No. 12 Notre Dame secured a crucial 51-14 win against No. 24 Navy Saturday, extending the winning streak against its old rival to seven games and logging another crucial bullet point on its College Football Playoff résumé. The Fighting Irish led bell-to-bell, but things really spiraled out of control for the Midshipmen late in the second quarter when a series of crucial mistakes led to three straight Notre Dame scoring drives.
Notre Dame effectively put the game away midway through the third quarter when it expanded that halftime lead to 38-14 with a 37-yard touchdown connection between quarterback Riley Leonard and wide receiver Beaux Collins. Navy quarterback Blake Horvath fumbled near his own goal line a couple plays after that, and the Fighting Irish were able to hop on it in the end zone to open a 30-point advantage.
Navy, which hadn’t turned the ball over in five straight games entering Saturday’s slate, finished the game with six turnovers. Five of them were fumbles, including two muffed punts and three missed exchanges on option plays.
This was a crucial win for the Irish because it’s another ranked victory to pad their playoff ledger and Navy was one of their biggest remaining tests. Notre Dame gets a bye next week before returning to the field against 1-6 Florida State. Marcus Freeman’s squad only has one ranked team remaining as it hosts No. 23 Army on Nov. 23.
With just one loss, Notre Dame controls its own destiny when it comes to the postseason.
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post