The Irish came out of the annual Navy game with a decisive 49-10 win over the Midshipmen.
Let’s see what we can pull out of the data tables, heading into Week 12 of the 2025-26 season and the College Football
Playoff Committee’s second round of rankings.
Scoring Context
The differential for the Navy game was +39 and Notre Dame got back to early season form in terms of the points they put up. The team hit season highs of 56 against Purdue/Arkansas and their 49 points against Navy puts the game as the second most prolific so far. And the defense provided another standout performance, holding the Midshipmen to 10 points.
Total Offensive Context
Notre Dame is averaging 463 yards of offense per game through Week 11. They obtained above average output with 502 yards recorded against Navy and overall efficiency of 8.8. yards per play. This year’s offense has not shown any major deficiencies but their production and efficiency are definitely headed in the right direction going into the home stretch.
Passing Context
As a unit, the Irish completed 16 of 19 pass attempts for an incredibly impressive 84% completion rate. It’s the second most accurate outing so far this season, trailing behind the 85% (17-20) performance against Purdue. The Irish’s overall passing yard stat against Navy was 253, compared with the 293-yard season average.
CJ Carr went 13 of 16 for 218 of those yards and Kenny Minchey was 3 for 3 and 35 yards.
Receivers
It was another big game for wide receivers Malachi Fields and Jordan Faison. Fields finished the Navy game with four receptions for 97 yards and an average of 24 yards per catch. Faison pulled down four catches as well for 27 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore receiver KK Smith had one of his biggest career performances. He walked away with two catches for 39 yards. One of those catches was a third quarter, 34-yard touchdown pass from CJ Carr that put the Irish up 35-10. Junior tight end Ty Washington recorded one catch and one touchdown.
Rushing Context
The Notre Dame rushing stable finished the Navy game with 38 attempts for 249 yards. The team is averaging 194 yards per game on the ground through Week 11 and this performance set them well above that mark. The Navy stat has only been surpassed by the USC game (306 rushing yards) and the Purdue game (254 rushing yards). Overall efficiency was 6.6 yards earned per attempt.
Rushers
Jeremiyah Love tallied up 94 yards on 13 carries against the Midshipmen. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry and finished with two of the team’s four touchdowns. Aneyas Williams put up some of his best stats during the 2025-26 season. Williams recorded 72 yards on five carries and one rushing touchdown. Jadarian Price played another pivotal role in the Irish’s rushing attack. He finished Week 11 with ten carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Defense (Passing Context)
Notre Dame’s defense showed basically no struggles against Navy’s hybrid offense, from a stats perspective. The Midshipmen threw 10 times against the Irish and only completed three of those attempts. That translated into only 22 overall passing yards and a QBR of 48.5.
Defense (Rushing Context)
First off, you can’t really compare defensive stats from this game to any other when it comes to rushing. The Irish defense allowed a season high of 206 yards on the ground by the Midshipmen. But through Week 11, the team is only allowing an average of 104 rushing yards per game. And despite the spike in overall production this weekend, Notre Dame’s defense held Navy to 4.6 yards earned per carry.
Defense (Impactful)
It was a more modest game for the defense in terms of impact plays. Collectively, they finished the Navy game with two sacks, five tackles for loss and three pass deflections. Sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry was responsible for one of those sacks and two of the tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka recorded one sack and one tackle for loss. Fellow linemen Jordan Botelho and Armel Mukam finished the game with 0.5 tackles for loss a-piece.
Final Thoughts
Depth is one of my big takeaways from this game. We knew that the team lacked some experience, not necessarily depth, heading into the season but I think that any concerns about that have been alleviated. Sure, Navy isn’t a Playoff contender, but it’s reassuring to see the Irish’s starters and backups being able to perform at high-levels under the lights. And as we learned with the first iteration of the 12-team CFP last season, this is a war of attrition and Notre Dame seems to be pacing themselves just about right.
