Notre Dame Football Highlights: Irish Pull Away to Beat Navy 35-13

Notre Dame (7-1) beat Navy (2-6) 35-13 on a sunny Halloween afternoon at Gillette Stadium, pulling away after the Midshipmen briefly led. The Irish went deep on the first play, hitting Jordan Faison up the sideline, then scored off play action: “ACROSS THE GOAL LINE, THAT’S A NOTRE DAME TOUCHDOWN from Micah Gilbert.” Navy answered to take a 13-7 lead, but it lasted only 50 seconds, with Notre Dame scoring before halftime as part of four touchdowns in four possessions.

Nolan James provided two of them, including a second-half breakaway: “AND OFF TO NOLAN JAMES! FREEWAY! NO ONE HOME FOR NAVY! ANOTHER TOUCHDOWN!” Jerome Bettis Jr. was involved with both a catch over the middle and a short scoring run, and the broadcast noted, “You’ve got to like what you’ve seen so far out of Jerome Bettis Jr.” The call summed up the afternoon this way: Navy “made things very interesting in the first half,” but Notre Dame “responded the way you would expect a top-ranked football team to.”

• The 99th all-time meeting between the programs.
• James’ first score: “NOLAN JAMES BREAKS FREE! NOLAN JAMES DOWN THE SIDELINE! TOUCHDOWN!”
• Bettis Jr. on third down and goal: he “BARRELS HIS WAY TO THE END ZONE.”
• Navy tried a sneak and got stuffed: “They’ll sneak it. Will they get it? They will not.”
• Aneyas Williams also got carries, “making midshipman miss.”