At this point of the season, it's hard to fathom that Notre Dame would be in this position considering what the schedule looked like. After beating Louisville when they were ranked it seemed as though it was pretty "cupcake" for the rest of the season especially with how USC fell out of the Top 25 and Florida State absolutely has been a stinker. However, while then it seemed like that Northern Illinois loss could be put to bed, it now looks like the reason why the Irish miss the playoffs is dependent on the outcomes against both Navy and Army. Nobody saw Navy and Army playing as well as they have and being so that they are now both ranked and possibly having a chance at the college football playoffs.
So why is this a golden opportunity? It just adds to their resume and it proves that the NIU loss was a fluke. Notre Dame has to win out in order to make the playoffs as that will most likely make it a lock if they win out. A loss would've been more forgivable had it been against a top 15 side and not NIU, but not the case here. A loss here to either side for the Irish would definitely cost them a chance at the playoffs. Winning out the rest of the way, plus winning against both of these teams would definitely help their resume even more.
Navy seems to be the better side here, but Army is also undefeated. The talk about their game at the end of the season would equate to a possible chance for the winner to advance to the playoffs. The hope is that it won't mean anything at that point once Notre Dame beats them both, but Navy-Army is just a classic rivalry.
There has been a whole bunch of hype for both of these sides and while honestly they are very good teams, the Irish are more talented and should be able to win against both of them. Yes, these are possible upset alerts. That being said, if Notre Dame was to beat both Army and Navy, how will the narrative look at these wins? Would it be "Okay, we knew that they were playing over their weight" or "These are great victories for the Irish"? There will be some that will try to diminish the achievements, but both Army and Navy are very good sides who could upset Notre Dame. That being said, this weekend Navy has been terrible against the run as they rank 95th in the country and the Irish have to exploit that. Notre Dame should just keep pounding the ball with Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love as that's a great running back tandem. Those two probably would be too much for Navy's defense and the win might seem more probable at that point rather than possible.
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