While one might not go so far as to call it complete domination, Notre Dame still played very well against Navy. An Irish win practically was inevitable, so no one should have been surprised by one beforehand. We got it to the tune of a 34-6 final.
The Irish (8-1) continued a drive that began at midfield to begin the fourth quarter, and that was as far as it got. It didn’t matter because Jay Bramblett’s punt got an Irish bounce and downed the Midshipmen (2-7) at their own 1-yard line. This pretty much meant it only was a matter of time before the Irish scored a safety. They did just that on the drive’s second play.
Gifted the ball on the safety and starting in good field position after a 29-yard kick return from Kyren Williams, the Irish made the most of the opportunity. Jack Coan completed three passes of at least 14 yards to put the Irish in scoring range. Williams ran from the 20 but was stripped of the ball right before he was able to score. Fortunately, he was able to recover the ball in the end zone for the touchdown anyway, and a replay review confirmed such.
The Midshipmen were able to get into Irish territory on the game’s next drive but ultimately turned the ball over on downs. The Irish took advantage of another short field by mixing run and pass plays with little trouble. At one point, Logan Diggs ran for 23 yards to get into the red zone, and it became first-and-goal after a face-mask penalty. Diggs ran for an 8-yard touchdown two plays later.
With the game officially in garbage time and the clock winding down, the Midshipmen had one final drive to make things look closer than they were. Time ran out before any serious scoring threat emerged, but it was just as well. This game belonged to the Irish, which is typical for this rivalry. While it would be nice to have a little more parity to it, Irish fans probably aren’t complaining much.