Week One: Navy versus Notre Dame

Notre Dame vs. Navy--This is projected to be a pretty interesting matchup for the simple fact that this game will be played in Ireland. In similar fashion to the NFL games being played across the pond, the Midshipmen scheduled a bye week following the trip to Europe for the opener. Notre Dame went the opposite route and many wonder whether the lag of an overseas game could affect their week 2 performance. Both teams are very familiar with one another with 85 all-time meetings between the schools.

Offense: Notre Dame was one of the top 35 offenses in the country in 2011 behind a very balanced run-pass ratio. The Fighting Irish passed the ball 40 more times than they ran the ball on the season. Notre Dame ran for 160 yards per game in 2011 with an impressive 4.8 yards per carry and 25 touchdowns in 13 games. Passing gave the Irish 252 more yards per game with 21 touchdowns but 17 costly interceptions. 29.2 points per game just slipped the Irish in the top 50 nationally in scoring offense. Navy continued the tradition of being one of the top running teams in the nation in 2011 with 312 rushing yards per game, good for 4th best in the country last fall. The three other option offenses were the only teams with higher rushing totals. The Midshipmen ran for a lofty 5.4 yards per carry and 34 rushing touchdowns on the season. Navy was horrible at the pass last fall with only 85 yards per game in the air. The Midshipmen were able to attain 10 rushing touchdowns to go along with 6 interceptions in 135 total pass attempts. The Midshipmen ended just above the Irish with 29.7 points per game, good for 47th in the country.  EDGE: Notre Dame

Defense: Notre Dame ended 2011 as one of the top 30 defenses in the nation with only 344 yards allowed per games facing teams like Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Stanford, and Florida State. The rushing defense gave up 128 yards per game to opponents with a 3.8 yards per carry and only 8 rushing touchdowns allowed on the season putting them in the top 5 nationally in that category. The passing defense was a little more forgiving to opponents with 205 yards allowed but 23 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions. The Irish only gave up 20.7 points per game putting Notre Dame 24th nationally in scoring defense. Navy ended 2011 as the 86th ranked defense in the country allowing a bloated 413 yards per game to opponents. Facing a running team in practice all week long would allow outsiders to assume that Navy was strong against the run but that was not the case last fall as the Midshipmen allowed 186 yards on the ground including 4.8 yards per carry and 32 touchdowns. The rushing offense only outscored the opponents rushing offense by 2 touchdowns on the season. The Naval Academy pass defense gave up 226 yards per game putting then right in the middle nationally but only allowed 14 passing touchdowns on the season. With an overall 28.6 points allowed per game, the Navy defense must replace huge holes to extend the scoring margin and give the offense a chance to produce. EDGE: Notre Dame

Coaching: Brian Kelly is the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and is entering his third season as the Irish head coach. Kelly started coaching in 1983 as an assistant coach for Assumption before leaving for Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati before landing at Notre Dame. This is Kelly's 4th head coaching job with previous his previous stops at Grand Valley State (118-35-2 and 2 D-II national championships), Central Michigan (19-16), and Cincinnati (34-6) grooming him for his dream job at Notre Dame. In his time with the Irish, Kelly has gone 16-10 with a 1-1 record in bowl games. Overall, Kelly is 187-66-2 as a head coach. Ken Niumatalolo is the head coach for the Naval Academy and is entering his 6th season as the head coach of the program. Niumatalolo started coaching in 1990 after a college career quarterbacking at Hawaii. Niumatalolo started as a graduate assistant for Hawaii before coaching at Navy, UNLV, and then Navy again as an assistant both times. In 2007, Niumatalolo was awarded the head coaching job at Navy where he has a 32-21 overall record in 5 seasons. EDGE: Notre Dame

This is the 85th overall meeting between the two schools. Notre Dame has a 72-12-1 overall record versus the Naval Academy. The Irish have won 36 of the last 39 games played although Navy has won 3 of the last 5 meetings between the schools.

Navy was a team on a free fall in 2011 after several seasons of solid play and bowl berth after bowl berth. Notre Dame seems to be in great hands after struggling the past few years with losses to teams that Notre Dame never loses to. With the X-factor of an overseas game, expect this game to be closer than many of the experts predict allowing Notre Dame to pull away in the 2nd half and win by 4-17 points.