Notre Dame's epic fail against Navy.

This one hurt pretty bad. The game against Navy was set up to be Coach Kelly's big win over the first 8 games of the season. It was a chance to show that he can prepare for a team and make in-game adjustments as needed better than Charlie Weis was able to do. It was supposed to be the game where Coach Kelly got this team back on the right track. Instead, a group of Navy Seniors who have learned a thing or two about beating the Irish, came out and blasted ND 35-17 with ease. There were no half time adjustments, Dayne Crist went through stretches where he just looked high school-ish, and the Irish lost in pathetic fashion.

Our boys never really stood a chance. The Irish defense was really unable to stop Ricky Dobbs, again, and the offense felt it was better to turn the ball over than put it in the end zone. After Alex Teich opened the game with a 31 yard TD pass, the Irish could only answer with a field goal after a stalled out drive. Navy came back early in the second, as Dobbs broke a short run capped off with a dive for the goal line. The Irish finally put something together on a TJ Jones TD pass, but a pick late set up another Navy TD, and we were down 10-21 at the half.

I assured my Dad over the phone that Coach Kelly was proving to be the kind of guy who could fire up a team at the break and turn things around. Boy, did I lead my Dad astray on that one. Things only got worse, as Crist got picked again, staring at the intended receiver seemingly forever before throwing the ball to the Navy defender stepping up into the play. Dobbs would run for 2 more TDs in the third, though fullback Alex Teich seemed to be the most unstoppable. Cierre Wood rushed for a meaningless TD with 6 minutes to go in the game, but in the end, this one will go down as a game where we got straight owned by the Midshipmen. 

Not only was Brian Kelly unable to stop the bleeding of the recent Irish losing "streak" to Navy, but this was the most lopsided loss to the Academy since 1963, and they put up more yards offensively than any Navy team playing ND in the rivalry's history. We can easily make the excuse that we were without Theo Riddick, Kyle Rudolph, and Michael Floyd, but I think Coach Kelly summed it up best. Regarding Navy stopping a Crist QB sneak on fourth and goal from the 1 yard line on the opening possession, Coach said, "We outman them by 70 pounds on average up front. If you can't get a foot on the one-half yard line, you get what you deserve." Strong words, but really the truth. We finished with a weak 6 for 12 3rd down mark, while allowing Navy's 9 for 13. We were -2 in turnover differential, we were the only penalized team (although just 1 for 15), and we lost the possession battle by almost 12 minutes. 12 minutes! The defense was tired out there, and against a good triple option team, that spells disaster.

Crist finished 19/31 for 178 with a TD and two picks. His main receiver was Kamara, who caught 6 for 56, to help remind us that he's still on the team. Jones had 53 on 5 with his TD, and Eifert caught for 42 yards. On the ground, Armando Allen was strong with 11 rushes for 66 yards, while Cierre Wood got just 17 on his 8 carries. Defensively, Te'o led the way with a season high 13 tackles. But, the more telling stat for the defense would be that Ricky Dobbs and Alex Teich combined for 300 yards on the ground. Unacceptable.

I was curious, however, as to how we stopped Dobbs this season, compared to the previous two tilts with Navy. Did we do better than I would think against the talented QB slated to become the President someday (as CBS Sports points out every time Navy plays)?

2008: 13 rushes for 27 yards, 8 pass attempts for 54 yards.

2009: 31 rushes for 102 yards, 3 pass attempts for 56 yards.

2010: 20 rushes for 90 yards, 2 pass attempts for 71 yards.

Clearly, this season was our worst for stopping that triple option pass to the lumbering white guy downfield, and honestly we weren't any good at stopping Dobbs on the ground comparatively either. His 4.5 yards/rush average were easily his best over the last 3 seasons against the Irish. So much for all of that preparation, eh boys?

So, Notre Dame has fallen to 4-4, and my preseason predictions of a 9-3 season have come to an end. At least it took 8 out of 12 games to hit that reality, rather than 4 or 5. Hopefully, though, this loss to Navy won't send this team into complete disaray, as it did last year. Next week, the Irish will try and rebound in another "easy win" game against Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane have gotten off to a 4-3 start this season, but their wins are against Bowling Green, Central Arkansas, Memphis, and Tulane. Meanwhile, they've been beaten by ECU, Oklahoma State, and SMU. The Oklahoma State win was 65-28 over Tulsa. In my January season preview post, I called this game against Tulsa an "easy, easy Notre Dame win." After that Navy loss, I may not be as confident, but I'm still thinking this game will be our bounce back heading into that much needed bye.

Onward to victory.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē