Notre Dame Football: What You Need To Know About The Navy Midshipmen

The college football season is rapidly approaching and we are just getting more and more impatient. So much so, that things slip through the cracks (this preview series for opponents of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, for example).

Instead of filling your head with too much information, we offer you these choice nuggets to contemplate. If you need an in-depth preview of the Navy Midshipmen, please check out Bill Connelly’s excellent work.

Navy

After a decade of having a Navy football team that isn’t just dangerous, but damn good, the country is finally coming around to the legitimacy of the Midshipmen program. YOU play them... and then tell me how easy that was.

5 Things You Need To Know

1. Navy’s version of “Tim Tebow East Coast” (Will Worth) is gone. Enter Zach Abey. Abey is a junior that saw action in Navy’s last two games last year after Will Worth went down with an injury. Is there room for another Navy QB hero at Notre Dame Stadium? Oh god....
2. FULLBACK IN THE HOUSE. Of course the Middies have a solid fullback. Chris High returns and will see a majority of the time at fullback if he can stay healthy. As with most years, stopping this man will be key.
3. We TOOK OUT Navy’s lead tackler from the game last year. New Irish safety Alohi Gilman let the charge against the Irish for the Middies. Brilliance to take that factor out by offering a safe haven in South Bend. That’s old school.
4. Not that anyone is going to forget, but this game is on Senior Day and it will be the game that the Irish wear the Rockne Heritage uniforms. No pressure.
5. The Army Black Knight beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons last year in Winston-Salem, 21-13. That was a Mike Elko defense. Just food for thought.

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Worst Case Scenario

With Navy, it’s not hard to imagine something awful. The Irish have lost 4 times to Navy in the past 10 years, and each time it was something different, and yet, it was the same thing. Navy wanted it more. Navy wants it more on Notre Dame’s Senior Day... that’s just awful.

Best Case Scenario

The Irish have had enough of the bullshit and lay a beating on Navy not seen since 2012. With brutal precision, the Irish offense scores quickly and often by any means necessary, and the Notre Dame defense bottles up the Navy option attack.

Early Prediction

Notre Dame 44, Navy 27. A few turnovers makes a world of difference, and the Irish could blow this out of the water in the second half. The ghosts of Senior Day’s past stay quiet in their graves.