For the second time in a month, a service academy was eliminated from the unbeaten ranks on Saturday night as No. 6 Notre Dame defeated No. 19 Army 49-14, led by three touchdowns from Jeremiyah Love, and extended their winning run to nine games.
The Black Knights (9-1) and Irish (10-1) faced off as ranked opponents for the first time since 1958 in the historic Shamrock Series game at Yankee Stadium. In the 1940s, the nation was enthralled with the regular Notre Dame vs. Army matchups at Yankee Stadium. Although it was not a classic, this one brought a sellout audience to the Bronx.
With three touchdowns in tonight’s game, Jeremiyah Love was crucial to the victory.
“This victory is identical to all previous victories,” Love remarked.
Adon Shuler emphasized the value of doing away with penalties and the benefits to Notre Dame of lowering errors.
“We eliminate the penalties and I don’t think any team can score on us,” said Shuler.
In his postgame comments, Army coach Jeff Monken was open about the outcome of the match.
Regarding Notre Dame, Monken remarked, “They are really athletic and well coached,” “We were outclassed by them.”
If Army was going to have a shot against Notre Dame, Daily had to carry the heaviest weight. And defensive coordinator Al Golden gave the Black Knights quarterback little chance, as the Irish loaded up at the line of scrimmage and pounded Daily for all four quarters.
The fact that Army failed to convert on the first three and called Daily runs four times on fourth down is more instructive. The fourth came with only thirty-two seconds left in the game, but it was a good one. For the Black Knights, who finished second in the country in fourth down conversions (16 of 19), that is a disaster. Without successful short-yardage plays and a reliable quarterback, Army cannot win. In Yankee Stadium, it received neither.
Army allowed Golden to play bully ball by filling the box, in contrast to the Navy game last month when Notre Dame played base defense against the Mids’ reinvented option system. Notre Dame spent a large portion of the game using eight-man and nine-man boxes since Army was not a threat in the pass game. The Irish frequently used walked-up linebackers outside of the defensive ends or five defensive linemen on the field at once. The Army’s offensive line was unable to clear the congested run lanes caused by that approach. Daily was then forced to endure hit after hit.
Notre Dame probably didn’t need to win with much style against Army after losses by Indiana and Ole Miss earlier in the day softened up the field of at-large hopefuls. The Irish did so anyway, all but locking up a first-round home game if they can handle USC next weekend in Los Angeles.
The Irish quickly and effectively defeated Jeff Monken’s team. Notre Dame had a 258-85 lead over Army at the half. Compared to the Black Knights, the Irish had 13 plays of ten yards or more, and that one significant play resulted in a Daily lost fumble. Shortly after kickoff, Love eliminated any last doubt from a game that had little of it by going 68 yards for a score on the first play of the second half.
The Irish have outscored opponents by a total score of 392-92 during its nine-game winning streak. In each of the last six games, Notre Dame has used up its bench. Will the selection committee for the College Football Playoffs be aware?
The defeats by Ole Miss and Indiana on Saturday cannot be ignored, but it’s unclear how Notre Dame now stacks up against Penn State. They’re both one-loss teams. The Nittany Lions’ triumph over USC in OT stands as their best victory. Penn State defeated Minnesota by a single point on Saturday. The differential between the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds might mean the difference between drawing the ACC winner in the quarterfinals and the SEC champion in the same round, even though both Notre Dame and Penn State would now be ticketed for home games in the CFP.
