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Navy vs Notre Dame Betting Line and Analysis
11/7/09
This Notre Dame team had plenty of hype surrounding it coming into the
season. They had a very good team coming back led by their QB Jimmy Clausen, and
it was put up or shut up time for their Coach Charlie Weis. They had a very
favorable schedule, so the Notre Dame faithful had dreams of finding themselves
in the BCS Title game.
Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan with losses to Michigan and USC,
but they still are having a solid year. If they find get through this schedule
without another loss they will go into a BCS bowl game with a lot of momentum
for next year, but they have to make sure they don’t fall victim to a letdown
against Navy. It seems Navy has given Notre Dame trouble the last few years
losing 46-44 to them in 2007, and barely escaping another upset in 2008 winning
27-21. This is a very good Notre Dame team, but they need to take things one
game at a time, and not look ahead to their game against Pittsburgh.
PRIMETIME MATCHUP
This Navy football team runs the triple option offense much like Georgia Tech
does. Their offensive gameplan is to run 1st run 2nd run 3rd and mix a few pass
plays in here and there. Much like with Georgia Tech you would think teams could
figure out how to stop their run, but they keep putting up huge numbers on the
ground. Navy is ranked 3rd in the nation in rush offense averaging 280 yards per
game on the ground. Their QB Ricky Dobbs’s pass attempts rarely see double
digits per game, but he is very good at running this rushing attack.
Dobbs is a much bigger threat with his feet then his arm. He has rushed for
almost 600 yards on the year, and has an incredible 16 TDs rushing. Expect Navy
to try to shorten this game as much as possible with their clock control rushing
attack.
The Notre Dame defense is really going to need to step up and commit to doing
all it can to stopping this rushing attack. We all know Notre Dame’s offense can
put up points and in a hurry, but if Navy has success on the ground Notre Dame
will have a lot fewer plays on offense then they usually do because the
Midshipman will be controlling the clock and keeping that high flying offense on
the sidelines.
THE FINAL VERDICT
These two teams could not be any more different in what they do. Navy likes to
grind the ball and shorten games while Notre Dame likes to score early and often
through the air. Ohio State’s defense found out first hand just how dangerous
this Navy team can be. The Buckeyes narrowly avoided what would have been one of
the biggest upsets in school history beating Navy 31-27. Their opposing team’s
defenses know exactly what they are going to do, but this Navy team is so
disciplined in what they do that they continue to have success game after game.
If the Navy offense can wear down the Fighting Irish defense and keep their high
flying offense on the sidelines as much as possible, Navy will have a chance to
get their 2nd win in 3 yrs over Notre Dame if they execute and put points on the
board when they get the opportunity, but if this Notre Dame defense is able to
force them into a few three and outs early on in the game and this Notre Dame
offense led by QB Jimmy Clausen gets things going they will put the game out of
reach quickly. Navy has a very poor passing game, so if they get behind a couple
touchdowns early they will have a very hard time coming back.
**Note - Receiver Michael Floyd returns for Notre Dame this week
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