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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 havent 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 dont 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 Dobbss 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 Dames 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 Scoreearly and often through the air. Ohio States 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 teams 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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