Notre Dame vs Navy Keys To Victory: Defense Edition

Breaking down the keys to victory for the Notre Dame defense in the matchup against Navy

Notre Dame kicks off the 2023 season on Saturday against long-time rival Navy. It's the first opportunity for Notre Dame to show whether or not the program has taken a step forward.

Over the last two seasons the Irish defense has had two distinctly different performances. It was dominant during a 34-6 win over the Midshipmen in 2021, but last season the Irish gave up 32 points and barely hung on after Navy outscored the Irish 19-0 in the second half.

A better performance is needed from the Notre Dame defense, and there are several keys to making that happen.

1. Be Aggressive And Disciplined - A defense must attack the triple option, but do so in a sound manner. That is the primary big picture key to defending the triple option offense. A defense must be assignment correct, that is vital, but attacking the option is key. 

The key is being able to speed up the option and force the quarterback to declare where the ball is going as quickly as possible. The longer he can ride the mesh and carry out the action the better it is for the offense. If a quarterback's decisions are sped up it forces the offense to declare where the ball is going, which allows the defense to fly to the football.

Within that aggressiveness the plan must be sound, and it requires a high level of execution. Mistakes against the option, especially those between the tackles, can result in huge chunk plays.

2. Stop The Fullback - Part one of being aggressive and attacking the option is taking out the fullback. Go look back at when Notre Dame has struggled against the option, in almost every instance it has been due in large part to the Navy fullback going off. We saw that last season when Dana Fobana rushed for 133 yards on 15 carries, ripping off runs of 50 yards and 36 yards. The latter went for a touchdown.

If the fullback is successfully shut down the offense has a much, much tougher time getting going. The exception is when Navy has a dynamic quarterback (Malcolm Perry, Keenan Reynolds, Ricky Dobbs), but that doesn't seem to be the case with this Navy team.

When Notre Dame shut down Navy in 2021, winning 34-6, Navy fullback Isaac Ruoss was limited to 73 yards on 22 carries. It's easier said than done, but it's an absolute must.

3. Early Down Disruptions - Getting behind schedule is like kryptonite to an option offense. Getting them in 2nd-and-long and 3rd-and-long situations is the key to getting Navy off the field without points. That means getting stuffs and tackles for loss on first and second down. When Notre Dame has dominated Navy it has largely dominated on early downs.

That requires the defensive tackles like Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills to dominate the middle of the line. It requires the linebackers to be aggressive downhill and be effective at beating blocks, and it requires dominating the fullback and quick quarterback runs.

If Notre Dame can get Navy off schedule early and often it will shut down the option offense.

4. Limit Big Plays - The danger against Navy is doing all of the above, but then allowing Navy to rip off big plays due to blown coverages or assignment mistakes. That kind of mistake against the option can be very, very dangerous. If Notre Dame can limit those big plays it makes it harder for Navy to score enough points to pull off this kind of upset.

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