Irish cruise, continue to ‘utilize’ loss to NIU

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said he occasionally shows his players clips of their embarrassing Sept. 7 home loss to Northern Illinois — a motivational tactic that appears to be working.

The Irish have now won six straight games, the longest streak under Freeman, including Saturday’s 51-14 drubbing of Navy in MetLife Stadium.

“We can’t lose the pain,” Freeman said following another critical win that helped repair their hopes for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. “That’s what I want to make sure our guys understand. I don’t want to lose the pain from that game because at times we are motivated by fear. We don’t want this to repeat itself. We’ve got to use that.

“We’re going to be grateful for it if we utilize it and we learn from the lessons it’s taught us. When you have success sometimes, you forget about that pain of what NIU left in all of our hearts and our guts. There’s moments I want to reflect on that and I don’t want them to lose it.”

If it’s possible for a team’s turning point to come just two weeks into the season, that might have been it for the Irish. Since the loss to Northern Illinois, Notre Dame has been under pressure to win out and look good doing it, as the only path to the playoff as an independent is through one of seven at-large bids. The rest of the spots are reserved for the five highest-ranked conference champions — a bid Navy was hoping to get but was fumbled away on Saturday.

What began as a highly anticipated matchup between two ranked programs desperately in need of a statement win to boost their respective résumés quickly spiraled into a snoozer.

Previously undefeated Navy, which had been one of the season’s feel-good stories along with undefeated rival Army, came crashing back to reality with a series of first-half blunders that were too costly to overcome against a more talented team on a sunny Saturday in the home of the New York Jets and New York Giants.

Navy gifted the Irish with five fumbles — something the Midshipmen hadn’t done once all season — and six total turnovers, their most since 2002. Notre Dame scored 27 points off turnovers, and most of them — save for Navy quarterback Blake Horvath‘s first red zone interception of his career — were unforced errors, with ball security a bigger issue than a standout defensive play.

The strengths that had propelled Navy to its first 6-0 start since 1979 — winning the turnover battle and perfection in the red zone — were some of the Midshipmen’s biggest weaknesses against Notre Dame. Navy was 1-of-3 in the red zone against Notre Dame, which also held the nation’s No. 4 scoring offense (44.8 points per game) scoreless for two quarters. Meanwhile, it was the most points Navy’s defense had allowed all season.

“You have to put in the work, otherwise you leave the outcome to chance,” Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser said. “Every day we come in knowing what can happen if we don’t try to live up to our potential or live up to the standard. We use that as motivation.”

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was 3-of-3 for 105 yards and a touchdown on passes with at least 20 air yards, an area of the passing game that had been sorely lacking entering the day. His three such pass completions are his most with the Irish, according to ESPN Research.

Leonard, who transferred from Duke this past offseason, said he’s still figuring the offense out under first-year offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, and continuing to build a cohesiveness with the players around him.

“Do I feel 100% confident yet? No, but some things are starting to become second nature in our checks,” he said. “It’s been a work in progress, obviously, but I think we’re getting better every week.”

Leonard accounted for three touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing), and no interceptions against Navy. In the loss to NIU, Leonard threw two interceptions and no touchdowns. Freeman reiterated that part of the problem against NIU was the team wasn’t mentally prepared to handle success, but after six straight wins, that mindset will continue to be tested — including his own.

“You better understand that if you don’t prepare the right way, you can lose to anybody you play,” he said, “and I don’t want to ever forget that.”