Nolan James Jr. turned a shaky afternoon into a comfortable finish for No. 5 Notre Dame.
James rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries Saturday as the Irish beat Navy 35-13 in Foxborough, Mass. The final margin looked routine, but Notre Dame had to shake off a first half that felt far more precarious than the scoreboard eventually suggested. The Irish went into halftime up only 14-13 after Navy controlled the ball and kept Notre Dame on edge.
Quarterback CJ Carr finished 19 of 29 for 210 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore receiver Jerome Bettis Jr. delivered the best game of his young career with six catches for 78 yards and his first college touchdown. Senior safety Luke Talich kept piling up tackles, finishing with 10 for the second straight game, and freshman defensive end Rodney Dunham had Notre Dame’s only tackle for loss.
The win pushed Notre Dame to 7-1 and gave the Irish their ninth straight victory over Navy. They are now 85-13-1 all-time against the Midshipmen, and in the last four meetings Notre Dame has outscored Navy 177-40.
It also gave the Irish a needed response after their first loss of the season two weekends ago at No. 8 BYU.
The first half, though, was anything but smooth. Navy took a 13-7 lead with 1:52 left before halftime on Jackson Gutierrez’s 2-yard run, and at that point the Midshipmen had held the ball for 22:38 compared to Notre Dame’s 5:36. The Irish answered quickly, needing just 50 seconds to strike back on James’ 52-yard touchdown run and take a one-point lead into the break.
Notre Dame’s defense spent much of the opening half on its heels, giving up 163 rushing yards and 4.7 yards per carry. Linebacker Drayk Bowen also left in the first half with the help of two trainers and did not return.
Marcus Freeman made clear at halftime that the issue was less panic than execution.
"We've got to get them off track," Freeman said on ESPN during a halftime interview. "We're not getting them off track right now.
They're doing a couple new things, but it's just the execution. We can't panic, right?
"You can't start calling things that your guys don't know how to execute, so we got to make sure we clean up what they have to do, and then they got to play physical."
He also pointed to Notre Dame’s inability to string together enough clean possessions.
"One thing, we can't go three and out. We had three series," Freeman said.
"We knew our series would be limited because of the ball control offense that they have. So, we've got to clean up that series that we went three and out and make sure we're executing and keeping the ball in small points."
The Irish took control after halftime, outscoring Navy 14-0 in the third quarter and outgaining the Midshipmen 129-35 in that stretch. Notre Dame added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Carr connected with Micah Gilbert on an 11-yard touchdown, Jonaz Walton scored from 3 yards out, James broke loose again for a 23-yard touchdown, and Carr later found Bettis for a 31-yard score, the first touchdown of Bettis’ career.
Notre Dame’s uneven first half still produced plenty of noise online, especially while the Irish were briefly trailing late in the second quarter. The result also meant Notre Dame failed to cover the 30.5-point spread, but the 22-point win still counted as a significant bounce-back with the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season set to arrive Tuesday evening.
The Irish now turn to their biggest regular-season game next week, when they host No. 1 Miami at Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 18-9-1, though Miami has won the last two meetings, both at Hard Rock Stadium, including last season’s opener, a 27-24 Hurricanes win. Miami (7-0) will play North Carolina (4-3) on Saturday night as a 14.5-point road favorite.
In Other News...
Notre Dames Early Navy Gamble Is Raising Questions Fast
Chris Ashs early rotation against Navy turned into one of the more curious wrinkles of the afternoon, with Notre Dame leaning on reserve players sooner than expected on defense. Christian Gray started at cornerback, and backup linebacker Anthony Rezac was on the field for the opening drive as the Irish tried to sort out Navys option look and settle into the game plan.
The move did not pay off cleanly. Navy put together its longest offensive drive of the season during that stretch and grabbed a 3-0 lead before Notre Dame answered to go ahead 7-3, leaving the Irish with questions about both the playcalling and the decision to use reserves so early. For a defense that needed to be sharp from the start, the first series only added to the scrutiny surrounding how Notre Dame handled the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Marcus Freeman Just Put Notre Dames Defensive Leadership Under Pressure
Marcus Freeman did not hide his frustration at halftime against Navy, and the message carried beyond the scoreline. The Notre Dame head coach said the defense was being asked to run plays it did not know, a blunt critique of both execution and play calling that underscored how messy things had gotten in the first half. Freeman also stressed the basics he wants from that side of the ball, calling for a more physical approach and a steadier response when the game starts to tilt.
The second half brought a much cleaner defensive showing, but the larger issue did not disappear with it. Freemans comments put a spotlight on Chris Ash and the rest of the defensive staff, because in South Bend, the standard is not just better results after halftime, but a defense that looks organized from the start. For a unit trying to settle itself, the pressure now is not only about fixing mistakes, but proving the confusion Freeman described was an exception rather than a warning sign. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Suddenly Has A Serious Drayk Bowen Concern Before Miami
Drayk Bowens status has become one of the biggest questions hanging over Notre Dame as it turns from Navy to Miami. The linebacker suffered a lower right leg injury during the game, and while the Irish were able to manage around several bumps and bruises with substitutions and limited snaps, Bowens situation carries more weight because of how central he has been to the defense.
Marcus Freeman also offered updates on a cluster of other injured players, including Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Leonard Moore, Cooper Flanagan and Micah Gilbert, leaving Notre Dame with a clearer picture of the overall health of the roster but not much certainty at one of its most important spots. With Miami next on the schedule, the Irish are now waiting to see whether Bowen can get back in time or whether theyll have to adjust the defense again for a game that already demands full strength. [Read more 🡒]