Preparing For Navy Is Always A Unique Task For The Notre Dame Defense

This Saturday afternoon, the 5th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the 2-5 Navy Midshipmen in one of the most historic and storied rivalries in the sport. There's several aspects of this matchup that are unique that set it apart from other big named rivalries in college football like 'The Game' and the Iron Bowl. One of those facets is the style of offense that Navy runs. 

Most know that all three service academies - Navy, Army and Air Force - all run variations of the triple option. Notre Dame is extremely familiar with the Midshipmen and how they look to attack teams. This is their longest standing rivalry and the defensive players like linebacker Jaylen Sneed and safety Luke Talich understand the challenges the Navy offense brings to the table. 

"I wouldn’t say I’m used to it, but for me, I’ve definitely played a lot," Sneed shared about playing the Midshipment. "I’ve been here for five years. So just making sure all of the younger guys are ready, making sure the older guys are on their stuff. I feel like this week is just about getting better, working on the little stuff, and focusing on what you have to focus on.

"Eyes, alignment, and technique: that’s a big thing we focus on for Navy," Sneed continued about the challenges of facing the triple option. "Just because they run so many formations and motions, you’ve got to have your eyes right, have your alignment right, and have the right technique that the coaches teach."

Sneed is the most experienced player on Notre Dame's defense in terms of duration with the program. He's been prepping for and facing the Naval academy since 2022 and has played meaningful roles in their matchups for the past several seasons. Thankfully, this game is coming after a much-needed bye week for the Fighting Irish defense. 

"I think the bye week definitely gave us a chance to reset our focus on Navy, especially after taking a big loss at a big-time opponent," Sneed stated. "I feel like it lit a fire under this team that we had before, but didn’t have all the way. It taught this team that we can lose if we don’t prepare the right way. I feel like it brought us closer together. Just having that bye week to come closer together, really talk to the coaches, and really hone in on what went wrong just helped us so much."

Talich, another veteran on the roster, fully understands the challenges that Navy will present, especially with a primetime, Top 5 matchup on the horizon against the No. 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes the following week. For the 6-4, 222-pound safety, it's about remaining focused on the task at hand. 

"I don’t think it’s tough at all," Talich replied when asked about the difficulty of focusing on Navy with Miami coming up. "We don’t really focus on future opponents. We can’t really control anything but the present. The main focus for today was the bloody Tuesday we had, and we had a great practice. The scout team, the Marauders, are doing an unbelievable job for us, getting us ready for Navy. We’re not focused on anything but the Midshipmen for this week, for sure."

It's been 10 years since Navy has been able to pull off a win against the Irish. Notre Dame has dominated this series since it's origin, but as we know in college football, every season is different and they'll have to prepare for Navy and a different looking offense like they do every season. 

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