Turnovers Costly as Notre Dame Rolls Past Navy, 51-14

East Rutherford, NJ — At MetLife Stadium on Saturday, the Navy Midshipmen’s hopes for a marquee win were crushed by a series of costly turnovers, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish capitalized on six Navy miscues en route to a dominant 51-14 victory. Despite Navy’s strong start to the season, their seven fumbles—five of which were lost—and one interception proved too much to overcome against a talented Notre Dame squad that executed on both sides of the ball.

“Obviously, really disappointed with the outcome,” said Navy head coach Brian Newberry. “We were really excited about this one, and our kids believed that we could win. You know, I did too. Having said that, I knew that we were gonna have to play extremely well. We were gonna have to be at our best in all three phases, and we obviously were not today.”

Notre Dame (7-1) wasted no time taking control. On their opening drive, quarterback Riley Leonard engineered a 75-yard march downfield, capped by his own 1-yard rushing touchdown, putting the Irish up 7-0 just four and a half minutes into the game.

Navy’s first offensive possession started with promise but ended in disaster when Alex Tecza lost a fumble at the Navy 35-yard line. Notre Dame quickly capitalized, with Leonard finding wide receiver Kris Mitchell for a 6-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 by the end of the first quarter.

Navy finally found some rhythm early in the second quarter. Quarterback Blake Horvath broke free on a 47-yard touchdown run, cutting Notre Dame’s lead to 14-7. But the momentum was short-lived. On the ensuing drive, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown run, re-establishing a two-score lead at 21-7.

Later in the quarter, Navy’s offensive woes continued. After a promising drive, Nathan Kirkwood missed a 40-yard field goal attempt. Notre Dame took advantage of the miscue, with Love punching in his second touchdown of the game from two yards out. A late field goal from Zac Yoakam extended the Fighting Irish lead to 31-7 at halftime.

The Midshipmen opened the second half with a determined drive. Eli Heidenreich capped a 12-play, 75-yard series with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, trimming Notre Dame’s lead to 31-14. But Navy’s hopes of a comeback faded soon after. Notre Dame responded with another touchdown drive, as Leonard connected with Beaux Collins on a 37-yard touchdown pass, making it 38-14.

The game took a decisive turn on Navy’s next drive when Horvath fumbled at his own goal line, and Notre Dame’s Jaylen Sneed recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. The score jumped to 44-14, and Notre Dame’s defense seemed unstoppable.

“I think we went five games without turning the football over, and turned it over six times today. It put us in a bad position on defense, quite a bit,” Newberry shared after the game.

With a comfortable lead, Notre Dame controlled the tempo in the final quarter. After Navy’s last turnover—a Luke Hutchison interception—the Irish went on another scoring drive, capped by Kedren Young’s 4-yard rushing touchdown to seal the final score at 51-14.

The Midshipmen’s offensive, which had been effective all season, struggled against Notre Dame’s dominating defense. The Irish held Navy to just 88 passing yards and forced six turnovers. Navy’s costly turnovers repeatedly set up Notre Dame in prime scoring position, which the Irish capitalized on efficiently.

Despite the loss, Coach Newberry remained proud of his team’s season-long effort, though he acknowledged the lessons to be learned from Saturday’s defeat. “Hats off to Notre Dame. It’s a really, really good football team, and they were a better football team today in every way,” Newberry said. “But I love this football team. I love these players. I'm still really proud of them. We talked about it's only a failure if you don't learn from it and grow from it.”

Next week Notre Dame has a bye week while Navy travels to Rice.