It’s another installment of the Ant-Preview. I said… IT’S ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF THE ANTI-PREVIEW!!!! Friends, it’s time to get on the train and get fired up for Navy. That’s right, I said NAVY! (What the hell is wrong with you assholes? Are ya deaf?) I didn’t think so.
The Fighting Irish are rolling into the Meadowlands on a 3 game winning streak after starting the season 1-3. The improvement is slow- but steady, and no one can complain about this team not playing their asses off on every play.
So, here we sit at 4-3 and facing a Navy team that has beat us 2 out of the past 3 years. This isn’t your typical Notre Dame / Navy game, in my opinion, this game is huge.
Let’s get you ready…
Navy. The Middies are struggling a bit this year. To be honest, I thought Navy would be undefeated and ranked in the Top 25 at this point in the season. They lost to Maryland in the season opener by 3, and they were beat by a good Air Force team in Colorado Springs by 8. I also thought Ricky Dobbs would be in the conversation for the Heisman. Seriously.
Ricky Dobbs is not having the type of season that was supposed to have Navy at 6-0 and producing Dobbs-Worship. He has only rushed for 379 yards with a 2.9 YPC. Not exactly the stat you want to see from a quarterback in the option offense. The wealth has been spread around to the other backs, and Dobbs has thrown for over 600 yards with 4 TD’s… but he has thrown 4 interceptions as well.
The bottom line on Navy, is that they are Navy. We know exactly what they are going to do to try and beat Notre Dame. They are going to run the option and eat clock. They are going to play a soft zone on defense. They are going to play their asses off. Whether Navy was 6-0 or 0-6 coming into this game, it doesn’t change much in my opinion of Navy, or how they will play the game.
What should you be drinking? We are heading to the Jersey Shore. Breakout your hair gel, Ed Hardy shirts, and pirate flags.
The Pirate Flag:
- 1 oz Captain Morgan spiced rum
- 1 oz Midori melon liqueur
- 1 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
- 6 oz Hawaiian Punch
- 4 – 6 oz 7-Up
- Ice
Mix liquors and rum together with Hawiian Punch in a beer mug 1/3 full of ice. Add 7-Up soda and serve garnished with a skewer of pineapple chunks and cherries if desired.
What should you be eating? Dig into something out of the ordinary. Seafood Pot Pie.
- 1 can of Clam Chowder
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
- 2 tsp of Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 pound of seafood mix (shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, lobster)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all-purpose baking mix (I use Jiffy)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix chowder, 1/4 cup of milk, pepper, Old Bay seasoning, veggies, and seafood in a 9″ pie pan. Mix remaining ingredients (milk, egg, baking mix). Pour over the seafood mixture in the pie pan. Bake 30 minutes or until hot and topping is Golden.
Irish Stew: Hey. We’re fucking pirates this week. We are going up against a sovereign nations navy. So… FUCK NAVY. Don’t be afraid to say it, and say it proudly. Break out your eye patches and give a loud, “ARRRRRR!!!!” as you spit in some old lady’s mouth (that old lady was wearing a Navy sweatshirt). What I am truly trying to say is, is to not be afraid to talk as much shit about Navy as we do about any other of our regular opponents. Please see my published works on this topic.
What’s in a name? It didn’t take me very long as I scrolled down the always fruitful (name garden) roster of Navy’s football players to find a name worthy of praise. I had a preconceived notion of what I was looking for- and then I was struck in the heart by a thunderbolt of a name. Are you ready? OK… Wave Ryder. Seriously. A kid named, Wave Ryder from Hawaii, is a student at the US Naval Academy. We might as well just make him an Admiral right now, because that is AWESOME! Ryder sports the #2 and plays safety. I have no idea if he will lay much- or if any on Saturday, but if he does; we Pirates should salute a kid with a name so bold. Fantastic.
KGG’s Slant:Week 8 of the college football season bring us to Navy week. This is a week that has conjured up many different feelings for Irish fans recently. Navy week used to represent a time we got to go play a football game against an opponent we respected, but always beat. It was essentially a week off from having to worry if the Irish would pull out a victory, a week where we got to see backup players getting into the game. Add into the mix, 4 different coaches (5 if you count George O’Leary) in the past 14 seasons and you have yourselves a tough ballgame every time you play Navy. The Irish have struggled the past 3 season with the Midshipmen losing 2 of 3 (both losses at home) and barely winning in 2008 giving up 14 points in the final 2:30 of that game. It really seems that since Lou Holtz has left ND, the team always looks flat when playing the Midshipmen. With last year travesty that was the downward spiral (It started with a loss to Navy) and the RJ Blanton chop block(!) this team should be fired up about this game. The recent rash of injuries on the Irish offense and the fact that Navy dominates the time of possession stats each week, the Irish will have to be nearly perfect if they expect to win this game.
The Navy offense is old school triple option, we all know that. We all know exactly what they are going to do, now it just about stopping it. Navy is lead by QB Ricky Dobbs, who many people believed this offseason was a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman. He never really had a shot at winning the award, but the fact that he was even in the conversation has emphasized his importance to this team. Dobbs doesn’t have nearly the numbers he had last year but he has been solidly consistent. He has struggled with the INT’s but in the feast or famine type passing game that Navy runs, that can be expected. Dobbs has yet to turn the ball over via the fumble and leads the 9th best rushing attack in the land. Its no surprise that Dobbs is the teams leading rusher with 379 yards and 5 TD’s. The next man in the option is fullback Vince Murray who has 54 carries for 283 yards. The offense is what it is, give to the fullback if the nose tackle doesn’t take him out of the equation, then key of the DE for either a QB keep or a pitch to the RB. The Irish know what coming, its up to them to stop it.
The key for the Irish defense this week starts up front with the much improved Ian Williams. Ian’s one job this week is to tattoo the fullback on every play, whether he has the ball or not. The key to stopping the triple option is playing to your strength. The one strength that is one-sided for the Irish is well… strength. Teams run the option because they aren’t as physical. The Irish need to dominate the Navy offensive line and blow up the fullback from the point of attack. From there its up to DE’s Kapron Lewis-Moore an Ethan Johnson to force the QB into making a decision. A huge piece of the puzzle will be outside backer Darius Fleming and Kerry Neal. These two speedy cats will need to be able to shed blockers and get to the outside edge and turn the play back into
Manti and Carlo. The Irish will look to get an extra man in the box with either safety but need to be careful about this. Navy’s passing game is centered around drawing that safety close to the line and going over the top. Harrison Smith needs to have a big game in pass coverage is Zeke Motta is playing in the box most of the game. Limit the big plays by the Irish and get off the field as quickly as possible is the goal. With the way the Irish offense moves so quickly, we should see plenty of backups this game to keep fresh legs.
Offensively for the Irish its all about capitalizing on their opportunities. That’s a scary thought when that’s exactly what the Irish have struggled with this year. Last year kicker Nick Tausch missed a 41 yarder and a 30 yarder after he had hit 14 straight (pray this doesn’t happen to David Ruffer this year). The Irish offense also fumbled at the goal line and Clausen bounced a pass off Floyd’s back at the 5 that was intercepted. All of that combined to equal the 2nd straight loss to Navy inside ND stadium. The Irish must capitalize on every possession and more importantly convert whenever they get inside the red zone. The Irish have 27 red zone drives and have scored 23 times. 14 TD’s to 9 field goals. That’s an 85% conversion rate but that’s only good for 49th in the country. The Irish will need to points every time they are in the red zone but more importantly, 7’s rather than 3’s. Red zone play will be even tougher this week without scoring threats Kyle Rudolph, Theo Riddick, and possibly Michael Floyd. The Irish may have to line up Duval Kamara, John Goodman, TJ Jones and Tyler Eifert on many plays although I don’t expect it. Armando Allen has looked full go in practice and has shown that he can catch the ball throughout his career. Kelly may have more confidence sending Allen out on a pattern than Duval Kamara who hasn’t caught a pass since the 21st play of the season against Purdue. With the Irish banged up in the receiving corp, it is vital for the rushing game to get on track. Cierre wood showed some flashes lat week, so look for him to see a lot of the field on Saturday. We could see some 2 back sets with Allen and Wood in the backfield and even see a lot more of the pistol offense so that the running backs can start running downhill. The Irish have struggled lately against Navy but they should be able to extend their current winning streak to 4.Irish beat the Midshipmen, 31-27.
Offensive MVP: Tyler Eifert. As if I haven’t given enough love to sophomore tight end, Tyler Eifert, I am naming him our MVP on offense for this week. He did a more than servicable job last week with 72 yards receiving and a touchdown. This “Kelly Spread,” as I have come to name it (and probably a whole shitload of others too) loves to use the tight end in a variety of ways. It reminds me of how Oklahoma has used their tight ends.
Eifert will give Notre Dame that extra edge in the passing game in the middle of the zone. If Navy tries to do more than run their base defense to stop it, than it opens it up on the edge and down the seam. Honestly, I just thimk Tyler is going to have a really nice day catching the ball, and with a depleted receiving corps- we’re gonna need it.
Defensive MVP: Ian Williams. At first I was going to go with Harrison Smith, and then I changed my mind and was going to name Carlo Calabrese, and then I changed my mind one more time as I slowly moved closer to the line of scrimmage; Ian Williams. Ian has been playing as well as any nose tackle in the country these past 3 weeks (and all season, really), and the results of his play have helped the Irish get back on track and push their record from 1-3 to 4-3.
The triple option offense starts with the fullback read on every single snap.A guy like Ian Williams can help the defense dictate the offensive play. As long as Williams is disruptive and plays his assigned gap, he can force the QB to pull the dive out, and move outside. Basically, Ian Williams is going to have to beat the living shit out of Navy’s center all day long. I think he can handle it, and help the defense control the game.
Something else to watch: Because of the style of ball control offense that Navy plays, the number of possessions will be limited for the Irish. I have a hunch that if Notre Dame were 100% healthy they would play their supersonic speed offense. As it is, there will be a number of backups playing on Saturday. I have no doubt that hey are all physically capable to play at that speed, but is Floyd? Is Allen? Would the speedrific offense a bad idea with “newbs”? Kelly’s “next man in” philosophy would suggest that it won’t matter, but I think it does.
At the end of the day… Notre Dame wins a surprisingly clean game. The Irish look a little crisper than they did against Western, and have less penalties and mental lapses that plagued the first half of the Western Michigan game. Navy will get their first downs, but the redzone defense of the Irish helps them pull away with stout play near the endzone. Irish win 31-16.
