SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The No. 8/8/10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1) put on a defensive clinic on Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium in a 34-6 win over the Navy Midshipmen.
The Irish held Navy to just 184 total yards, 168 on the ground and 18 in the air. Defensive lineman Kurt Hinish turned in the performance of his career, recording his first double-digit tackle performance of his career with 10 on the day, including a sack and two tackles for loss.
Jack Coan had an ultra-efficient day passing, connecting on 23-of-29 attempts for 269 yards and a touchdown. Kevin Austin was on the receiving end of six of the passes, racking up 139 yards and a touchdown.
Kyren Williams put another impressive performance on the ground, carrying the ball 17 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Williams also played a role in the passing game, catching all seven of his targets for 36 yards.
The Midshipmen scored first with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. Navy converted a fourth and one from their own 41and moved into Irish territory as Jayden Umbarger took an end around 32 yards into Irish territory. After another fourth down conversion, back-to-back sacks from Kurt Hinish and Jordan Botelho pushed the ball back to the 29 before Navy settled for a 51-yard field goal to go up 3-0.
The Irish tied the game up two possessions later, using an 11-play 74-yard to get on the board with a 24-yard field goal by Jonathan Doerer. Michael Mayer moved the Irish into Navy territory as his 14-yard reception converted a third-and-five early in the series. On the next play, Jack Coan found Kevin Austin for 38 yards to move the Irish to the Navy 11. Coan finished the series 7-for-8 and the game was knotted at three.
Notre Dame took the lead on its next possession, moving 66-yards in 11-plays. 34-yards came on the ground and a key 15-yard personal foul moved the ball down to the Navy 15. On third and seven from the Navy 12, Tyler Buchner found Austin on a slant for 11-yards to convert. Kyren Williams scored his eighth touchdown of the season from a yard out on the next play as the Irish took a 10-3 lead with 2:46 remaining in the first half.
The Irish defense got the ball back, forcing a quick three-and-out. After a 75-yard punt, Notre Dame took over at its own five with 1:50 left in the half. After a pair of rushing first downs from Williams, Coan found Austin down the sideline for the longest pass play of the season. The 70-yard touchdown pass is the longest of Austin’s career as it extended the Irish lead to 17-3 on a drive that took 60 seconds off the clock.
The Midshipmen received the second half kickoff and marched 71-yards in nearly 10 minutes. The Irish defense held strong inside the five-yard line, holding Navy to a 21-yard field goal attempt as Bijan Nicholas hit his second of the evening to cut the lead to 17-6, in favor of the Irish with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter.
After exchanging punts, Notre Dame’s Jay Bramblett pinned the Midshipmen down at the one on a 49-yard boot. Two plays later, Navy’s Xavier Arline fumbled the ball in the endzone and jumped on top of it as the Notre Dame defense recorded its first safety since the 2017 season to extend the lead to 19-6 with 13:20 remaining.
Williams capped a 7-play 54-yard drive with another highlight reel run as he broke several tackles on his way to scoring his second touchdown of the day. The 20-yard run extended the lead to 27-6 in favor of the Irish as Coan found Braden Lenzy for the 2-point conversion.
Notre Dame’s defense then forced a turnover on downs at midfield on the next drive, setting up another Irish touchdown. Notre Dame put together a seven-play, 53-yard drive, capped off by an eight-yard rushing touchdown from Logan Diggs to give Notre Dame the 34-6 win.
The Irish hit the road next week as they head to Charlottesville for a primetime matchup with the Virginia Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 13. The game will air on ABC.
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