It was supposed to be demanding. It was supposed to be difficult.
Saturday at MetLife Stadium was supposed to present plenty of issues for No. 11 Notre Dame, except for what it turned out to be in the swamps of New Jersey.
Dominant.
In the shadows of the city that never sleeps, Notre Dame put No. 24 Navy to sleep rather easily and efficiently. The Irish ran their win streak to six in a row and carry a look and a feel of a team on the verge of climbing back from oblivion and into the top 10 national rankings following a 51-14 victory.
Navy entered undefeated and untested, but this wasn’t Bucknell. This wasn’t Temple. Or Memphis. Or any other colleague that Navy has seen or will see in the American Athletic Conference. Notre Dame was at another level Saturday, one that Navy couldn’t match.
Bigger. Faster. Stronger. Better.
Noon starts are tricky, especially in the big city for a team from a small one. Notre Dame handled its business not like a businessperson who spent too many of the early-morning hours the night before across the river in a Times Square gin mill, but in the hotel making sure everything about the next day’s presentation was right. And tight.
The Irish returned to their usual road look — white jerseys, gold pants — and continued to methodically wear down the opposition. Lean on them. Push them around. They still left plenty of plays (and points) out there, but that’s been this team’s M.O., this season.
ABC sideline reporter Molly McGrath reported during the first half that Irish coach Marcus Freeman still shows video clips to his team before every game of the Northern Illinois loss. To remind them what that feeling that day felt was like. To remind them that they don’t want to feel that again.
Keep reminding them what happened that day back at Notre Dame Stadium against Northern Illinois. Whatever emotions it seems to stir inside Notre Dame, it’s worked. The Irish have outscored their last three opponents — Stanford, Georgia Tech, Navy — by a combined 131-34.
Since the Louisville game, Notre Dame rarely has been threatened. Seriously threatened. Wait, check that. There has been a threat the last three games. That would be one for severe weather at the start of the fourth quarter against Stanford. The weather threat, it turns out, turned out to be much more like the last three opponents. Not much.
One more month of that coming back out of the season’s second bye week, and the Irish will be in a good spot, one that few thought possible after that, cough, cough, September head-scratcher.
This one never was in doubt after Notre Dame led 31-7 at half. It never got as goofy as the second half of the 2022 Navy game in Baltimore. Creating six turnovers as the Irish did will do that. So will being the better team.
A run game that sputtered early saw one writer (this one) opine in his notebook that the traditional ground game — giving the ball to Jeremiyah Love and/or Jadarian Price — had gotten off to a “clunky” start.
Clunky being seven carries for 23 yards for two guys who can be gamebreakers.
Clunky turned spunky.
One play after scribbling that thought, Love broke through the right side, cut it wide and raced a career-high 64 yards for a touchdown that made it 21-7. That was more like it for that Irish offense.
More Riley Leonard, please. More of tight end Mitchell Evans, please. More of wideout Jordan Faison, the Sun Bowl most valuable player who Notre Dame seemed bent on getting the ball to more Saturday than at any time this season. See what a finally healthy ankle can do for Faison (three catches Saturday after four all season), and what he can do for an Irish offense?
This one went sideways so quickly that you could’ve gone full-on apple picking or leaf blowing or nap taking by intermission. Late in the third quarter, the ABC television crew was dusting off the story of why Navy and Notre Dame play each season. Sigh.
It was that kind of afternoon. By the time we got to the fourth quarter, you wished for a running clock for the third straight game.
It also was the third consecutive sweat-free/stress-free Saturday for Notre Dame. Feels good, doesn’t it?
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI
