FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Notre Dame spent its bye last week recovering from the sting of losing its first game of the season to then-No. 8 BYU in controversial fashion.
After slipping to No. 5 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Fighting Irish (6-1) are hoping to get back on track Saturday when they continue their long-running series with Navy (2-5) in a neutral site matchup at Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL's New England Patriots.
Notre Dame
has won eight consecutive games in the series, with Navy’s last win coming in 2016.
Irish coach Marcus Freeman said this week isn't simply about turning the page about what went wrong in Utah.
“It was important that we had to own our mistakes, our shortcomings, own our performance, and not just move on,” Freeman said. “I reminded our guys, sometimes you’ve got to lose to win. There are lessons in losing that if you learn from them, it’ll help you be better prepared for the next opportunity that presents itself.”
It's why the Irish aren't at all looking past a Midshipmen team that has struggled, but presents a difficult option-spread style that can be difficult for those who haven't seen it. Navy comes in ranked third in the nation in rushing, averaging 307.7 yards per game.
“I’m just making sure all the younger guys are ready, making sure all the older guys are on their stuff,” fifth-year linebacker Jaylen Sneed said. “It’s about eyes alignment and technique. That’s a big thing that we focus on for Navy."
After posting seasons of 11 and 10 wins under fourth-year coach Brian Newberry, Navy is coming off back-to-back American Conference losses to Texas-San Antonio and North Texas.
In last week's setback to the Mean Green, the Midshipmen yielded four scores of 50-plus yards, including a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 63-yard fumble return for another score.
Newberry said Navy's current losing streak to the Irish isn't a topic that would be brought up much this week.
“You hate to put that kind of pressure on our guys,” Newberry said. “The message that I’m going to give to our team (this week) is, let’s go try to win one play at a time. Each play is a life of its own and let’s go try to win that play, then move on to the next. ... We’re going to have to play extremely well and hopefully catch some breaks and the ball bounces our way a couple of times.”
The last time the Midshipmen beat a ranked Fighting Irish team was on Nov. 7, 2009, when they defeated 19th-ranked Notre Dame 23-21 in South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame’s defense took a big hit early when Fighting Irish sack leader Boubacar Traore was ejected for targeting five plays into the BYU game, which ended up being a 28-24 loss for Notre Dame.
“Boubacar is a playmaker,” Freeman said of the 6-foot-5, 253-pound senior who is getting plenty of attention from NFL scouts. “Losing him ... I told him I think he’s worth seven points at least. Him not being on the field, it hurts our team. And in my mind, like if he’s on the field, there’s at least one less touchdown being scored.”
Freeman said the lesson of losing playing time has been learned.
“There’s no need to yell and scream at him,” Freeman said. “It’s, ‘Hey Boubacar, do you ever want to sit out another game like that?’ ‘No.’ Let’s make sure we learn from that play. Hit him in the strike zone, and that’s the greatest thing about pulling playing time is that he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he doesn’t miss another play.”
Sneed said he was haunted by his 3.6 missed tackle rate from the 2025 season.
“That was my biggest thing coming into the season,” Sneed said. “I’ve gotten a couple of NFL draft grades back, and that was probably one of the biggest things that I saw on there, like, ‘he misses too many tackles.’
“That just hit me somewhere in my heart, because I’m a linebacker at the end of the day. I worked on getting better. I worked on my with my trainer at home on how to tackle in space. This year I just want to show the world that I can do it.”
Sneed made seven tackles at BYU and has 28 for the season (second on the team). He has 135 career tackles.
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AP freelancer Curt Rallo in South Bend, Indiana, contributed to this report.
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