Irish knocks off undefeated Navy 51-14

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ. -- Notre Dame advances to 7-1 after 51-14 win over Navy breaking the Midshipmen's undefeated record.

All three phases of the game allowed Notre Dame to leave the East Coast with a 37-point win.

Defensively, we knew Notre Dame would give Navy's third ranked scoring offense a run for their money and make the Midshipmen prove their worth in the top 25. The Irish recovered five fumbles, one for a touchdown, and an interception by freshman defensive back Leonard Moore.

Offensively is where the Irish may have surprised people. Although they've gradually been better, there's always a curiosity of what Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock will draw up outside of the run game.

Denbrock and quarterback Riley Leonard cooked up 466 yards of offense. Leonard threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 83 yards and one touchdown.

"It's hard to run a run a college offense these days and there are a lot of things going on. So, I think I'm still trying to figure out, like, whether we got it or not. I think, you know, having that little bit of fear of there's always more in the tank, you know, really helps us out and helps me out. So, yeah, it's been a work in progress, obviously, but I think we're getting better every week," Leonard said.

It's a big win for the Irish. Knocking off an undefeated Navy but that may not be the perspective of everyone on the outside looking in.

"I think that's for you all to tell us what type of win that was for us. Man, we achieved the outcome we wanted, right? That's boy to celebrate that locker room. There's always room to improve. And I'm not satisfied. Nobody's in that locker room satisfied. We're greedy. We want more. We want perfection," Head Coach Marcus Freeman added.