After a much-needed bye week, the Notre Dame offense looks to get back on track in their 8th matchup of the season against the Navy Midshipmen. The Navy defense has taken a step back from what it was a season ago. They currently rank 108th in the country in points allowed, 102nd in yards per play allowed, 123rd in the country in passing yards allowed, 136th in both yards per attempt and yards per completion allowed and 137th in explosive pass plays allowed. 

Their run defense, however, has been pretty stout this season. There's things schematically that Notre Dame can do to take advantage of the Midshipmen defense. There are three key matchups the Irish must win if they want to right the ship on offense. If they don't win these matchups, do they run the risk of losing to Navy? No, but this is about a bigger picture, and with a daunting November slate on the horizon, winning these matchups will be a big step in the right direction. 

After a really promising start to the season, junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert has stacked a couple of relatively quiet games. He had an outstanding one-handed catch on the sideline on third down against BYU, but his overall impact hasn't been as great as it was through the first four games of the season. Notre Dame's offense needs a reliable, big-bodied target in the boundary and Gilbert's skillset gives the offense that look. Out of his 22 receptions, 409 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the season, 15 of those catches, 334 of those yards and both touchdowns came in the first four matchups. It's time to get the North Carolina native back on track. 

Matchup To Watch: Navy's pass defense has struggled mightily this season. One of the reasons why is the movement of Phillip Hamilton from slot cornerback to outside corner. Through the first two games of their season he played, Hamilton only allowed 40 receiving yards, no touchdowns and recorded one interception from the slot. After moving to outside corner against Tulsa, UTSA and North Texas, Hamilton has allowed 11 receptions for 235 receiving yards and four touchdowns. This is a 'get right' opportunity for Gilbert against a reeling defensive back. 

Through the last three games, left guard Anthonie Knapp hasn't looked like the dominant version of himself we've seen over the last two and a half seasons. He hasn't played poorly, but certainly not up to the standard we're used to seeing from the 6-5, 305-pound mauler. Knapp made the move to the interior in the offseason and has started all seven games of the season thus far at left guard. Pass protection has certainly improved for the junior offensive lineman since moving to the interior, but we haven't seen that dominant performance in the run game we're used to seeing from No. 54. Saturday is the prime opportunity to change that. 

Matchup To Watch: Navy's best interior defensive lineman, and arguably best trench player overall, is defensive tackle Griffen Willis. The 6-1, 280-pound tackle has recorded 16 run stops this season according to PFF and plays a big role in Navy having the 31st best rush defense in yards allowed, 17th best rush defense in yards allowed per carry and 30th best rush defense in carries of 20 yards or more allowed. Knapp can get back on track against the smaller, but talented and physical, Willis who will present some problems for the Notre Dame offensive line.  

We talked a lot during the bye week about the offense and individual players getting back on track. Junior quarterback CJ Carr is one of those players and is at the top of that list for me. Notre Dame two of their biggest tests of the season coming in November and they'll need No. 13 at the top of his game. In his last two outings against Stanford and BYU, the Saline, Michigan native shined at times and struggled at times. We broke down during the bye week what they can do schematically pre-snap and post-snap to help out the 6-2, 215-pound signal caller, but some of Carr improving is on Carr himself. 

Matchup To Watch: Thankfully, Carr is gearing up to face one of the worst pass defenses in the country and will have the opportunity to build some momentum before their matchup with No. 1 Miami on November 7. The Midshipmen rank 136th in the country in yards allowed per attempt and yards allowed per completion.

They rank 123rd in the country in passing yards allowed and 124th in the country in passing touchdowns allowed (16). Navy also ranks dead last in the country in passer rating allowed (175.1). Carr has the opportunity to put up big numbers Saturday afternoon if offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock turns him loose and Carr executes on some of the missed throws we saw on  October 10 and October 17. 

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