Navy Upsets Notre Dame, 28-27
FIRST QUARTER: Notre Dame 10, Navy 7
Top moment: After Notre Dame went down and scored a touchdown on its opening possession, Navy responded with a nine-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown run by Darryl Bonner to tie the game.
Stats: Notre Dame outgained Navy 141-78 in the first quarter. Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer was 8-of-12 passing for 100 yards…Navy did not attempt a pass in the opening frame, but rushed for 73 yards…The Irish ran for 41 yards on eight attempts.
Items: Notre Dame senior receiver Torii Hunter Jr. caught a pass to convert a fourth down and also caught a touchdown pass from Kizer (26 yards) to open the scoring…On Notre Dame’s second possession, Hunter took a hard hit over the middle and left the game for two series. He appeared to be favoring his knee as he left the field.
SECOND QUARTER: Notre Dame 17, Navy 14
Top moment: Kizer found senior tight end Durham Smythe for a 6-yard touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the first half to make it 17-14 Notre Dame.
Stats: At the half, Notre Dame was outgaining Navy 227-173…Navy senior quarterback Will Worth did not attempt his first pass of the game until the 14:26 mark of the second quarter. He threw three times and completed once…The Midshipmen ran 24 times for 166 yards in the first half (6.9 yards per carry)…Notre Dame had 21 carries for 113 yards.
Items: Notre Dame's 14-play touchdown drive that took 7 minutes, 13 seconds off the clock was the longest in terms of time of possession in 2016…Kizer picked up two first downs on third-and-long situations, both tough runs when things broke down…Worth eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the fourth consecutive game. He had a 60 yard run that led to Navy’s second touchdown, a 3-yard run himself to take a 14-10 lead.
THIRD QUARTER: Notre Dame 24, Navy 21
Top moment: Navy senior slot back Calvin Cass ran for a 37-yard touchdown on the opening possession of the second half.
Stats: Both teams scored a touchdown in the third quarter…Through three quarters, Notre Dame was outgaining Navy 302-272…The Midshipmen had 249 rushing yards…A key error for Notre Dame was a penalty for having too many men on the field on a Navy punt, which allowed the Midshipmen to go for it on fourth-and-one and convert.
Items: Notre Dame’s touchdown came on a 13-yard pass from Kizer to sophomore receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. St. Brown front flipped into the end zone while being hit. Kizer had his 40th career TD pass and his fourth career game with at least three TD passes.
FOURTH QUARTER: Navy 28, Notre Dame 27
Top moment: Worth completed a 15-yard pass to senior receiver Jamir Tillman on fourth-and-four to end the game.
Stats: Notre Dame slightly outgained Navy, 270-368. Navy was penalized just one time for 5 yards, while the Irish were flagged seven times for 47 yards. Navy won the time of possession battle 33:53 to 26:07. Navy was 8 for 13 on third down and 4 of 5 on fourth down, while Notre Dame was 9 for 13 on third down and 1 for 1 on fourth down.
Items: Trailing 28-21 with 7:28 remaining, Notre Dame elected to kick a 31-yard field goal to cut the Navy lead to 28-24. The Irish did not get the ball back. Notre Dame had six total possessions against Navy. Four in the first half, two in the second half.