Postgame - #13 Notre Dame vs Navy (Win 42-3)

[Baldy 1,251]

I’ll star this one off.

Offense: Sam Hartman looked like we all thought he would. Poised, and in control! He had a couple mistakes, but overall played great! Audric Estime is a beast, and I was very impressed with the rest of the running backs, especially Jadarian Price and Gi-Bran Payne. Jaden Greathouse is going to be a stud, but Tobias Merriweather is once again a disappointment. Like, he seems to not be able to handle the pressure!

Defense: Started out slow, but got it going later in the game. I was very pleased with Marist Liufau and how his tackling looked. JD Bertrand and Kiser did well, and I was very impressed with Rylie Mills focus! Jordan Botelho had some plays too, but this was not his style of game, so he didn’t play much. I was impressed with Jaden Mickey as well, and his nose for the ball.

Special Teams: Played okay. We knew it would be a step back after losing such an amazing coach in Brian Mason, but what worries me most is Spencer Shrader. The one field goal he had was a horrendous miss! Let’s hope that’s an abberation, and not the norm!

But hey, a great way to start the season with a 42-3 win! Go Irish!!! 🍀🏈

[AnTostal 766]

Loved seeing freshmen in early, in meaningful situations. 
Lots to choose from in the running backs room. 
Seemed like the secondary got caught looking the wrong way a few times. But it IS tough to know where the ball is in that offense. 
Hartman. ‘Nuff said. 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,720]

Statbook.

Still not typing much..... My postgame thought: 0 punts

https://fightingirish.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NDFB-2023-vs.-Navy-Full-Book.pdf

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[Baldy 1,251]

Still waiting for Marcus Freeman’s press conference to show up on YouTube.

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[4thand1 272]

Well done ND coaches and players!!  I could write 5 paragraphs about everything that I like. ND doesn't normally dominate Navy like that.  Having a Heisman level QB makes a huge difference. 

Negatives that I saw and I'm nitpicking, Merriweather looked lost and I would have preferred to get Angeli more time/passes.

At the end of the season ND will need to determine whether they will stick with the QBs on the roster for '24 or go to the portal again.  Only way to do that is to see Angeli and Minchey play a little.  Thinking the backups will get more time next week.  Just a slight counter to that.  I would like to see Hartman build his Heisman candidacy.  It will only help ND to have Hartman as a contender for the award.

[irishwavend 576]

That was like watching a spring game - boring, but in a good way.  Gotta make field goals in big games…love Freshmen making an impact for recruiting.

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[NDFBL19 91]

Spot on Baldy. And I’m with you Fairthful. We survived the off-season and we have ourselves a football team.

[Baldy 1,251]

https://x.com/petesampson_/status/1695613991794377146?s=46

 

[Hickory23 67]

I liked most all of what I saw and am exited to see the team build on this game. One thing that concerned me was the couple blown coverages we had. I know they were selling out for the run on the triple option which is tough to prepare for but need to tighten that up.  I think next week will be a better test for the secondary with a traditional offense.  Just my 2 pennies. GO IRISH!

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[Baldy 1,251]

 

[jessemoore97 1,291]

Happy with the win.  I don't think Navy will do well this season.  That being said we did what we needed/supposed to do against an inferior team, dominate.  Big difference from last season in that regard.  We played our game from start to finish.

Offensively, what a difference a QB makes.  Teams are not going to be able to load the box and sell out to stop our run.  Refreshing to see Hartman go through his reads, buy time but not panic scramble.  Our running game looks encouraging, and was happy to see everyone get touches.  I really like the quality depth we've built there behind Estime, we have some talent for the future for sure. 

We didn't target the TEs at all, not that we needed to.  Still curious to see what we got there, but they did good blocking in the run game.  The receivers impressed, they seemed to run good routes and the ball was there for them to make plays on.  Thomas is Mr. Reliable, Tyree looked good as slot, Greathouse is going to play a lot this year, Colbie had a good game also.  Merriweather was the disappointment so to speak.  I hope the light bulb goes off for him, otherwise he is going to be passed over.

OL dominated, as they should against a very undersized defense.  They did a really good job today against a blitzing D that has given us fits in previous years.  Credit to Coach Rudolph.

Defensively, good game.  A few blown coverages but I think that will get better against more traditional offenses.  The LBs played good, they were all over the field.  I hope that Luifau continues to improve, this was his best game I've seen.  I agree that I think the DL will look better against other offenses and pressuring the QB.  The six times Navy passed I think there was pressure from someone each time, which is good.

Special teams looked alright.  Tyree had he been able to keep his feet might have taken that PR to the EZ.   Got to make those FG attempts.  Hard to gage what we have here after the pivotal role ST played last season and Mason moving on.  Lastly I don't recall any injuries out there, which getting through Navy week is a boon.

[jimbo 377]

Great win. Hard to tell at this point if ND is that good, Navy that bad or a combination of those things. An excellent start to the season in any case.

I'm not so worried about the blown coverages since it looked like the D was committed to stopping the run and happy to risk some pass completions.

Meriweather will get his shots, I think Hartman will be spreading that ball around, which is great to see.

Would be great to get Angeli/Minchey some snaps, but OTOH Hartman needs the work with his new teammates also.

All in all, a great opening game to the season.

 

[Frankus 197]

15 hours ago, Baldy said:

I’ll star this one off.

but Tobias Merriweather is once again a disappointment. Like, he seems to not be able to handle the pressure!

 

I thought Merriwether dropping that ball early was a disappointment, but he was wide open on that post pattern and Hartman threw it late and not in stride. I’m sure Hartman would love to have that back. 
 

Nevertheless, I think Merriwether has the skills to be a dangerous deep threat and will make an impact going forward. Because of Hartman’s ability to see the field, no one receiver is going to be featured, but I suspect Merriwether will get his share of catches.