This is the Depth Dossier: the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Week 9.

Notre Dame got exactly the scare it didn't need from Navy, then buried the Midshipmen in a stretch right around halftime that decided everything, winning 35 to 13 while somehow giving up a season-high in rushing yards and still not allowing a single point after the break.

Here's the quick version. Navy did what Navy does for a half, running for 212 yards and controlling the ball for over 23 minutes to grab a 13 to 7 lead. Then Notre Dame flipped the whole game in about 50 seconds, when running back Nolan James Junior broke a 52-yard touchdown run right before halftime. The Irish never looked back. They took the second-half kickoff 78 yards for a score and then shut Navy out the rest of the way, winning the second half 21 to nothing. Quarterback CJ Carr was clean all day, 210 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers, no sacks allowed. James turned just nine touches into 107 yards and two scores. And head coach Marcus Freeman picked up career win number 50.

Now, the time of possession numbers tell a scarier story than the final score. Navy held the ball for over 23 minutes in the first half against just six and a half minutes for Notre Dame across three possessions. Navy running back Jackson Gutierrez carried the ball 28 times for 110 yards, his fourth straight hundred-yard game, and he'd already topped Notre Dame's own defensive average for rushing yards allowed per game by the second quarter. But the second half flipped completely. Navy's possession time collapsed to about nine minutes with zero points, and Notre Dame's defense allowed just 56 total yards after halftime.

The real turning point is what you'd call the middle eight, the stretch around halftime. Navy took that 13 to 7 lead with less than two minutes left in the first half, capping a run where it scored on its first three possessions of the game, something only two other Freeman-era opponents have ever done. Notre Dame answered in 50 seconds with James's touchdown run, then took the second-half kickoff 78 yards for another score. Fourteen points bracketing the half, and the game was essentially over right there.

Navy also fell apart with penalties as it got away from them, eight flags for 86 yards, mostly pre-snap and holding calls that buried their offense in long down and distance situations in the second half. Notre Dame's offense, meanwhile, was spotless, zero turnovers, zero sacks allowed, averaging over seven yards per snap. Wide receiver Jerome Bettis Junior caught the first touchdown of his career to open the fourth quarter, part of a six-catch, 78-yard day that led all receivers.

Now to the injury list, because it's significant. Linebacker and team captain Drayk Bowen was helped off late in the second quarter with a right ankle and foot injury and spent the rest of the half in a walking boot. Freeman said an update is expected Sunday. With linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa already held out to rest a thumb injury, look for linebackers Jaiden Ausberry, who had eight tackles, and Jaylen Sneed to take on bigger roles. Cornerback Leonard Moore was evaluated on the sideline in the third quarter, and defensive tackle Francis Brewu was shaken up and limped off during Navy's opening drive. Both are worth watching next week. Receiver Micah Gilbert scored an 11-yard touchdown but was clearly hobbled afterward. Freeman said training staff never ruled him fully out, but his snaps were limited the rest of the day.

On offense, the backfield has a new co-starter. James's big day pushes him into close to half the running back touches alongside Jonaz Walton, who still handled a heavy early-down workload himself with 12 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. At receiver, Bettis's breakout game earns him a bigger share of snaps alongside Jordan Faison, depending on Gilbert's ankle.

Up next is top-ranked Miami, and the two things to watch are Bowen's ankle injury and whether a defense that just allowed its season-high in rushing yards can tighten back up against a very different kind of offense.

This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.