College Football Game of the Week: No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 24 Navy

Normally, the Navy and Notre Dame rivalry is one that never gets a lot of attention. It's an annual matchup between rivals that tends to take place in neutral sites when Notre Dame is not the home team. But the game itself is usually low stakes and is dominated by the Fighting Irish.

But when these two collide on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the stakes will be as high as they have been in a long time.

Both teams come into this matchup with their playoff hopes alive but whoever slips up in this game could very well be eliminated from the conversation.

For Notre Dame, they especially can not afford another loss to a Group of Five school after their stunning defeat at home to Northern Illinois back on Sept. 7.

That came the week after getting their best win of the season when they returned from Texas A&M as 23-13 victors.

After two dominating performances against Stanford and Georgia Tech, the Fighting Irish look to build more momentum toward a strong finish in the season.

It's safe to say that the Irish are led by their defense which has allowed only 11.9 points per game and only gives up 279 yards per game this season.

The offense on the other hand has taken a step back compared to last year’s squad.

Duke transfer Riley Leonard who was expected to make a big impact in South Bend has only thrown for 1,182 yards and only has six touchdowns but he eclipsed 200 yards in each of his last two games which has been the only times he has done that this year.

He has also made a bigger impact on the ground as he has rushed for 456 yards and has 10 scores.

The Irish are gonna need a big game out of the senior on Saturday but also in upcoming contests with undefeated Army and a trip to USC remaining on the schedule for the Fighting Irish.

If they can get through all of them, then Notre Dame will likely be a playoff team once again.

On the other side, the Navy has shown this year that they will not be an easy opponent to face.

Of course, when you think of Navy, you think of the triple option and running the ball down people’s throats. They have certainly done that as they have averaged six yards per carry and 274.8 yards per game this season.

But the Midshipmen have found some success throwing the ball this season as well.

While junior quarterback Blake Horvath may only have 888 yards through the air, you have to remember that one of Navy’s biggest rivals besides Army is the forward pass itself.

Horvath has 10 passing and 10 rushing touchdowns which leads the team in both of those categories as well.

His effort is part of the reason why Navy has gained 435.8 yards per game this season, is No. 24 in the AP poll and achieved their first 6-0 start since 1979.

The perfect start for the Midshipmen has been highlighted by their 56-44 victory over Memphis which is the Tigers’ only loss on the season and the current collision course they are on with No. 23 Army as the Black Knights are undefeated as well.

The Notre Dame game is a chance for Navy to get a huge resume-building win and put them on the inside track to get that coveted Group of Five bid into the expanded College Football Playoff.

Looking at the game itself, these are two teams that have been rolling in recent weeks.

The real battle will be Navy’s offense against Notre Dame’s defense as they have been the dominant units for both teams this year.

Notre Dame is expected to win as the double-digit favorite, but Navy is more than capable of keeping this game close or even winning it.

Chase Fisher is a first-year broadcast journalism major. To contact him, email ctf5198@psu.edu.