I love my "5 Reasons" posts, and I always have. I hope that long time readers enjoy it as well, because we're lumbering into "My 5 Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Navy."
1. We've already played a better version of Ricky Dobbs this year: When we matched up against Michigan earlier this season, we faced the seemingly unstoppable Denard Robinson. And, if you remember, we would have won that game if Dayne Crist wouldn't have gotten banged up on that QB sneak for a TD early on. It's true. So, heading into our yearly clash with Navy doesn't seem to carry the same concern. We can stop their triple option...as long as we cover the big white tight end down field.
2. This is a season defining game for Brian Kelly: I said it back in January, and I'll say it again. This game is a chance for Brian Kelly to stop the bleeding started by Charlie Weis in 2007. After beating Navy every year for 43 years, Charlie Weis found them unbeatable. Navy broke the streak with the memorable OT win in '07 and then came back and shocked us last year again. These were HUGE losses for Charlie, in the eyes of Notre Dame fans, and Brian Kelly knows what's at stake. If Brian Kelly can win this game, his first season at ND will be considered at the very least a mild success.
3. The big "Mo": The Fighting Irish are riding a three game winning streak coming into this game, and that says a lot about how this team will be feeling come Saturday morning. While the "blowout" win against Western Michigan was expected, the wins over Boston College (finally) and Pitt serve as big rallying cries. We could have lost those games, and people wouldn't have lost their minds. Now that we won those games, people like me are losing their minds in a good way (BCS?). I don't think enough love is given to momentum, even if Lee Corso references it in every NCAA Football video game since 2002. Add to that the fact that following this Navy game we have Tulsa (4-3) and then a bye week, and you have no concern of the players looking past Navy and getting caught by surprise.
4. Cierre Wood offers balance: While Armando is still the man, if healthy, Wood provided the Irish with significant balance in the win against Western Michigan. His 11 carries for 94 yards helped to allow Dayne Crist to attempt less passes than the previous four games. This is a key to Irish victory. Look at the numbers! The least amount of attempts Crist has thrown this year was against Michigan (25). He was injured for a large part of that game, but extremely effective when he was in. The second least was against Purdue (26), which we won. The third least was against Western Michigan (28) last week, and I think you're starting to see get the point. When Crist feels less relied on, he does better. In contrast, he threw his most attempts against Michigan State and Standford (and BC, in all honesty), and we all know how those two games ended.
5. Tell me, who have they beaten?: The majority of the articles in the "real" media covering this game talk about how Navy has been this amazingly improving team over the last couple of years. Okay, but who have the bested? This season you have Georgia Southern (by just 6 points!), Louisiana Tech, Air Force (by just 8 points!), and a 2-5 Wake Forest team (by just 1 point!). Not too impressed. Last season, the list includes, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky, Air Force, Rice, SMU, Wake, us, Delaware, and Army. Not exactly a who's who of amazing teams from 2009. So, please remember to look beyond the record and see who a team has actually beaten before accepting the media's assertions that their 8 wins actually means something.
Don't get me wrong, this is an absurdly pro-Notre Dame post, and I in no way think that the Midshipmen are going to be a pushover this week. You all know that I think tomorrow morning's Irish win will be a season defining one (at least until we beat USC), which means I think it'll be an intense clash. However, I am clearly confident that the Irish have what it takes to pick up this win and improve to 5-3.
Don't you?
Onward to victory!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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