One of the more storied rivalry games in college football was forced to take a hiatus last season, but this year No. 10 Notre Dame renews that historic rivalry with Navy in South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday. The two schools had the college football record for longest intersectional rivalry with 93 consecutive meetings, but the scheduling adjustments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced a year off. The Fighting Irish hold a 79-13-1 advantage heading into Saturday afternoon's game, with head coach Brian Kelly holding an 8-2 record against the Midshipmen.
The Fighting Irish were named the No. 10 team in the country by the College Football Playoff selection committee in its first rankings, and maintaining their status as one of the top one-loss teams in the country now becomes a weekly storyline for the team as long as it continues to win.
Notre Dame's one loss of the season, to No. 6 Cincinnati, certainly counts for quality. At the moment, however, there's also one win on the schedule against another team in the selection committee's top 25. As long as that's the case, the best path to the playoff is to continue to stack wins and finish the year 11-1. Depending on what happens elsewhere, that could be good enough to land in the top four.
Notre Dame vs. Navy: Need to know
Kyren Williams is having a midseason breakout: Some changes to the offense, including an up-tempo approach, have helped springboard Williams back into the spotlight as the featured player on this Notre Dame The 2020 Offensive Freshman of the Year in the ACC had a 91-yard touchdown run against North Carolina as part of a career day with 261 all-purpose yards. That's the most by a Notre Dame player since Golden Tate in 2009. This performance came on the heels of rushing for 138 yards against USC, his previous season high.
Notre Dame's defense is no stranger option attack: While Brian Kelly is 8-2 overall against Navy, he has only lost in this rivalry once since 2011. Following the 2016 season, which included a Navy loss, Kelly hired Mike Elko to begin the construction of the modern Fighting Irish offense. Elko was hired away by Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M and his replacement, Clark Lea, left to be the head coach at Vanderbilt. Now, first-year DC Marcus Freeman is adding his layer to a strong foundation, and his roster has the blueprint for how to limit Navy's option attack.
Navy coming off unique and much-needed win: Navy beat Tulsa 20-17 last week on Friday night without completing a pass (0-for-4), marking the seventh time under Ken Niumatalolo that has occurred. The Midshipmen are 6-1 in those seven games without a pass completion, so it's not a mark of the team struggling as much as the ground game finding enough success to stay on schedule. Building on those gains is going to be the key for a Navy team that has beaten UCF and hung within a score of Cincinnati, Houston and SMU.
How to watch Notre Dame vs. Navy live
Date: Saturday, Nov. 6 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Notre Dame Stadium -- South Bend, Indiana
TV: NBC | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
Notre Dame vs. Navy prediction, picks
The basic function of the Navy offensive attack will limit the number of possessions of the game, and not even Notre Dame's new up-tempo attack will be able to overcome that impact on the scoring in this game. With Navy showing some improvement in October, there has to be assumption that the underdogs can keep it close early. If we get to garbage time, I think Notre Dame is more motivated to get out of the game healthy than run up the score. Prediction: Navy (+21)
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