Full speed ahead for Irish scout team
Former Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis gave the alums plenty of reasons to call for his job after last season. But if a closing argument had been needed to fire him, Navy's two wins over the Irish in the past three seasons, ending a 43-year drought, probably were enough to drive out Weis.
Of all the things successor Brian Kelly has done differently at Notre Dame (4-3) than Weis, one of the most interesting involves his preparation for Saturday's 84th meeting with Navy (4-2) at noon at New Meadowlands Stadium.
Mindful of the difficulty of preparing for the Midshipmen's triple-option running game in the age of the pass-oriented spread offense, Kelly had his scout team come early to practice for five weeks to work on Navy's plays so it could provide a good picture in practice this week.
"I can't stress how important it is to get the scout team to demonstrate it," Kelly said this week. "I think our defensive players will tell you they're getting a look they haven't seen in the past."
Navy's offense emphasizes cut-blocking at the line of scrimmage, which is a technique defensive linemen hate and which is illegal beyond the line of scrimmage.
"It's always a point of contention as to whether it's legal or not," Kelly said. "I'm not a big fan of it. We are cutting in practice. There's no way to prepare for it without cutting."
Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs runs the show, but running backs Vince Murray (5.2 per carry) and Gee Gee Greene (7.4) are the most dangerous components in an attack that is averaging 259.0 rushing yards per game. Navy averages only 109.5 yards passing, and Dobbs has thrown just 78 times in six games, completing half.
Contrast that with Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist, who has completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 265.0 yards per game, 14 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Top three receivers Michael Floyd (hamstring), Theo Riddick (foot) and tight end Kyle Rudolph (hamstring) are nursing injuries, but Floyd and Rudolph have been making progress. The Irish also can run with backs Armando Allen and Cierre Wood.
This Navy team isn't quite as strong as it was the previous three seasons, having lost to Air Force and Maryland, but coach Ken Niumatalolo's crew comes in with a boatload of confidence based on their experience beating the Irish, 46-44, in overtime in 2007 and 23-21 last season in South Bend.
As senior cornerback Kevin Edwards said: "Nobody ever expects Navy to beat Notre Dame. It was just as big a surprise to people last year as it was [in 2007]. What's changed is that within our team, we know we can do it because we have."
