John Walters

BALTIMORE - Acting as Navy mascots, three goats stood on the sidelines of Saturday’s game against Notre Dame. Serving as coach, Charlie Weis was very nearly the fourth.

The Fighting Irish came within a batted down pass of squandering a 20-point lead in the game’s final two minutes in Baltimore. Honestly, it would not have been the players’ fault. Weis would have been to blame. 

After a dominating second half in which the Irish built a 27-7 lead and held the Midshipmen to 45 total yards in the first 27 minutes, the Irish found themselves in a fight for their lives in the game’s final minute. The Middies scored two touchdowns and recovered two onside kicks in the final 1:39, nearly authoring the most ignoble defeat in Notre Dame history — or at least since USC 55, Notre Dame 24 back in 1974.

It never needed to be so dramatic. The Middies launched their near-historic comeback against an Irish defensive unit that consisted of players such as Anthony McDonald (LB), Paddy Mullen (DT), Scott Smith (LB), Jordan Stephens (NG) and Kevin Washington (LB). Talk about a no-name defense.

And, actually, one of those names on that list is actually a Midshipman, but I just threw it in to see if anyone would notice. Did you identify the odd man out (It’s Stephens)?

“In that situation you want to give guys an opportunity to come in and close out the game,” said Weis, who was in good humor afterward. “Well, come out and make some plays.”

Which would be fine, except that this is major college football. And the Middies, who entered the game ranked second in the nation in rushing, had not pulled any of their starters. And so what should have been a tale of the Fighting Irish putting together their most dominating defensive effort of the season — Navy was 0-for-12 on third-down conversions until the game’s final minute and held to their lowest rushing output of the season — was very nearly the greatest self-asphyxiation in Notre Dame lore.

“Basically, you’re scared to death,” said junior linebacker Toryan Smith, who had the game of his career (a team-high 10 tackles and a punt block returned for a touchdown). “We got ‘em 27-7, you’re on the side, you’re celebrating, and then they came back.”

How did Navy come back? That is not the correct question. The proper question is why did Navy come back?

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen took his final snap with more than 11 minutes remaining.

Jonas Gray, the true freshman 4^th-string tailback, ran the ball on eight consecutive plays from 9:07 to 5:19 of the fourth quarter, behind a second-string O-line, before coughing it up at the Navy 5-yard line.

Notre Dame had a first-and-goal at the Navy 2 with 6:08 to play and called three straight dive plays that were so blatantly predictable — and again, with a second-unit offense against Navy’s first-string defense — that it’s a wonder they only lost three yards on the first two of those plays.

“You want to see how guys react in live-game situations,” said Weis. And that’s true. But when you sub out an entire unit — the Irish dispatched a full unit of defensive subs as well for two Navy drives in the fourth quarter — against the opposition’s first team, you do not get a true evaluation of an individual’s talents.

Weis, for example, cited Toryan Smith’s production. “He got a chance today and he stepped up,” Weis said.

Yes, he did. But Toryan Smith entered the game midway through the first quarter after starting linebacker Brian Smith left the game with a leg injury. Toryan Smith had nearly three full quarters, playing alongside defensive starters, to showcase his talents. Would he have been so productive playing behind a defensive line consisting of Paddy Mullen and Ethan Johnson?

And by the way, how many reps did Notre Dame’s second-string defense have this week against a facsimile of the triple-option?

Weis began subbing in units wholesale midway through the fourth quarter, but Navy had not yet raised the white flag. Meanwhile, it is difficult to blame the Irish players for not mentally checking out in some fashion when they see Evan Sharpley handing off the ball to Jonas Gray.

Thus, the Irish failed to cover two onside kicks in the final 99 seconds. They committed three 15-yard personal fouls in the final two minutes after committing just three penalties (for just 27 yards) the entire first 58 minutes.