We all know the story of the Notre Dame and Navy and how they became acquainted during World War II. We know that there is a lifetime contract to honor the memory of it. It is a game that Notre Dame has dominated with a 75-12-1 advantage. It is a game of friendship and mutual respect. It is not rivalry of dislike like USC and Michigan.
Having said that, Notre Dame needs to consider whether it is a good idea to keep this game on the schedule. It is a game where the Irish have nothing to gain. If they win big, they were supposed to. If it is close, what's wrong with Notre Dame?
Also, they run a wishbone which is different from all the other offenses the Irish face. Notre Dame has to completely change their defense for one game a year. The fact is that the doesn't give scholarships to kids who help them stop Navy. Those are for the kids who can help them stop USC, Michigan State, Stanford, and I guess you can now put teams like Florida State and Clemson on that list. Yet, these scholarship players who were recruited for these other offenses have to try to stop something that is probably not their specialty. It may be a good idea to offer a couple scholarships for a couple of defensive players who can specialize in the service academies. Notre Dame does play Army and Air Force every now and then.
Honestly, I would be willing to overlook those first two factors if not for the third factor. That is the cut blocking. Now I will not call Navy dirty for doing this. They are undersized to Notre Dame and have to do what they can to gain an advantage. At this point, it is still legal. Whether or not it should be is another debate for another piece. Although it is not with malice intent, Navy puts Notre Dame defenders at risk with this kind of play.
I remember last season when Notre Dame was 7-2 and setting up for a BCS run until a not very good Pittsburgh upset Notre Dame. While that was a bad loss for the Irish, there certainly were factors that contributed to it. The week before they played Navy and suffered a lot of injuries from the cut blocking. At the Pitt game, Notre Dame had one healthy lineman Stephon Tuitt and he got ejected early on a questionable targeting penalty. That definitely contributed to that upset. Now this year Joe Schmidt the former walk on and now starter is out for the year. He was a great story for college football and now his season is done. Now the Irish have to prepare for a really good team in Arizona State without a key player and Jaron Jones is also banged up. This is a playoff elimination game for both teams. Notre Dame needs all their players healthy.
So with that in mind, is keeping Navy on the schedule in Notre Dame's best interests? I am all about honoring lifetime commitments. However, that agreement was made at a time when a college football playoff wasn't even a thought. The fact is that Notre Dame will not only be competing for a playoff spot every year and I would hate to see an injury to a team like Navy.
Navy needs this game more than Notre Dame does. It is one of only two games that lands them on national TV, while Notre Dame is on TV every week. Jack Swarbrick definitely needs to sit down with whomever makes the football decisions for Navy and explain that the Irish want to honor the agreement. At the same time, the concern over cut blocking is legit. Not only will it make them less healthy for the playoff run, but also a kid who has a bright NFL career ahead of him get ruined because of a dangerous block in a game against an opponent like Navy. Swarbrick needs to tell Navy to cut the cut blocking or it will be removed from the schedule because we don't need this.
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