NFL Tickets
TV Schedule: Saturday, Oct. 10, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Stadium: Notre Dame Stadium
Line: Notre Dame (-14.5)
Here’s a bit of a history lesson for those of you who may not be a fan of either team. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy Midshipmen rivalry dates back to 1927. This Saturday, these two renew their on field acquaintances and will be wearing matching Under Armour base layers, socks, gloves and cleats for this game to pay homage to one another.
As nice as that is, there’s a game to be played, and the Irish will be looking to erase the disappointment of what happened a week earlier. Last week, they were picked to win by just about everybody with a respectable opinion. Then, the lights were turned on in Death Valley. They responded by doing everything they could to assist the Tigers to an easy win for the first two quarters. DeShone Kizer, at times, looked terrified but eventually settled down to lead the team back. After putting up three points in the first half, they gutted out 19 in the fourth quarter. They made a lot of mistakes you wouldn’t expect and experienced some difficulty holding onto the ball in key situations, but ultimately the Irish came within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime.
You learn more from losses than wins, though. This week, they return to the comfy confines of South Bend to face an undefeated Navy Midshipmen team responsible for four smack downs over the East Carolina Pirates, Connecticut Huskies, Air Force Falcons and a team that allows people to call them the Colgate Raiders. Notre Dame is their first real test, their only meeting against an opponent with NFL level talent, and, as a result, it will end up as their first loss of the season.
We all have seen the Midshipmen offense enough over the years to know what they intend to do. Their quarterback, Keenan Reynolds, and running back Chris Swain have combined for 849 yards on the ground and 13 touchdowns. Both average over five yards a carry, but Reynolds hasn’t been asked to air it out much, as you would expect, and has only completed 14 passes all season. That’s not going to get it done against a real team that wants to get the taste of last week out of their mouths, is no doubt angry and still has one of the most talented rosters in the country despite what was seen last week.
Notre Dame will play mistake-free football this week, feed off the energy at South Bend and bounce back with an impressive looking victory.
Prediction: Fighting Irish 27 , Midshipmen 13
Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for ACC Basketball and SEC Football for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
Share 
