Yankee Stadium wasn’t built for Saturday night. Neither do the Black Knights.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went bigger, stronger and more talented at nearly every position and looked it over, handing Army its first loss of the season, 49-14, and all but closing the door at n #18 in Black Knights college football. Playoff aspirations.
Featuring pregame and halftime performances from the Notre Dame marching band (seated on the Bleacher Creatures benches), a constant stream of university promotional materials on the video board, and thousands of fans wearing Irish green , this one seemed straight out of South Bend. . And for the Army, never quite within its reach.
The Black Knights (9-1) have found success all season by pounding the floor between the scores, churning the clock and dictating the pace of the game.
But the Black Knights hadn’t faced a football team of the caliber of the No. 6 Fighting Irish (10-1) until Saturday.
In the 12th edition of their “Shamrock Series” at home, Notre Dame’s defense was extremely physical – stacking the box, clogging the middle of the field and maintaining the nation’s most potent rushing offense at 207 yards, or about two. third of their season average of 329.
On their first two drives of the contest, Army ran six plays – all on the ground – and picked up a total of 10 yards.
Each drive ended with a punt.
The first traveled 49 meters, the second, a harbinger of future misfortunes, was blocked deep within the army’s territory.
Head coach Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish, for their part, had no trouble moving the ball downfield.
Notre Dame’s opening drive totaled 68 yards in just five plays and ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Faison from quarterback Riley Leonard.
Their second, set up at Army’s 8-yard line on Bryce Young’s punt block — the third punt he’s lost this season — ended with Leonard’s second passing score of the evening, this time to running back Jeremiah Love, giving the Fighting Irish the advantage. 14-0.
Army finally managed to get a first down on its third drive — a methodical, grueling 12-play, all-point endeavor that ended with quarterback Bryson Daily scrambling into the end zone four meters away.
It was a brief glimmer of hope, born of two Irish giveaways, including an offside on a fourth-and-1.
Army’s defense allowed Notre Dame to drive 73 yards down the field on its next drive before stopping the Irish on four straight downs of five to force a turnover on downs.
But it would be the final highlight of the night for head coach Jeff Monken’s defense, which allowed just 10.8 points per game, the second-best mark in the country.
The Black Knights gave up two more touchdowns in the first half and the game was essentially over by the time the teams returned to their locker rooms.
Notre Dame scored 21 more points in the second half and Leonard finished the game 10 of 13 passing for 148 yards.
Love had three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving, the second being a wild 68-yard run.
Daily, who has had defenses bruised all year with his blue-collar running, was held to 145 yards on 38 carries and 26 yards through the air.
Kanye Udoh, Army’s top running back, finished with just 35 yards on 10 carries.
With the loss, Army falls to 8-40-4 against Notre Dame, its last victory coming nearly seven decades ago.
The season is far from over for the Black Knights, who face Navy on Dec. 14 and have already secured a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
But a victory Saturday would have been the capstone to a historic season few could have predicted.
