Comparing Notre Dame and Navy

The Fighting Irish will play the U.S. Naval Academy this next Saturday. With Notre Dame off to a stumbling start, everybody is anxious for a win, especially since the game will be played at home in South Bend before a sold-out Notre Dame Stadium. But how likely is it that the Irish will win? What advantages do they have over the Navy Midshipmen? In what areas will they have to succeed in order to counter Navy’s strengths? Well, you can look at a tool that FoxSports.com has to determine the specific places where the Irish are better, and the areas where Navy is better.

Looking at the breakdowns, we can see that Navy clearly has many advantages, statistically speaking, on offense. In fact, Navy is the number one team in the whole United States when it comes to running the ball. They average a whomping 342.9 yards rushing every game. The next closest would be West Virginia, which only averages 297.9 yards per game. The Irish run defense has been giving up close to 200 yards per game, so that is an area that needs focus. When you run the football like Navy, you don’t rely on the pass much, and that’s why the Irish are superior in that respect. Another place to look for Irish advantage is if you compare the two teams’ defenses. Notre Dame is statistically superior in every category except rushing yards per game and carries per game.

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Posted in General on October 30, 2007

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