Notre Dame was back in action on Saturday against the Navy Midshipmen in their 99th meeting. The Irish were looking to bounce back after their first loss in 16 games a few weeks prior. The offense came to play, and outside of one drive in the first half, looked to get back on track in both the ground game and the passing attack.

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock's gameplan was altered by the defense coming out the way they did. But the offense still put up 35 points and had their best performance during the middle eight in several weeks. Here are my key takeaways for the Notre Dame offense in their 35-13 victory over Navy yesterday afternoon. 

One thing we wanted to see coming out of the bye week was an offense that was centered more around the younger talent on the roster. At wide receiver, their big three of Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse and Micah Gilbert played a combined 235 snaps in their last outing against the Cougars in Provo. Today, we saw Jerome Bettis Jr., Matt Jeffery, Mylan Graham and tight end Ian Premer in a much bigger sample size than we had in the last few games. 

Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. and freshman running back Jonaz Walton combined for 158 rushing yards and three touchdowns while Bettis led the team in receiving yards and caught the first touchdown pass of his young career with the Irish. This offense is loaded with veteran talent in the trenches, under center and on the perimeter, but it was the younger players that shined in Notre Dame's 22-point win inside of Gillette Stadium. 

Junior quarterback CJ Carr continues to put together an impressive season. It hasn't been the Heisman-caliber season we thought he'd be having up to this point, but the Saline, Michigan native needed a bounce-back performance after their last outing against BYU. Carr still has ample opportunity to put together highlight reel plays down the stretch, but in order to do so, he had to get things turned around against Navy.

After an up and down first half, the 6-2, 215-pound gunslinger started off the second half completing 10-straight passes. He finished the afternoon with 210 yards and two passing touchdowns. They'll need him to be at his best next weekend against the Hurricanes and now, he'll have a good foundation coming out of the bye week to build off of. 

After a much-maligned start to the season, especially in the run game, the Notre Dame offensive line continues to improve week over week. Their loss to BYU was unfortunate, but their offensive line wasn't the issue. This week, they were going against a reeling Navy defensive front and handled business in both phases of the game. As a team, Notre Dame had 426 total yards of offense on eight total drives and they were extremely balanced.

In pass protection, they kept Carr's jersey clean and did their part in the Irish rushing for 204 yards as a team. This unit is hitting their stride and it's coming at the perfect time in the season. They have one of their biggest tests of the season coming up against the Hurricanes and will have to be a consistent, dominant and reliable unit on November 7. 

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