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Navy vs Notre Dame Football Picks & Odds

Written by Steve Janus

The 5-4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish square off this week against the 6-3 Nay Midshipmen in their yearly rivalry game. Notre Dame has lost two games in a row, but can gain bowl eligibility with a win over Navy. Navy already has the 6 wins needed to qualify for a bowl game. In a fierce rivalry like this, there’s no such thing as an easy win. Notre Dame is currently a 3.5 point favorite over Navy and the total is 52.5 points.

Notre Dame has seen modest success on offense this season, but 24.3 points per game and 375 yards of total offense isn’t exactly going to strike fear into any defenses. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is the go-to in the offense, which relies primarily on the pass to move the ball. The air attack is accounting for about 260 of their 375 total yards per game. The running game is no real threat, but Clausen has a pair of good receivers to choose between in Michael Floyd and the aptly named Golden Tate.

There have been some major improvements for the Irish on the defensive side of the ball this season. They are allowing just 20.4 points per game on 324 yards of total offense. They’ve been opportunistic in their 9 games, nabbing 17 turnovers. The Irish were especially good against the pass last week giving up only 79 yards, but they did give up 157 yards on the ground in a losing effort and will face a very run-heavy offense this week against Navy. Notre Dame is a 3.5 point favorite on the road.

Navy is one of the few teams that still sticks with the option offense, but they run it extremely well. So far they are averaging over 300 rushing yards per game and gaining nearly 5.5 yards per attempt, which has earned them just under 30 points per game. The Midshipmen have some injuries to worry about including a hamstring injury to starting Quarterback Kaip-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, but he has been injured often this year and back-ups Jarod Bryant and Ricky Dobbs have filled in just fine.

On the defensive side of the ball, Navy hasn’t been all that impressive. They are giving up 25.6 points per game and 373 total yards per game, 256 of which come through the air. It’s a good thing they’ve been able to earn 20 takeaways to help the offense get a few more opportunities to score. It will be interesting to see how the defense matches up to the Irish passing offense. They will need to get pressure on Clausen and force him into making mistakes, which he has a tendency to do. For example, Clausen threw 4 interceptions last week, one of the main reasons the Irish were shut out last week. Navy is an underdog of 3.5 points this weekend.

It will be an interesting match up with both offenses playing against their opponent’s defensive weakness. Navy obviously has a huge advantage playing at home, but Notre Dame has plenty to play for with their chance at a bowl game on the line. This rivalry should live up to all the hype, these are two evenly matched teams.

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