Instant Analysis: ND wins the game over Navy, loses perceptual battle
Bottom Line
Notre Dame’s split personality in its 95th meeting with Navy was as troubling as it was stunning.
After romping to a 35-13 halftime lead in Baltimore, the 20th-ranked Irish concocted their worst half of the season and limped home with a 35-32 survival of the Midshipmen.
Overly conservative play-calling and a complete lack of awareness of how to deal with Navy’s pressure opened the door for some late-game drama. The Irish (7-3) amassed just 12 yards in total offense in the second half after running up 323 in half No. 1.
Quarterback Drew Pyne personified the extremes, commanding the Irish offense and playing the best football of his career in having a hand in all five first-half TDs. He then regressed in his reads at the line of scrimmage and his decision-making in how to deal with the Navy defense’s movement and blitzing and was sacked five times in the second half.
His bottom line will show the best pass-efficiency performance of the year by far — 241.9. After four straight performances of 50 percent completions or less, Pyne was 17-of-21 (81 percent) with for 269 yards and four TDs. But just three of those completions came in the second half and a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage was intercepted.
Freshman backup Steve Angeli was warming up as the second half started, but never got a chance to come in an mop up.
Navy’s backup quarterback, Maasai Maynor, did enter the game in the fourth quarter but because of an injury to starter Xavier Arline. Maynor’s 20-yard pass to Maquel Haywood with 1:21 left and the ensuing two-point conversion gave the Mids (3-7) a chance to come all the way back.
But Matt Salerno smothered Navy’s onside kick attempt and the Irish were able to play out the final 81 seconds in victory formation.
Notre Dame’s special teams impacted another victory — with Jack Kiser blocking a punt for ND’s nation’s leading seventh this season. The NCAA record is 11, set by Arkansas State in 1975.
Big Picture
Notre Dame doesn’t need just to win on the scoreboard. It also needs to do so perceptually. And the Irish clearly took a step backward in the latter. The back door to a New Year’s Six bowl, reopened by last weekend’s upset of Clemson, seems pretty close to being closed after Saturday’s game.
Questions Answered
Notre Dame clearly showed it can prepare for a change-up type opponent and just as clearly showed how inept it was at in-game adjustments.
Questions Lingering
Did Navy provide future Irish opponents a blueprint on how to shut down the ND offense and fluster the offensive line?
The Road Ahead
The Irish return to Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday (2:30 p.m. EST; NBC) for their final home game of the season, against Boston College. Presumably, former ND quarterback Phil Jurkovec will be with the Eagles (3-7) on their road trip, but the fifth-year senior hasn’t played the past two weeks after suffering a knee injury in a 13-3 loss to UConn on Oct. 29.
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