Notre Dame improved to 7-2 and won its seventh straight game with a 49-10 trouncing of the Navy Midshipmen (7-2). It was Notre Dame's eighth straight win in the rivalry and the dominant fashion of the victory should allow the Irish to impress the College Football Playoff voters. There were plenty of standouts in the win, but several players stood out above the rest.

OFFENSE - CJ Carr, Quarterback

Stats: 13-16, 81.3%, 218 yards, 3 TD

Runners Up: WR Malachi Fields (4 catches, 97 yards), RB Jeremiyah Love (94 rush yards, 27 receiving yards), LT Anthonie Knapp

Redshirt freshman CJ Carr continues his outstanding first season as a starter for the Irish, completing over 80-percent of his passes for 218 yards in just three quarters of action. Carr got things started off quickly, hitting Jeremiyah Love for a big gain on the first third-down of the game and following that up with a 52-yard bomb on a post route to Malachi Fields to set up the first touchdown of the game. 

Navy was focused on stopping the Irish ground game and Carr took advantage, picking apart the Middie defense. He was decisive, accurate and took what the defense gave him, even if it was a deep shot. Carr handled Navy's pressure packages well and his ability to get the ball out deep against pressure also resulted in the offense drawing two pass interference penalties.

Carr was also outstanding on money downs. He went 3-4 for 70 yards on third down and completed his only fourth down attempt, which went for nine yards and set up a touchdown. 

Love was outstanding as well, racking up 121 yards of offense and two touchdowns in just three quarters of action. His 48-yard touchdown run was one of the most impressive of his career and his early 27-yard catch go the Irish off the doorstep of their own end zone and sparked the opening touchdown drive. Fields was dominant as well, burning Navy deep and moving the chains on the outside. He drew a pass interference to go with his 97 yards. The line was a bit up-and-down, but left tackle Anthonie Knapp was dominant throughout the game.

DEFENSE - Jaiden Ausberry, Linebacker

Stats: 8 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble

Runners Up: LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (5 tackles, 1 TFL), DE Josh Burnham (1 tackle), DT Jared Dawson (2 tackles), CB Devonta Smith (5 tackles)

The Notre Dame linebackers were outstanding as a unit, but Jaiden Ausberry was the best of the bunch. Ausberry was extremely active all game long, making plays in the run game, pass game and as a pass rusher. He was a good read on what Navy was trying to do all game and he played disciplined throughout. His speed was too much for the Navy blockers to handle and he was around the ball all game long.

On top of being sound, Ausberry was also a playmaker for the Irish defense. He had two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, he forced a fumble on a sack against play-action and he was a driving force in Notre Dame shutting down the perimeter run game all night. Ausberry often gets overlooked because of the depth at his position, but he's been good all season and he was outstanding against the Midshipmen.

An argument could be made for Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Drayk Bowen as well, but on a night when the linebackers shined as a group there was little doubt that Ausberry was the best. Defensive tackle Jared Dawson continued his outstanding season with the Irish, defensive end Josh Burnham was once again a force on the edge and Devonta Smith shined as he got the start at cornerback.

SPECIAL TEAMS - Erik Schmidt, Kicker

Stats: 7-7 on extra points, 8 kickoffs, 8 touchbacks

Yes, I am giving the special teams award to freshman Erik Schmidt for making all seven of his extra points. When you consider how hard that has been for Notre Dame this season and consider the weather conditions this was an impressive performance. He also kicked all eight of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchdowns.

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