At the end of a week of internal squabbling that embarrassingly leaked into the public domain, Notre Dame buried the hatchet during Friday’s pregame meeting and proceeded to bury Navy on Saturday by 56-14. Seven rushing touchdowns powered the Fighting Irish, who raced to an early 14-0 lead and stretched it to 35-7 at halftime. Bob Diaco’s defense, which was shredded by the Midshipmen in last season’s contest, smothered the visitors by holding them well below their season average on the ground and only 33 yards through the air.

The victory did not completely erase the sting of three bad losses this season, but it will allow the Irish to refocus on their upcoming opponents and on week to week improvement.  Manti Te’o led a strong defensive effort that shut down the Navy option attack. He was supported by Louis Nix, Stephon Tuitt and Robert Blanton, all of whom turned in stellar efforts. On the offensive side, Michael Floyd and Cierre Wood bounced back with strong performances and Jonas Gray scored three touchdowns.

Notre Dame scored on its first two possessions in very similar fashion. Each drive started with a flat pass that was turned into a long gain by Floyd and Theo Riddick, respectively, followed by a dominant ground game that produced scores by Gray and Wood. Navy got on the board early in the second period when the Irish muffed another backward pass deep in their own territory. Gee Gee Green capped off a short drive by taking a nine yard toss from Trey Miller to cut the lead to 14-7.

The turnover only served to set a fire under Notre Dame, who answered by scoring 14 points in the next two minutes. Tommy Rees hit a wide open Floyd with a 56 yard bomb immediately after Navy’s score, and Troy Niklas recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up another touchdown run by Gray. Wood closed out the first half with a one yard plunge and the issue was no longer in doubt.

The Midshipmen tried to make it respectable after intermission, but its first two drives ended when they came up short on fourth down plays. Meanwhile, the Irish embarked on a long march that reached paydirt when Floyd beat the defense to the corner on a ten yard run. Gray scored again early in the fourth period to make it 49-7, but a Rees interception set up Navy for its final touchdown of the day by backup quarterback Jarvis Cummings.

Coach Brian Kelly finally went to his own backup signal-caller, but this time it was Dayne Crist rather than Andrew Hendrix. The popular senior led a successful drive to close out the scoring as freshman George Atkinson took it in from a yard out. Crist, who was cheered loudly by the home crowd, was three for three throwing the ball and looked sharp.

Notre Dame will hit the road next week for a date with Wake Forest. Although this game was really “a glorified scrimmage” in the words of one television commentator, the team needed to put last week’s loss behind them. The defensive line is still a concern, as the team lost freshman Chase Hounshell with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder, and senior Ethan Johnson was held out of action yet again.

Let’s look at the answers to the pregame questions:

Will Miller have success in the passing game? Not at all. The touchdown pass to Green was a well conceived play, but Miller was only 5 of 13 for 33 yards and was under pressure all day.

Can Navy’s shaky defense fare any better than Air Force? Sure, they gave up three fewer points.

Will the Irish rediscover their running game? Definitely. The trick going forward will be to maintain that balance and not panic if they fall behind early.

Can Notre Dame stop the inside runs by the fullback and cover the pitch man? The Irish had a spot of trouble with the pitch man early in the game, but adjusted to effectively shut down the Middies.

Will Hendrix get another extended look and be allowed to throw the ball downfield? Hendrix never took off his baseball cap, but it was good to see Crist get a shot to put points on the board.

Can the Irish shake the turnover virus that returned with a vengeance last week? Unfortunately not. The two miscues set up Navy’s entire point total, and served as a reminder of what still can happen in a close game.

Will the Irish match Navy’s discipline (#1 in the nation with fewest penalties and penalty yards)? Notre Dame had six penalties to three by the Midshipmen, but that was driven by the fact that the referees turned a blind eye to several instances of blatant holding by Navy’s offensive line.

Despite a few ill-advised and poorly executed backward passes, the Irish performed well overall against the outclassed Navy athletes. Austin Collinsworth was the best special teams player on the field, and Navy’s longest offensive play was 15 yards. The objective at this point is not only to keep winning, but to steadily become the physical and mistake-free team that they will need to be in order to defeat Stanford a month from now. In this season of missed opportunities and catastrophic failures, a unified drive to a strong finish is the only way this group can live up to their enormous potential.