Notre Dame – Final Final Game Stats
The University of Notre Dame football team began the 2023 in style by defeating Navy 42-3 in the 2023 Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The Irish ripped off 42 consecutive points in the game before Navy managed a single field goal with 3:33 left in the game.
Graduate student Sam Hartman made the most of his Notre Dame debut, completing 19 of 23 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns. The four scoring tosses match Ron Powlus (1994) and Jack Coan (2021) for the most by an Irish quarterback in his first game with the team.
Two of Hartman’s scoring tosses were caught by freshman Jaden Greathouse, including a 35-yard strike on the rookie’s first career touch. Deion Colzie also nabbed his first career touchdown reception while Jayden Thomas was the recipient of a touchdown pass as well.
The Irish defense held Navy to just 169 total yards with only 43 of those coming through the air. Jack Kiser paced the defense with 8 total tackles, followed by Marist Liufau with seven.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish offense scored on its first drive bolstered by three key third down conversions. The drive was kickstarted by a 19-yard reception by Jayden Thomas. Navy recovered to force the Irish into a third-and-10 situation and the Irish turned to Audric Estimé who rumbled 11 yards for the first down.
The Midshipmen forced another third down attempt and threatened a blitz, but the Irish offense adjusted and Hartman tossed the ball out to Estimé out of the back field who scampered 22 yards for a first down. Estimé eventually capped off the drive with a seven-yard run to the goal line followed by a one-yard plunge.
The Navy offense had its first turn and drove to the Notre Dame 37 yard line. A key third down stop by Jack Kiser put the Naval Academy in a fourth and third situation. Navy threw long but the ball fell incomplete around the eight-yard line.
Estimé started off the next Irish drive with a 13-yard rush, then Hartman hit Tyree for nine yards. Gi’Bran Payne converted the third down on a short run for a new set of downs followed by a Chris Salerno catch for nine yards.
After Payne converted the first down on a short run, Jadarian Price entered the game for the first time and on his first touch, rambled through the middle of the defense for a 19-yard touchdown run.
The Irish defense made another stop to force a Navy punt. Marist Liufau keyed this defensive stand, making a leaping tackle to force a fumble that ended up out of bounds then posting a key stop to force third down.
It only took four plays for the Irish to drive the length of the field after receiving the punt at the 22-yard line. Thomas grabbed a middle screen and ran through the Navy defense for 19 yards. Freshman Jeremiyah Love then logged his first career touch with a seven-yard run.
Hartman stood in the pocket, took a hit and connected with Deion Colzie – who made a nice leaping catch – for 17 yards. With Navy on its heels, Hartman stepped back on a play action fake and connected with freshman Jaden Greathouse for a 35-yard touchdown toss.
The Navy offense started to find its way late in the second quarter and drove into Notre Dame territory with a series of short runs. Javontae Jean-Baptiste then decided that Navy had driven far enough. He made two back-to-back plays at the defensive line to force a third and long.
Navy attempted to pick up the first down with a quarterback run. Jordan Botelho was ready, made the stop and forced a field goal attempt which ended up wide right.
With 1:55 on the clock the Irish offense took over at their own 20-yard line focused on getting another touchdown before halftime. Hartman opened the drive with a 20-yard toss to Chris Tyree. Devyn Ford then posted his first two touches in a Notre Dame uniform, a two-yard rush then a nine-yard catch for a first down.
Hartman returned to Tyree for seven yards. On the next play, Payne stepped out of the backfield but fell on a tough catch for no gain. Greathouse returned to the fold for a third-down conversion covering 13 yards. On the next snap, Hartman looked to Tyree in the end zone but he was interfered with to give the Irish the ball at the Navy 14-yard line after the penalty.
After a short incompletion, Hartman threw a rope to Thomas for a 14-yard scoring strike and the fourth touchdown of the first half for the Irish.
Both teams then traded two non-scoring drives back and forth. Once the Irish got the ball back, they turned to their young running backs Price and Love. The duo combined for 37 rushing yards to set up a Hartman-to-Colzie 25-yard scoring strike. Colzie took a short pass, made a defender miss and cruised into the endzone.
Navy’s scoring drive saw the Midshipmen put together 15 plays and eventually drive all the way down to the four-yard line. Navy then tried a trick play throw back to the quarterback, but Rylie Mills sniffed it out and sacked the passer for a 10-yard loss.
The Midshipmen would end up settling for a field goal to spoil the defensive shutout.