The Navy Midshipmen opened the 2012 season with a disappointing 50-10 loss to Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday morning. The Irish overwhelmed Navy in the first half, jumping out to 27-3 lead. The Irish defense impressively bottled up the triple option attack of Navy, getting stops when they needed and forcing turnovers to allow just one touchdown.
Navy quarterback Trey Miller did hit 14 of 19 passing attempts in the air, as Ken Niumatalolo tried to get something going on the offensive side of the ball. Navy averaged less than three yards per carry. The game was put away when Navy was driving into the red zone but Miller botched things up running to his right. The ball popped into the air and the massive Stephon Tuitt scooped it up and dashed nearly 80 yards the other way for a touchdown. The play swung the game and the lead to 27-0, deflating the Midshipmen as they entered the locker room.
The Irish defense kept up the pressure in the second half, getting fast to the option and hitting hard. Miller did hit Shawn Lynch for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of the half but that would be it for Navy as the Irish salted things away.
Navy will regroup now and try to get things together for next week's matchup against Penn State.
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