Has Notre Dame ended the Navy's Cinderella story? Lessons learned from a dominant Irish victory

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – No. 12 Notre Dame ran away from No. 24 Navy on Saturday to pick up an easy 51-14 win at MetLife Stadium, handing the Midshipmen their first loss.

The Midshipmen committed six turnovers and quickly fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter. A 47-yard touchdown run by Blake Horvath gave Navy a glimmer of hope early in the second quarter, but the Irish put the game away and led 31-7 at halftime en route to a 37-point victory.

It was only the third time since 1957 that both Notre Dame and Navy were ranked in the AP poll for their annual matchup. The Irish also won confidently in 1978 (27-7) and 2019 (52-20).

Notre Dame (7-1) remains firmly in the College Football Playoff race as it had a 75 percent chance of making the field Saturday The athlete's model. With its first loss, Navy took a hit to its playoff hopes (just 5 percent on Saturday), although it is still a perfect 4-0 in American Athletic Conference play.

The Navy is missing its big opportunity

With the chance to remain undefeated and make a statement across the country, the No. 24 Navy a series of unforced errors.

The Midshipmen, who came into the game with just two giveaways, committed six turnovers against the Fighting Irish, their most turnovers since a loss at Boston College in 2002.

On its first possession, Navy lost a fumble for the first time this season and recorded its first turnover since the opener against Bucknell. Running back Alex Tecza dropped a simple pitch and Adon Shuler returned it 28 yards to give the Irish a short touchdown drive that made it 14-0 in the first quarter.

Another fumble, this time by Horvath as he took an inside handoff late, gave the Irish the ball next at midfield. Navy got a third-down stop and Notre Dame's backup kicker missed a 36-yard field goal.

The Midshipmen kept the ball on their next drive and Horvath crossed the Irish for a 47-yard touchdown to an option keeper to tie the game at 13:33 of the second quarter. These two possessions represented the Navy's only moment of hope for causing turmoil.

Horvath to the housepic.twitter.com/wRkt5r5zES

– Navy Athletics (@NavyAthletics) October 26, 2024

Notre Dame failed on a long touchdown run on its next series, and another Navy fumble – this time on a deflected Isaiah Bryant punt – led to a fourth Irish touchdown of the first half. That was pretty much it for the Midshipmen's undefeated season.

The Navy offense — a hybrid version of the Wing-T combined with the Midshipmen's traditional triple option — was effective when not turned on its head. Horvath ran for 129 yards on 14 carries, and the Midshipmen opened the second half with a beautiful 12-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in fullback Eli Heidenreich making a jet sweep around left end and one on fourth down A 1-yard score-and-goal made it 31-14 Notre Dame.

The Irish responded with another long touchdown push, then capped off a truly terrible day for the Navy offense. Horvath fumbled as he tried to pass his goal line, the ball appeared to slip out of his hand under pressure, and Jaylen Sneed recovered for a touchdown that made it 44-14.

Horvath was intercepted in the end zone in the fourth quarter and then another weakened punt gave Notre Dame its fourth drive of the day, starting in Navy territory. Navy has now lost seven straight to the Irish. — Ralph Russo, national college football writer

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For most of this season, you had to squint to see Riley Leonard, as the Notre Dame quarterback thought he would disappear from Duke's transfer portal last winter. The running threat was always there, but Leonard, the passer, was a developmental project for offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. Now the Irish could reach a new height in Leonard's only season at Notre Dame.

Leonard remains the run threat, which is why he has 11 rushing touchdowns – three away from breaking the single-season record by an Irish quarterback. His 10 carries brought him 83 yards and a touchdown against the Mids. It's Leonard, the passer, who deviates from hope and prayer to throw and catch. Leonard went 13 of 21 for 178 yards against Navy, which may not look impressive as an individual statistic. But Leonard completed complex passes across zone coverage, successfully engineered the RPO play and converted Notre Dame's only fourth down attempt.

Beautiful time#GoIrish☘️ | @beaux_collins pic.twitter.com/uokYNfkwdT

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 26, 2024

No Irish receiver had more than four catches – Jordan Faison had four for 52 yards – but nine players had at least one. It would have been 10 if not for a drop by Eli Raridon in the third quarter.

Notre Dame may not have a great offense heading into November, but it has a better offense with Leonard at the helm. Brain cramps and near-interceptions can still occur. Both happened against the navy. And maybe that's just part of the Leonard experience. But the boost Notre Dame was hoping for after signing Leonard is only getting brighter. – Pete Sampson, Notre Dame Beat writer

The Irish did their job against the Navy's revamped offensive

As much as Navy brought about its own demise with five lost fumbles, Notre Dame's defense at least got a byline.

Led by four graduate students under center — defensive tackles Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III, linebacker Jack Kiser and safety Xavier Watts — Notre Dame went hard against Navy's modernized option offense, which seemed to be Horvath and little else.

Tecza and Daba Fofana, the fullbacks, had no success in the middle, managing 14 carries for 47 yards. Horvath threatened but struggled to catch the ball as a passer, going 7 of 13 for 88 yards, including an interception by freshman cornerback Leonard Moore.

The @NDFootball Five fumbles recovered are tied with four other plays for the second-most in a game in program history (and the first time since 1977 in a 19-9 win over Pitt).
ND recovered six fumbles at Southern Cal in 1984.

— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) October 26, 2024

Yes, Horvath has been outstanding locally at times, but even his numbers require context. Although he scored a 47-yard touchdown run and a 60-yard run in the second quarter, he was hardly effective otherwise.

Kiser led Notre Dame with nine tackles, which wasn't a surprise. But Sneed also had nine stops, while Shuler and Junior Tuihalamaka each contributed seven tackles. Sneed also recovered one of those Navy fumbles in the end zone, which helped break the game open in the second half.

Notre Dame's offense made Navy pay for its mistakes, and even without all the turnovers, the Irish seemed to solve the Mids' updated playbook without much trouble. – Sampson

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Does Navy still have a path to the playoffs?

Navy's realistic playoff chances are to win the AAC and secure the bid, which goes to one of the top five ranked conference champions.

So that's still in play, but the Midshipmen really needed a decisive win on their resume. Not only did they fail, but they were completely out of action and played by far their sloppiest game of the season.

Navy didn't necessarily need to beat Notre Dame, but sticking with the Fighting Irish would have at least given the CFP selection committee some consideration when considering the Mids as a potential playoff team – like Boise State's three-point loss at Oregon in September.

Navy's other non-conference games came against Bucknell and a struggling Air Force. And the Army game doesn't count toward the playoff race because it's played the week after the CFP field is set.

Back in the conference, Navy has two road games against Rice and South Florida before returning home for an important AAC game against Tulane. While the Army and Navy received much deserved attention, the Green Wave is also undefeated in the AAC.

After four straight losses, Navy is still capable of one of the best turnarounds in the country, but if they fall that far short against Notre Dame, the Midshipmen will likely become playoff spoiler. – Russo

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(Photo by Kris Mitchell: Edward Diller/Getty Images)