Copyright Newsweek
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will welcome the Navy Midshipmen for a primetime college football matchup in South Bend on Saturday night. Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame squad is listed as a heavy favorite over the visiting Midshipmen. That said, Brian Newberry's team is in the midst of a solid campaign, winning each of its first seven games before falling to North Texas this past weekend. Navy's option offense is always a change of pace for opposing defenses, and Notre Dame will face that challenge on Saturday night. During Saturday morning's episode of ESPN's "College GameDay," all-time great coach Nick Saban warned Freeman and the Fighting Irish about the challenges that come with playing against the Midshipmen. “I would just say to Notre Dame, watch out,” Saban said, via On3 Sports. “We played Georgia Southern, I think it was 2011 or 2012, we had the number one team, great defensive team, in the country. Given up just over 300 yards for 10 games. "Played these guys in the 11th game of the year. They rushed for over 300 yards in that game. They were cutting our guys. We had all NFL draft pick guys. They’re tapping out. They didn’t want to play against that offense, man. More Football: Urban Meyer Accused of Lying About Being Linked to Penn State Job “But I’m telling you, it can be if you don’t have a great scheme and your players don’t understand it, and you don’t spend a significant enough time preparing for it, you can get gassed by an option offense. And you know, this Blake Horvath guy’s pretty damn good at it.” Navy quarterback Blake Horvath has 926 rushing yards and an AAC-leading 13 rushing touchdowns through the Midshipmen's first eight games of the 2025 season. The third-year signal caller also has 107 yards and seven touchdowns through the air — completing 63.6 percent of his pass attempts. More Football: ASU’s Kenny Dillingham Gets Personal While Addressing Coaching Rumors Notre Dame has won each of its last six games after starting the year with losses to Miami and Texas A&M. The Fighting Irish earned No. 10 position in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings released earlier this week. Saturday's Navy-Notre Dame matchup will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET.
