Notre Dame Must Dominate Two Matchups Against The Navy Defense

Key offensive matchups Notre Dame must win against Navy on Saturday

On Saturday, Notre Dame will kick off their season against Navy in Dublin, Ireland. All eyes will be on the Irish, a team that heads into 2023 with a lot of big expectations.

A lot of that optimism surrounds the Irish offense, which has a chance to be the best we’ve seen in several years. Let’s take a look at a couple key matchups that could determine just how good the Notre Dame offense can be in the opener.

SAM HARTMAN vs THE STRIKER

BREAKING IT DOWN

On Notre Dame’s side, the debut of transfer quarterback Sam Hartman is the most anticipated introduction in a long time for the Irish. We have all heard endlessly about the long list of accomplishments, including 12,967 passing yards and 110 touchdown passes. Add in another 17 rushing touchdowns on the ground and you have an incredibly productive signal caller while he was at Wake Forest. The impact he will have on the Notre Dame program will be better understood very soon, including glimpses on Saturday.

On defense, the Navy Midshipmen are a hard-nosed, yet non flashy unit that does a lot of the dirty work that goes unnoticed. One of the playmaking positions on the defense is the Striker, which was occupied by John Marshall last season. Marshall was the team’s top defender a year ago, collecting 96 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, an interception and eight pass breakups. While Marshall graduated, there’s a pretty good chance that the Striker position will be an important one once again for Navy, occupied by senior Xavier McDonald.

WHY IT MATTERS

If you tuned into Notre Dame’s 35 to 32 victory over Navy last season, you understand that it was a tale of two offenses in the first and second half. The offense mustered a grand total of zero points in the second half, mostly due to their inability to find answers to pressure and extra blitzer. Marshall was a big part of that formula, finishing with six tackles and 1.5 sacks.

With Hartman at quarterback, he will need to show a deeper understanding for how to beat pressure. That is also true for an offense that is planning on running a lot more RPO concepts, which should target the Striker position in a lot of instances. The best way to beat pressures is to attack the vacated zones. You can bet that the Striker (McDonald) is going to try and cause disruption. It’s up to Hartman to make Navy pay.

IRISH GUARD vs ORGANIZED CHAOS

BREAKING IT DOWN

Perhaps the biggest headline offensively, at least from a skepticism perspective, is the inexperience of Notre Dame at the guard position. With Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan set to make their first starts, there is a lot of uncertainty about what to expect on the interior for the Irish. Both players have traits to get excited about, most notably size and strength, but that uncertainty remains a major question mark.

On defense, Navy makes its biggest impact off of creating a lot of pressure and uncertainty up front for opposing offenses. They are a base three-man front but you will see a variety of fronts, and alignments. You will also see a lot of blitzes from a variety of spots, both from linebackers and the secondary.

WHY IT MATTERS

For first year starters up front, the game can move incredibly fast. For Spindler and Coogan, they made their money off of being powerful movers at the point of attack. Navy, on the other hand, wins with speed and movement skills. They are going to try and force both the guards to be uncomfortable.

There is a good chance that Notre Dame is going to be able to throw the football against the Midshipmen but their bread and butter will still be the run game. Navy will try to shut down that facet of the offense for the second straight year. They also want to pressure Hartman and create some bad decisions. Notre Dame’s ability to handle pressure will be a big determiner for how successful they will be offensively. 

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