Notre Dame starts slow before rolling past Navy

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.— CJ Carr passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and Nolan James Jr. added TD runs of 52 and 23 yards to help No. 5 Notre Dame pull away for its ninth straight victory over Navy 35-13 Saturday.

James finished with nine carries for 107 yards. Jonaz Walton added a 3-yard touchdown run, and Jerome Bettis Jr. had a 31-yard TD catch for the Fighting Irish (7-1), who successfully bounced back after their road loss at BYU two weeks ago.

“We continue to try to come in with the mindset of one play at a time and try to be at our best when our best is needed,” Carr said.

Notre Dame finished with 426 yards, its fifth time amassing 400-plus yards this season. Navy was held to 56 total yards in the second half.

Quarterback Jackson Gutierrez rushed 28 times for 110 yards for the Midshipmen (2-6), who haven’t won a game in the long-running series since 2016.

Leading 14-13 at halftime, Notre Dame scored on each of its first three possessions of the second half to take control.

"I kept saying, ‘Stop panicking. Don’t come up with magical calls that our guys don't know how to execute,'" said Marcus Freeman, who won his 50th game as Irish coach (50-13). “So, I think the ability to get them to calm down and see what they're getting attacked with helped them in the second half.”

It was the second straight loss for Navy in neutral site games played at Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots. The Midshipmen also lost to Army in Foxborough in their 2023 meeting.

Notre Dame’s defense came in allowing only 67.3 yards per game on the ground. Gutierrez surpassed that in the second quarter.

It helped the Midshipmen, who entered as 29.5-point underdogs, both to eat up the clock and keep the ball out of the Notre Dame offense’s hands. The Irish had only three possessions in the half, holding the ball for a scant 6:27.

But after Navy took a 13-7 lead on Gutierrez’s 2-yard TD run with 1:52 to play in the first half, the Irish needed only 50 seconds to jump back in front via James‘ 52-yard touchdown run.

The Irish had the ball first in the third quarter and moved quickly, increasing their edge to 21-13 after Walton punctuated a 78-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run. Following a Navy punt, James’ second touchdown pushed the lead 28-13.

The Takeaway

It took a while for the Irish’s defense to handle the nuances of Navy’s multifaceted, hybrid option-spread attack coming off their bye last week. But it could also serve as a needed jolt for a unit that will need to be at its best with next week’s matchup against top-ranked Miami looming.

Home sweet home

Carr spent Notre Dame's bye last week at home in his native Michigan. It gave him a chance to watch his younger brother, Tommy Carr, play in the Wolverines' home loss to Indiana. But it also helped CJ reset mentally, he said.

“It was good for our whole team to go home and relax a little bit," Carr said.

Up next

Notre Dame: Hosts No. 1 ranked Miami next Saturday.

Navy: Hosts Temple next Saturday.