EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — En route to a 6-0 record and No. 24 national ranking, Navy’s offense had operated with the crisp, precise efficiency to be expected at a military academy.
The Mids had not lost a fumble all season and had scored on every trip to the red zone, with 22 touchdowns and one field goal.
But in a highly anticipated showdown against 12th-ranked Notre Dame here at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 26, all of that efficiency vanished, and the Midshipmen fumbled and stumbled their way to a 51-14 beatdown by the Fighting Irish (7-1), who won their sixth in a row this season and their seventh in a row in this longtime rivalry.
Navy committed six turnovers — the most it has had in a game in 22 years — and nearly all of them unforced. But the Irish gladly took the gifts and converted the turnovers into 27 points.
“We’re never going to win a game against a better opponent when we turn it over six times, period,” Navy head coach Brian Newberry said.
For just the second time in the past 45 years, both teams came into the game ranked, adding major buzz to the 97th installment of this rivalry. Navy was looking to record its first win against Notre Dame since 2016 and to state its case as a viable contender for College Football Playoff consideration.
Instead, Navy wilted in the moment.
“I thought the stage might have been a little big for some of our players today,” Newberry said. “We had some guys playing afraid to make mistakes, and when you play with fear in your heart like that, that’s when mistakes happen.”
They began immediately.
On Navy’s first possession, fullback Alex Tecza dropped a pitchout and Notre Dame cornerback Adon Shuler scooped up the loose ball and returned it to the Navy 7-yard line. The fumble was Navy’s first turnover of any kind since the season-opening win against Bucknell.
Three plays later, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kris Mitchell, who was all alone in the middle of the end zone for a 14-0 Irish lead with 5:44 left in the first quarter.
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath botched a handoff exchange on the Mids’ next possession, but Notre Dame failed to capitalize when kicker Zak Yoakam hooked a 36-yard kick wide left.
Later in the half, though, Navy punt returner Isaiah Bryant made an ill-fated decision to try to make a tough running catch on a short punt. He touched it but never gained control, and Notre Dame recovered at the Navy 40-yard line.
Nine plays later, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (12 carries, 103 yards) scored his second touchdown of the game for a 28-7 Notre Dame lead.
Notre Dame (7-1) looked from the start like a team playing for its playoff life; a second loss for the Irish as an independent with no conference title path to the College Football Playoff would have almost certainly extinguished their playoff hopes.
The Irish were sharp and crisp on both sides of the ball. Leonard completed 13 of 21 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 10 times for 83 yards and a score before watching most of the fourth quarter on the sideline.
And the Mids are left to lament how they simply gave away any chance to pull off the upset in one of the biggest games in Newberry’s two-year tenure.
The Irish had two scoring drives of less than 20 yards because of Navy turnovers plus a defensive touchdown after Horvath simply lost the handle on the ball while back to pass. Notre Dame’s Jaylen Sneed pounced on the loose ball for a touchdown and a 44-14 lead.
The turnovers, Horvath said, “weren’t anything that [Notre Dame] did. That’s the most frustrating part. When you look at almost every single fumble or turnover, it’s something we did. They almost didn’t even touch the ball.”
“We bit ourselves,” he added.
Horvath put the Mids on the board with a 47-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter that cut Notre Dame’s lead to 14-7, but Love quickly answered with a 64-yard touchdown run.
Horvath finished with 14 carries for 141 yards and a score and completed seven of 13 passes for 88 yards.
Unlike Notre Dame, Navy still has a conference title to play for. The Mids are 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference, and very much in the running to play in the conference title game. Army sits atop the league at 6-0 in conference play, with Tulane at 4-0 as well. (Navy hosts Tulane Nov. 16.)
Horvath said the Mids know they need to bury this loss and refocus quickly on their remaining goals — a conference title, a win against Army and the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy that would go with it. (The Mids already own a win over Air Force.)
“We have to see what we’re made of,” Horvath said. “Obviously this is just a chapter. It’s not the story, it’s not the end of the story. That’s the biggest thing we have to learn. Great Navy teams have hit speed bumps.”
“You can’t let it affect you the rest of the season,” Horvath added. “We’ll see how we answer that this week.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox