation and hitting receivers in stride makes a big difference. I don’t know how comfortable Hartman is with the receivers, but I’m wildly optimistic for once that just based on athletics alone our guys will be able to get some separation and then Hartman will be able to put it on the money.
For anticipation, I go back to the play in the spring where Hartman sees Salerno come open after his move on the DB, but double pumps to give him time to separate another step and put a little more loft under the ball. Makes an easy pitch and catch a really easy pitch and catch.
I’m hoping for lots more of that.
https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/1649847808256774144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1649847808256774144%7Ctwgr%5E3cde8b7e8f741510844be8670b722f822a0d23f5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffightingirishwire.usatoday.com%2F2023%2F04%2F22%2Fwatch-sam-hartmans-third-touchdown-of-the-blue-and-gold-game%2F
Navy having recruited for an option offense for years adds to their woes if they are changing their offense. The more diverse they try to become the less likely they’re good at anything IMO.
ND’s new OC though maybe not changing things drastically will have some new looks for Navy’s D. Add Hartman to that and there’s no way I see ND not having offensive success. Navy’s blitz game will get torched by Hartman. (If not, dial back the enthusiasm) Like others I see ND having big numbers in YAC.
Irish 38-7
Unlimited fish stew and brown bread!
Sorry to post this on two articles if that bothers anyone:
On game day in Dublin tomorrow a group of ND fans are meeting at the Merry Cobbler on Irish Town Road starting at 4pm local then making our way to Aviva, about a half mile away, for the game. We’ve got a small area reserved for people we know will be there, but anyone is welcome to show up for a pint or ND football talk (or food, it’s a gastropub with pretty decent food).
If anyone wants to exchange a message in advance my direct messages are open on X/Twitter @gambit1077
Some confirmed attendees are early game arrivers, so I’d expect it to start breaking around 6 or so. Go Irish, beat Navy.
Gambit — so sorry I missed this. Had linked up with Irish Spring prior at another tailgate (this one a benefit for the local Irish American football club) and was not checking (gasp!) this site. Or we woulda showed up!
Hope you had as good a time as we did. Plus I got a ton of good exercise, besides the
jillion steps to level 5, if you add up all the pushups (which I did myself,
Iriash Spring can witness) that made 147.
A very fun experience.
The biggest thing I wanna see tomorrow is some short throws turning into big plays after the catch
Been forever (2014? With Fuller and Prosise) since we had that as a consistent threat in the offense
2015 was the offensive high watermark with prosise, kizer, and fuller. 2014 was golson looking heismanesque until arizona state
Oh yeah 2015 was the better offense by far but Prosise at tailback meant Fuller was really the only wideout who could get shifty
Excited to see what a quarterback not recruited, developed, and working under Tommy Rees can do!