Last night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish handled business in their final home night-game of the season beating the Navy Midshipmen 49-10 in South Bend. All 49 points came from the offensive side of the ball; offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock had this unit firing on all cylinders. Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr had one of his most efficient days of the season going 13-16 for 218 yards, threw three touchdowns and finished with a 257.6 passer rating. Both Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price found the end zone making this the seventh game this season where both backs scored. Here are my key takeaways from Notre Dame's 39-point victory over the Midshipmen.
Situationally Sound
Over the past few games, Notre Dame has struggled to convert on 3rd down and in the red zone; a few weeks ago against Boston College highlighted those deficiencies. Last night, however, was a different story entirely. The offense went seven of ten on third down, two of two on fourth down and went four for five in the red zone. Their final trip to the red zone ended with back up quarterback Kenny Minchey in the victory formation. Two of Carr's three touchdown passes were in the red zone and two of the four rushing touchdowns were also in the red zone. Yesterday was a mix of both an efficient and explosive offense, one we knew the Irish were capable of putting on display.
More Weapons Involved
For weeks, I have been saying that it isn't a mystery as to what Notre Dame looked to do on offense. They looked to get Love and Price the ball in space, take deep shots to Malachi Fields in the boundary and look to Jordan Faison to the field on deep comebacks and deep out routes. Yesterday, the Irish were more creative in their gameplan and found a way to get multiple weapons involved. A total of six different offensive players found the end zone with Love being the lone player to cross the white chalk twice. Tight end Ty Washington, receiver KK Smith and third string running back Aneyas Williams also hit paydirt. Notre Dame will need to continue involving this many pieces in the offensive gameplan moving forward; last night was a great step in the right direction.
Run Blocking Still Has A Ways To Go
As good of a performance as the offense had, there are still adjustments that need to be made. Navy entered this match up with a significant size disadvantage in the trenches, but the Notre Dame offensive line struggled to generate a consistent push along the interior of the offensive line. That being said, the Irish still rushed for 249 rushing yards and four scores as a team, but some of those numbers were bolstered by a 48-yard touchdown run by Love and a 54-yard touchdown run by Williams. Both Navy and Boston College limited this rushing attack on a per-snap basis, but the big plays have saved this aspect of the offense. Moving forward, they'll have to find consistency across the board in the run game.
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