The Navy Midshipmen aren't an opponent Notre Dame is unfamiliar with. They're gearing up to play their 98th game in this historic rivalry coined as the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in the country. The Irish hold an 83-13-1 record of the Midshipmen and have won the all but three games in this rivalry since 1964.
With that being said, Navy brings some interesting challenges every season, especially for the Notre Dame defense. Today, head coach Marcus Freeman talked through some of the challenges preparing for Navy's new-look triple option offense.
"Navy presents another challenge," Freeman said in the opening statement of his press conference. "They’re a 7-1 team in Coach [Brian] Newberry’s third year. They won 10 games last year; that’s a good program, good team and they’re experienced. As I look at their roster and look at film, I saw a lot of guys that we saw last year. Their offense is even more challenging as you prepare for them this year compared to last year. They run more gun and more pistol but still the traditional triple option attack. I think their quarterback, [Blake] Horvath is an experienced guy and he makes the whole thing go. He’s a special player; he’s special in the run game and the pass game."
Navy week always presents different challenges to the Notre Dame defense. This year, they'll have to prepare for the Midshipmen triple option with a new defensive coordinator in Chris Ash. Freeman is familiar with Navy's offense and was one of the few coordinators to have success against this offense in his first year in South Bend.
"I was fortunate that I faced Navy four times when I was at Cincinnati, it might have been three," Freeman said. "But the very first time I faced Navy, they might have ran for a record. Don’t let my first year at Notre Dame confuse you with my first time playing against Navy. I think it was a rushing record in 2017 and I didn’t have any answer. They just kept running the ball and we couldn’t stop them. That’s a rough feeling. We can’t let this happen again, we have to dive deep into this and we have to figure out what they’re looking for not just how to stop it."
"We got better as we moved forward," Freeman continued. "We did a good job in my first year here, but again, it’s a different offense than what I faced during my first year here. It’s truly enhanced. We’ll have a good plan, our guys will play fast and we’ll be able to adapt and adjust. Our guys have experience, which is important. We all have these preconceived thoughts on how things will go on Saturday, but we have to win the next play and find a way to win this game. That’s what is important."
There's a delicate balance between giving your players enough information to be prepared for Navy while not overloading them inhibiting them to play at maximum velocity. That's a balance that Freeman is well aware of and is prepared to tackle that this week.
"It isn’t one where you can have a whole bucket list of calls defensively because they do so much," Freeman stated. "It’s a unique offense and you have to make sure your eyes are in the right spot. We have to have enough, right? You have to have enough so you can play certain coverages and fronts and have enough to bring some pressure, but you’re not going to have your normal call sheet that you would have when you play a ‘typical offense.’ You have to have enough to keep them off balance to change the look and plan of attack for their offense, but you can’t paralyze your defense because velocity is what matters."
The scout team always plays a major role in the defense's success against the Midshipmen. Consistent with years past, Notre Dame began their prep for Navy long before this past Sunday night and the scout team has played an integral role in that this season.
"When I first got here, I know at some point they were recruiting triple option quarterbacks locally," Freeman said. "I think of Chase Ketterer and Justin Fisher played in a triple option-type offense in high school. As you watch this offense evolve, it’s less and less true under center triple option. There’s still unique things that it presents, but I don’t know if you just go to high school to get that one guy to be the quarterback. We’re going to have Blake [Hebert] be out scout team quarterback, but they run the quarterback so much that it’s a unique week."
"We’re going to have to have two guys because there’s so many quarterback runs," Freeman continued to explained. "We spent time throughout training camp, maybe a day or two during the bye week preparing for Navy. What you can’t do is wait until the game we to try and simulate this offense; you do that with other opponents but not this one. We’re going to try to get as close to a resemblance to what they’ll see on Saturday. You can never fully understand the speed that they run their offense at but they try to get close."
Notre Dame's matchup with the Navy Midshipmen always draws attention due to the history of the rivalry and the vast difference in play styles. Freeman is undefeated against the Midshipmen and after winning 35-32 in 2022, 42-3 in 2023 and 51-14 in 2024. He looks to continue that streak as well as their six-game winning streak on the season this Saturday under the lights in Notre Dame Stadium.
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