FAIL. There is no other way to describe it. I generally tend to be a glass half full kind of guy with respect to Notre Dame football but even I am unable to say anything positive about what transpired at New Meadowlands Stadium this afternoon.
This one lacked the drama and slew of "could have/ should have" points that the last two losses to the Mids possessed. This one was just a beat down.
A few thoughts...
You have to be able to line up and get one yard. The failure to convert 4th and 1 on the goal line to start the game was foreboding.
The defense lined up in a straight 5-2 and appeared to give the ILB's B gap responsibility from 7 yards off the LOS. The results were disastrous. In the end the Irish conceded 210 yards of rushing to Navy FB Alexander Teich. That was the one thing the Irish D absolutely had to stop. I try to avoid "armchair QB" type observations but I don't get that one.
Dayne Crist had a very rough day. Not a good sign in the 8th game of the season. Needless to say, I'm concerned.
Ian Williams is probably the one player that the defense can least afford to lose. His injury looked bad and I will be pleasantly surprised if we ever see him play another game at ND. Again, not good.
I could go on for quite a while about all of the things in the game that just weren't good. I will avoid the diatribe and wrap it up by mentioning the one thing that bothered me the most today. Notre Dame simply didn't show up. No fire, no competitiveness, no spark, no nothing. The team just looked flat as all hell. I find that more disturbing than anything else.
Thoughts?