By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- It was the one thing Notre Dame lacked this season; the convincing win. They have had the miracle comebacks, and the wins that cover the spread, but they had yet to beat anybody bad. That changed Saturday when the Irish put a 38-14 beating on the Midshipmen of Navy.
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- It was the one thing Notre Dame lacked this season; the convincing win. They have had the miracle comebacks, and the wins that cover the spread, but they had yet to beat anybody bad. That changed Saturday when the Irish put a 38-14 beating on the Midshipmen of Navy.
The scoring started quickly for the Irish as they marched down the field on the opening drive, but stalled and settled for a field goal. Navy's offense had Notre Dame confused with their option style, but failed to connect on a field goal that would have tied the game. Notre Dame took advantage of the Navy mistaked, driving 80 yards on 9 plays to take a 10-0 lead. The scoring play was a 36 yard pass from Brady Quinn to David Grimes in the corner of the endzone.
The Midshipmen would answer with their first drive of the second quarter where they put together a 9 play 80 yard drive of their own to cut the lead to 10-7. The Irish offense would not dissapoint though as it only took them 3 minutes to drive 76 more yards, and a 16 yard run by Travis Thomas gave Notre Dame a 17-7 advantage. Just when it looked like maybe Navy was slipping away, they went on a 13 play drive that covered 65 yards, and with 2:43 to go in the first half they were back within a field goal. As we all know, Brady Quinn and the Irish offense love the 2 minute drill, and they had a perfect one in this game. They traveled 80 yards in 7 plays this time, on a drive that took just a minute off of the clock. The scoring play was a 33 yard pass from Brady Quinn to Rhema McKnight and gave the Irish a 24-14 halftime lead.
The Notre Dame defense stepped it up and stopped the Navy offense on their first half of the second half. When the Irish got the ball back they went 69 yards on 9 plays, capped off by a 19 yard touchdown scamper by Brady Quinn. Notre Dame took a 31-14 lead into the 4th quarter and looked to build on it.
The Notre Dame defense finally figured out how to stop the option in the 3rd anf 4th quarters, and held the Midshipmen scoreless for that entire period of time. There was only one scoring play in the 4th quarter, and that was the 6 yard touchdown pass from Brady Quinn to Rhema McKnight with 9:36 remaining in the game. On the other times that the Irish had the ball they let their 2nd stringers play and rested their starters who had earned a 38-14 victory.
Notre Dame Record: 7-1
Next Up: North Carolina (1-7) on November 4th
Key Players: Notre Dame
Brady Quinn 18/25 295 yards 3 TD 0 INT
Darius Walker 20 carries 103 yards 0 TD
Rhema McKnight 6 rec 94 yards 2 TD
David Grimes 3 rec 72 yards TD
John Carlson 5 rec 75 yards 0 TD
Key Players: Navy
Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada 2/5 25 yards, 19 carries 42 yards 2 TD
Reggie Campbell 14 carries 81 yards 0 TD
Shun White 4 carries 44 yards
Irish Report Card
Rush Offense-----------B+
It was a big game for the Notre Dame offense, and the rushing game finally got going again. Walker was able to rush for over 100 yards after being held to just 43 in a close call last week against UCLA. The rush offense still has a long way to go, but it looks like it is improving.
Pass Offense------------A
Brady Quinn made smart decisions, and good passes, and he looks like he is getting the confidence back that he lost early in the season. He was very sharp in all aspects, and looks to be back on the list for Heisman. The passing game continues to get better, and it looks good when the whole team is clicking.
Overall Offense----------A
The Notre Dame offense exploded against Navy on Saturday, looking the best that they have since the 41-17 thumping of Penn State early in the season. The offense was definately clicking, which is good to see after the game against the Bruins a week ago.
Rush Defense------------B
The rush defense would have gotten a "D" if they played only a first half on Saturday. Navy was running all over Notre Dame in that first half, but they shaped up in the second half and shut it down. It is hard to face an option team when you are not used to seeing it. I thought that the defense played it very well once they saw it a few times, and made good adjustments in the second half to shut it down.
Pass Defense-------------A
If you play Navy and your pass defense is not an "A", then there is something seriously wrong with your team. Navy passed it just 7 times in the game, for a total of 43 yards. Navy is a rushing team, so there is not much to rate the pass defense on in this game.
Overall Defense----------B
Even though they turned it around in the second half, the Notre Dame defense looked very weak in the first half in which they were man handled up front. They still have a lot of work to do with the defense, but judging by the adjustments made at halftime it looks like they are on the right track.
Notre Dame Record: 7-1
Next Up: North Carolina (1-7) on November 4th
Key Players: Notre Dame
Brady Quinn 18/25 295 yards 3 TD 0 INT
Darius Walker 20 carries 103 yards 0 TD
Rhema McKnight 6 rec 94 yards 2 TD
David Grimes 3 rec 72 yards TD
John Carlson 5 rec 75 yards 0 TD
Key Players: Navy
Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada 2/5 25 yards, 19 carries 42 yards 2 TD
Reggie Campbell 14 carries 81 yards 0 TD
Shun White 4 carries 44 yards
Irish Report Card
Rush Offense-----------B+
It was a big game for the Notre Dame offense, and the rushing game finally got going again. Walker was able to rush for over 100 yards after being held to just 43 in a close call last week against UCLA. The rush offense still has a long way to go, but it looks like it is improving.
Pass Offense------------A
Brady Quinn made smart decisions, and good passes, and he looks like he is getting the confidence back that he lost early in the season. He was very sharp in all aspects, and looks to be back on the list for Heisman. The passing game continues to get better, and it looks good when the whole team is clicking.
Overall Offense----------A
The Notre Dame offense exploded against Navy on Saturday, looking the best that they have since the 41-17 thumping of Penn State early in the season. The offense was definately clicking, which is good to see after the game against the Bruins a week ago.
Rush Defense------------B
The rush defense would have gotten a "D" if they played only a first half on Saturday. Navy was running all over Notre Dame in that first half, but they shaped up in the second half and shut it down. It is hard to face an option team when you are not used to seeing it. I thought that the defense played it very well once they saw it a few times, and made good adjustments in the second half to shut it down.
Pass Defense-------------A
If you play Navy and your pass defense is not an "A", then there is something seriously wrong with your team. Navy passed it just 7 times in the game, for a total of 43 yards. Navy is a rushing team, so there is not much to rate the pass defense on in this game.
Overall Defense----------B
Even though they turned it around in the second half, the Notre Dame defense looked very weak in the first half in which they were man handled up front. They still have a lot of work to do with the defense, but judging by the adjustments made at halftime it looks like they are on the right track.
How the rest of the top 25 fared
#1 Ohio State 44 Minnesota 0
#2 Michigan 17 Northwestern 3
#3 USC 31 Oregon State 33
#5 Texas 35 Texas Tech 31
#7 Auburn 23 Ole Miss 17
#8 Tennessee 31 South Carolina 24
#9 Florida 21 Georgia 14
#10 Clemson 7 Virginia Tech 24
#13 Arkansas 44 ULM 10
#17 Wisconsin 30 Illinois 24
#18 Boston College 41 Buffalo 0
#19 Oklahoma 26 #23 Missouri 10
#20 Nebraska 29 Oklahoma State 41
#21 Georgia Tech 30 Miami (FL) 23
#22 Texas A&M 31 Baylor 21
#24 Wake Forest 24 North Carolina 17
#25 Oregon 55 Portland State 12
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