Saturday afternoon on the college gridiron and we will see the Notre Dame Fighting Irish square off with the Navy Midshipmen in a battle of the Independents vs the American Athletic Conference. This contest will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The Irish enter this contest at 6-3 on the year while the Midshipmen come in at 3-6. Notre Dame won last year's meeting by a score of 34-6.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have turned things around after a slow start. They come in having won three in a row and six of their last seven to move to 6-3 on the year. Last week the Irish were at home and they crushed 4th-ranked Clemson by a score of 35-14. Notre Dame was a small dog in the game, but that didn't phase them at all. This is what was expected of the Irish heading into the season, but an 0-2 start has kept them out of the national conversation. Still, the Irish will look to finish the season strong and build confidence for next year.
The Irish offense has been on fire of late, averaging 40 ppg over their last three games. Yes two of them were against Syracuse and UNLV, but the Irish put up 35 points on Clemson last week. They have been led by a ground game that has averaged 233.8 ypg on the ground over their last six games. Last week against one of the best run defenses in the league, the Irish ran for 263 yards. Can they continue to get their ground game going against Navy's 7th-ranked run defense? We shall see. If they do, then Drew Pyne could have a field day against one of the worst pass defenses in the nation. Pyne has thrown for 1278 yards with 14 TDs and just four INTs on the year.
Notre Dame comes in ranked 29th in the nation in rushing and 114th in passing while putting up 29.1 ppg, which is 69th in the land. On defense, Notre Dame has been very good so far, ranking 33rd against the pass, 35th against the run, and 28th in points allowed, giving up just 21.2 ppg. The defense was very stout against Clemson last week, holding the Tigers to just 281 yards of total offense, including only 90 yards on the ground. This is a tough defense, but they did allow Navy to run for 166 yards last week.