Notre Dame-Navy: 10 To 1
10 Teams in the 128-team Football Bowl Subdivision that have won a minimum of eight games each of the past six seasons (2010-15), or during the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame: In addition to the Irish they are, alphabetically: Alabama, Boise State, Florida State, LSU, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford and Wisconsin.
The Irish need to go 5-0 the rest of this season to keep that streak alive.
9 Turnovers forced by Navy’s defense (six fumbles and three interceptions), which ties it for only 103rd nationally. Notre Dame has forced only 10 (four fumbles, six interceptions). This is significant because over the past five years Navy is 24-1 when winning the turnover battle, and 17-17 when breaking even or losing the turnover stat.
8 In all eight games during Notre Dame’s 3-5 start this season, the winning team finished with more yards rushing. Navy enters this game fifth nationally in rushing offense (296.6), nearly doubling No. 94 Notre Dame’s total (149.8).
7 Ranking of Navy nationally in passing efficiency with a 168.67 mark, complementing its triple option. Part of it is because the Mids average 19.47 yards per their completions, which ranks second nationally to Air Force, and ahead of No. 3 Georgia Tech and No. 4 Army West Point. Triple-option teams are lethal off the play-action in which they lull in the secondary and then beat you over the top with the pass.
6 Tackles for loss recorded by Notre Dame fifth-year senior nose guard Jarron Jones in last week’s win over Miami to earn Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honors. He is the first player in college football to have six tackles for a loss in a game this year, and only 23rd overall since such tracking began in 2000 by the NCAA. He will need to anchor the middle and the fullback dive against the Midshipmen.
5 Straight wins in the series by Notre Dame after losing an amazing three out of four from 2007-10. During the current winning string against the Mids, the Fighting Irish have averaged 46.8 points per game, and never scored less than 38.
4 This is Notre Dame’s fourth appearance for a game in Jacksonville, but the first against Navy. Its previous three came in the postseason Gator Bowl, won in 1976 against Penn State (20-9), but lost on New Year’s Day in 1999 to Georgia Tech (35-28) and also in 2003 versus North Carolina State (28-6).
3 Touchdown drives allowed by Notre Dame’s defense in the opponents’ last 39 possessions, or since the second half of the Oct. 1 Syracuse game (a span of three-and-a-half contests). It has been a notable turnaround since the change in defensive coordinators after allowing 21 TDs by the opposing offense during the first four-and-a-half games.
2 Notre Dame will be gunning for its first two-game winning streak since last November when it defeated Wake Forest (28-7) on Senior Day and then Boston College (19-16) in the Shamrock Series. Unfortunately, those two ho-hum wins over 3-9 teams helped drop the Irish from No. 4 to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff poll.
1 Since 2003, there is only one team that has more victories against a Power 5 school by a “Group of 5” school: Brigham Young’s 23 is only one more than Navy’s 22 (three versus Notre Dame). A distant third is Boise State with 15.
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