Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Author: Aryan Virani
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish kicked off the college football season by hosting the Navy Midshipmen in South Bend. Both of these teams squared off last year, with Notre Dame winning 35-32 after a 16 point 4th quarter comeback by Navy, which ultimately fell short.
Notre Dame, who’s now being led on offense by star transfer Sam Hartman, came out firing on all cylinders. A 13 play 81 yard drive led to the first touchdown of the season by Audric Estime, a returning junior looking to build off a solid sophomore season. After a 4th down stop by the Fighting Irish defense, Hartman and the offense hit the field firing again. A 19 yard run for jadarian price has the Irish up 14-0 early. More slow offense by Navy resulted in a punt which gave the ball to Notre Dame again. This gave Hartman the chance to make his first touchdown pass as an Irish, finding true freshman Jaden Greathouse for a 35 yard touchdown. The Navy offense finally put together a solid drive, getting into Notre Dame territory but missed a 37 yard field goal. This gave Hartman another chance to put Notre Dame on the board. All it took was a minute and 42 seconds, as Hartman found Jayden Thomas for a 14 yard touchdown to put the Fighting Irish up 28-0 going into the half.
Notre Dame stayed hot in the 2nd half. A navy opening drive punt gave the ball back to the Irish. Hartman found Freshman Jaden Greathouse again for a 20 yard score. The FIghting irish were fighting, and the Navy had no fight back. Hartman put the cherry on top in the 4th, finding Deion Colzie for a 25 yard touchdown. The Notre Dame defense really was dialed in today holding the Midshipmen to just 171 yards and 3 points. The Navy defense got torched for 444 yards, and 253 of those through the air. Hartman was the star of the show, completing 19 of 23 passes for 251 yards and 4 touchdowns. Audric Estime led the ground game with 16 carries, 95 yards, and a touchdown.
The Irish will have another what should be a breeze next week against Tennessee State. Sam Hartman started his heisman campaign off strong today, and will look to build on that next week with his new squad. Navy will look to bounce back against Wagner next week.