| George Atkinson and Theo Riddick celebrate one of their four touchdowns Saturday. (US Presswire) |
NOTRE DAME WON: For the second straight season Notre Dame did not have a lot of trouble with the Naval Academy. There was never really any doubt about the outcome of this game, as Notre Dame would score on its first offensive possession and prove to be too much for Navy to handle over 60 minutes.
The Irish offense finished with 490 yards of offense, with the ground attack leading the way as Notre Dame rushed for 293 yards. Even more impressive, the Notre Dame defense held the Navy rushing attack to only 140 yards rushing, and quite a few of those rushing yards came in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.
WHY NOTRE DAME WON: There just wasn't much Navy could do to stop the Notre Dame rushing attack. The Irish ran for 293 yards and 5 touchdowns on the day, with George Atkinson III (99 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Theo Reddick (107 yards, 2 touchdowns) making it hard to notice the Irish left Cierre Wood back in the states. On the other side of the ball, while Navy found some success throwing the ball against the Irish, Navy's strength is its option attack and the Notre Dame defense did a solid job of containing the attack.
WHEN NOTRE DAME WON: Navy opened the second half with a three-play touchdown drive, not rushing the ball once, to cut the lead to 27-10 and show signs of life for the first time all day. Unfortunately for Navy the Irish responded with a 12-play, 87-yard touchdown drive to let the world know there would be no comeback in this game.
WHAT NOTRE DAME WON: Looking at the history between these two schools, the Irish won a game that they're supposed to win. That hasn't always been the case lately, though, and it has to be a good sign for Brian Kelly and the Irish faithful that Notre Dame has blown out Navy in consecutive seasons.
WHAT NAVY LOST: It would have been nice for Navy to pick up the upset win to start the season, but it's tough to say they really lost anything in this game. I mean, they did get to go to Dublin.
THAT WAS CRAZY: While this wasn't the greatest jig I've ever seen, given the circumstances, it's still one of the best.