Bill Wagner, Navy football beat writer for Capital Gazette, did a question-and-answer exchange with Tim O’Malley, senior writer for Irish Illustrated.
Below are Wagner’s answers to questions posed by Irish Illustrated.
We know Blake Horvath, and that he makes the entire operation work. Where has he improved since last season, and who are the other top offensive weapons?
Horvath was pretty darn good last season, but yes he has been even better this season. At least that was the case up until the North Texas game when he was intercepted twice due to bad decisions.
Horvath has developed into a true dual threat with the ability to run and pass very effectively. He is going to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and passing for the second straight season. Horvath has done a tremendous job directing the offense in terms of reading defenses, making checks at the line of scrimmage and distributing the ball.
Navy has numerous weapons with the most notable being senior Eli Heidenreich, who is considered an NFL prospect. Heidenreich is primarily a slot receiver and leads the team with 31 catches for 575 yards and four touchdowns. Heidenreich is also a dangerous runner and is used on jet sweeps and pitchouts. Other key weapons are fullback Alex Tecza (523 rushing yards) and snipe Brandon Chatman (484 yards from scrimmage).
What did North Texas do defensively to limit this Navy offense to just 17 points?
It was mostly self-inflicted wounds. The Mids committed a fumble and Horvath threw an interception on two drives into the red zone. Several other drives were torpedoed by penalties. Navy also came up short in the red zone and had to settle for a field goal. The Midshipmen should have scored 30 points or more.
At Irish Illustrated we have repeatedly warned our readers that Navy’s self-inflicted wounds were, well, self-inflicted, last season. (Notre Dame had just two havoc plays defensively in a five fumble game!) Has Navy since protected the football vs. the better defenses it faced, and how did Brian Newberry address that odd Saturday in which Navy seemed to shrink from the big moment against ND — something we’re not used to seeing.
Turnovers have not really been a problem for Navy up until the North Texas game. However, pre-snap and holding penalties have been issues and caused drives to be short-circuited.
Yes, Newberry was disappointed that Navy was not ready for the national spotlight and put forth one of its worst performances of the season against Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium. It’s hard to say how Newberry addressed that issue because it happened again when Navy played Tulane with a berth in the American Conference championship game on the line.
At home on senior day, the Midshipmen played even worse than they did against the Irish in suffering a 35-0 shutout.
On a positive note, Navy did show up and play extremely well in all three phases in soundly beating archrival Army, 31-13 in the most important game of the season.
Is Ram Vela walking through that door? What about Wyatt Middleton? If not, who are the Navy defenders with the type of playmaking ability that Irish fans will easily conjure their names decades later? What does Navy’s defense do best?
Navy’s top playmakers on defense have been inside linebackers MarcAnthony Parker, outside linebacker Luke Pirris and nose guard Landon Robinson.
Parker leads the team in tackles as a sophomore and has been very instinctive. Pirris is second on the squad in tackles. Robinson has been a disruptive force and leads the team in tackles for loss. For an interior lineman to rank fourth in total tackles is impressive.
Two defenders that were not starters have really emerged of late. Coleman Cauley has taken over as the starter at one of the inside linebacker spots and has been very productive in the last two games. while outside linebacker Adam Klenk has been seeing more playing time and wreaking havoc in the backfield.
Up until the North Texas game, Navy had done a good job of stopping the run. For most of the season the pass defense has been the big problem. However, the rushing defense took a major step backward by giving up 311 yards on the ground to the Mean Green.
Navy has also done a pretty good job of playing bend but don’t break, getting red zone stops and forcing teams to settle for field goals.
Notre Dame is down three starting OL for the foreseeable future, though one has not played all season. They’re also out a DT who had a great game vs. Navy in 2023, a WR who scored two TDs in that game, and my guess is their starting nickel — whose skill set is ideally suited for Navy’s offense — was injured vs. Boston College. Does Navy have any notable injuries or anything new to overcome?
Navy’s front line players are healthy for the most part. One key player who has missed multiple games is tight end Cody Howard, who is an important part of the offense when available. He is an outstanding blocker and a real weapon in the passing game. Navy has been without starting wide receiver Luke Hutchison since the Rice game.
Navy takes the Irish into the fourth Quarter (and thus could win, unlike Boston College) if …
Navy needs to stop the run, first and foremost. Notre Dame has routinely run at will against Navy and if that happens it spells trouble. Also, the Midshipmen must win the turnover battle. They cannot afford to commit any turnovers and must force a couple.
Notre Dame puts another 40-spot on Navy as it has done so often if …
If Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and company are gouging Navy between the tackles it is going to be a long day. For most of this season, Navy has been outscoring opponents, so if Notre Dame plays lockdown defense and limits the visitors to 17 points as North Texas just did, it will likely be lopsided. Navy probably needs to score 31 points or more to win this game.
Below are O’Malley’s answers to questions posed by Capital Gazette.
Navy coach Brian Newberry thinks Notre Dame has the best tailback tandem in the country. What makes Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price such a lethal combination and what does each bring to the table? Are they similar in many ways or complement each other?
They’re similar in that both are top tier home-run hitters, perhaps the best (Love) and top-five in that regard in the country. The difference is that Love is a violent blocker, an outstanding weapon in the screen game, and a running back that has proven he can take a heavy game workload.
Price is exceptionally fast around the edge, runs through arm tackles at the secondary, and is nearly Love’s equal when shifting to third gear into the secondary. His only reception this season became a 35-yard touchdown.
However, he’s fumbled three times this season with each coming inside the opponent’s 5-yard line.
Covering this team for 18 years and watching it for 42, I offered last November that Love was “the best running back in Notre Dame history.” Most now agree. He is exceptional.
Notre Dame ranks 12th nationally in rushing defense, limiting opponents to 89.6 yards per game on the ground. That is very relevant in this game as Navy ranks No. 1 nationally in rushing offense with an average of 317.3 yards. Why are the Fighting Irish so stingy against the run and which players have been key to that? Notre Dame probably has not seen a team that runs the ball as well as Navy. Could the Midshipmen get anywhere near their season average in this game?
Notre Dame has one weakness versus the run this season: short-yardage conversions. That’s highly relevant Saturday night.
Otherwise, they’ve allowed just two runs in excess of 15 yards on the season! One came courtesy Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green who turned the corner (also relevant for Saturday), the other a 20-yard run to end the half (a non-entity).
They are gap-sound, the four linebackers are very good tacklers, and both corners and safeties will help with the run lead by cornerback Adon Shuler who was excellent against the Mids last season. Linebacker Jaylen Sneed, a mercurial talent, was the Irish Illustrated Player of the Game in that contest.
But Notre Dame has primarily played passing teams this season: Miami (balanced/led with the pass), A&M, Purdue, Arkansas, Boise State, USC and even BC all pass better than they run it. The Irish, though, held N.C. State running back Hollywood Smothers to 48 yards and he’s among the nation’s best.
Every member of the back seven defenders faced Navy last season while the front four has three out of the eight-man rotation, though another defensive tackle had two run stuffs versus Navy in Dublin.
Two of Notre Dame’s ascending defensive interior players — Jared Dawson (Louisville) and Elijah Hughes (USC) — are transfers and we didn’t get a chance to see them this week to inquire about any option experience.
Has the performance of redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Carr been a surprise? What is Carr doing so well in terms of operating the offense?
Not if you asked us anytime from April through July 31, but then our perceived training camp pseudo-competition with Carr and Kenny Minchey turned into a full-scale battle through Aug. 18 due, in large part we were told by second-hand sources, that Notre Dame’s red zone offense stunk with Carr. We saw almost NO practice this August.
Well…Notre Dame’s red zone offense started hot, and has stunk since.
Other than that, Carr has been fantastic. He’s a pro in the pocket already, is Notre Dame’s best deep ball passer since DeShone Kizer, and most accurate mid-range passer since Jimmy Clausen.
Like any rookie starter, the growth is not linear. He had a subpar game against USC, but Notre Dame ran wild, and is likely due for one more in November. Navy needs it to be Saturday.
Notre Dame has a new defensive coordinator. Is Chris Ash doing anything different in terms of alignments and schemes than predecessor Al Golden? It appears to have been a seamless transition. Ash has faced Navy before when he was DC at Ohio State. Has he talked about his past experience defending option type teams?
One major change from Golden to Ash is that Golden spoke to the media every week and Ash has done so once since the season began. As a result, we spoke with Marcus Freeman and defensive line coach Al Washington this week about defending the option and both were effusive in their praise, but most important, harkened back to their first time defending it.
Freeman endured a record-breaking 550-plus yard nightmare while at Cincinnati and Washington said ‘the option can bleed you — and we bled out.”
I suspect Freeman will be heavily involved in this week’s game plan. It’s worth noting — and I asked this of Freeman on Monday — that Bob Diaco, Brian VanGorder (no surprise), Mike Elko, Clark Lea and Al Golden each either lost to or struggled to stop Navy in their first season coordinating for the Irish. Freeman did not.
In terms of the change from Ash to Golden, it was exceptionally rough at first with Irish fans calling for Ash’s firing after losing to Miami and Texas A&M, but also after a shaky first half at home against Purdue in which they looked off-balance.
Most complaints leaking from inside the program traced back to paralysis by analysis. They’ve settled in since, playing fantastic defense for 11 consecutive halves of football after a rough first five.
It seems as though the Notre Dame faithful is very happy with head coach Marcus Freeman. With Brian Kelly getting fired at LSU, does the fan base think it is better off with Freeman than it was with Kelly?
It would be impossible for me to answer this question and fully convey the cavernous gulf that represents the difference. Yep, I still fell short.
Notre Dame has won seven straight meetings with Navy and by a wide margin in five of those games. Is there any way this Fighting Irish squad could lose to the Midshipmen?
I’d be surprised, in small part because they had a relative stinker last week in Boston, but also because I know they’ve been prepping for Navy for not only two weeks (bye week and part of Boston College week), but often during spring sessions and August training camp for at least a segment or two with show/scout teams.
Brian Kelly even recruited preferred walk-ons who were successful triple-option quarterbacks in high school. (There’s one left: current tight end Justin Fisher.)
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.
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