Heading into the second of two byes weeks last season, Marcus Freeman mixed a lot of big-picture agenda items and 2024 business into the mix of how to finish the 2023 season strong.
This season, that second bye week is pretty much all about this season. And with good reason.
Should No. 12 Notre Dame (6-1) take down No. 24 Navy (6-0) Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (noon, ABC), the Irish will take real College Football Playoff aspirations into the month of November for the first time in Freeman’s three seasons as ND’s head coach.
They’ll also hit the bye week with the first six-game win streak of the Freeman Era and the first unbeaten September, October or November that Freeman has been able to cobble together since succeeding Brian Kelly in December of 2021.
“I think you always have meetings with your players in the bye weeks to kind of just — it's an intentional time, where you're not getting ready for a game on Saturday,” Freeman said earlier this week of his post-Navy game plans. “Where you can spend a little bit more intentional time with your players individually, just to see where their heads are at and be able to show them how you feel they're progressing.
“I really like the way we prepared the previous bye week, and the structure of our practices will be similar. But as far as … some of the things I had to do last year, we're in a different position. And for me, the challenge will be how to make sure we enhance during that bye week.
“Maybe have conversations about the future, but also find a way to truly take care of this team right now and try to chip away at reaching that full potential, as you always hear me talk about.”
They’ll attempt to do so Saturday against one of the nation’s most dramatically improved offensive teams — including a quantum leap from 122nd in 2023 to 4th this season in scoring offense — and yet one that hasn’t faced an opponent with a total defense national ranking higher than 84th in 2024. The Irish enter this matchup 10th in total D.
Which team is in for culture shock?
The WSBT Gameday SportsBeat pregame radio show precedes the ND-Navy game from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT (wsbtradio.com/96.1 FM). Inside ND Sports has you covered after the game with two postgame shows on our YouTube channel.
Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Bob Morton and Inside ND Sports' Eric Hansen team up shortly after the final whistle for Into The eNDzone, and they'll take your questions. Dropping later, on Saturday night, will be Postgame Takeaways with Hansen and Tyler James.
There are plenty of other players on both teams to keep an eye on. It’s our practice at Inside ND Sports to narrow that to four, two per team. Here they are:
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Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser
As he closes in on Houston Griffith’s school record for most games played in a Notre Dame uniform, the sixth-year Irish linebacker is coming off a game against Georgia Tech in which he was rated by Pro Football Focus as the best run defender in the nation in last week’s games.
He’s also played remarkably consistently well against Saturday’s opponent, Navy, per the PFF rankings, in the first three times he’s faced the Mids during his career — and in various roles, including safety.
Add problem-solver to his to-do list in this matchup, as Kiser will see the most pass-friendly Navy offense he’s experienced and yet one that can still tie a defense in knots with its triple-option run principles.
So in his 61st game — once short of Griffith’s benchmark — and 26th career start Kiser will not only be charged with being in the right place at the right time by defensive coordinator Al Golden, he’ll be asked to help everyone else do that as well.
Kiser had a team-high eight tackles along with a QB hurry in last year’s 42-3 rout of Navy in Dublin, Ireland. He comes into this game as ND’s second leading tackler (34) behind only sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen.
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior was on the Navy roster but didn’t appear in last year’s meeting between these two teams in the season-opening clash in Dublin, Ireland. But he soon started appearing in games thereafter and even started one before a thumb injury truncated his season after four appearances.
Under new offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, he’s giving off Heisman Trophy vibes, or at least his stats are.
Horvath ranks seventh nationally in points responsible for per game (20.7). He ranks third nationally in yards per carry (7.9) and has rushed for 621 yards and 10 TDs, The nation’s No. 1 QB, per Pro Football Focus, has also thrown for 888 yards and 10 TDs with one interception, as the Mids rank No. 2 as a team in pass efficiency.
Horvath’s string of six games of 100 yards passing or more is the longest such streak at Navy in 30 years.
Navy safety Rayuan Lane III
Navy’s defense hasn’t overall been in the same stratosphere statistically with the Mids’ offense, but their penchant for big plays have kept them from being a liability. And in the middle of that movement is Lane, a 5-11, 197-pound senior who’ll be making his 37th consecutive start on Saturday.
That’s the longest active streak of any safety in the nation.
And he’s got big numbers to go with it. Along with 36 tackles, Lane has had a hand in forcing five turnovers himself — that’s as many or more than 26 FBS teams have. He has two interceptions and three forced fumbles.
Lane, a Sporting News midseason All-American, also has three pass breakups after amassing eight last season. And his is Pro Football Focus’ No. 1-ranked safety in the FBS among those who have played at least 50% of their teams’ snaps.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard
The Irish senior and Duke transfer actually could be on this list every week, and particularly in the passing game. But the Irish will need that and his strongest suit, running the ball, to put away the Mids.
Leonard actually has a slightly higher average-per-carry than starting running back Jeremiyah Love (6.1 to 6.0), and that’s with sack yardage baked in. And his 10 rushing TDs are tied for the 11th most in the FBS with Navy’s Blake Horvath and four others, and is tied for third among QBs.
Leonard has converted eight third downs, four more than the next most by an Irish player, and four fourth downs, two more than runner-up Love in that category.
Navy ranks 95th nationally in rushing defense, the second-lowest run defense ranking by an opponent on the Irish schedule to date, behind only Purdue, and the Irish need to exploit that vulnerability.
"I think he [Leonard] has still got to kind of stay in phase with some of the things we're doing in the run game," Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock assessed earlier this week. "He gets a little ahead of himself sometimes and just kind of bolts through without using all the tools that are coming to help him. But I think he's done a good job with that for the most part.
"His evolution, as a passer, has been a lot of confidence-driven things that I think he understands what we're asking him to do, more. I think we've tailored what we do to fit him a little bit better. And I think both of those things have added to a little bit more consistency.”
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