Takeaways as Notre Dame football routs Navy in a snow globe at Notre Dame Stadium

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Playing Navy is always a tough study for Notre Dame football.

It's not like playing Purdue or the other spread offense teams. The Irish prepared all year just to play the Midshipmen's triple-option offense for one game.

The Irish took care of business.

A sloppy wet game turned into a snowy wonderland for the Irish, as they sunk Navy with a slew of big plays on offense. They took care of the small things, too.

Final: Notre Dame 49, Navy 10.

Here are our takeaways as Notre Dame routed Navy in a snowy South Bend on Saturday.

One big takeaway: Clean play

One thing Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said last week was that Notre Dame has to eliminate the plays that beat Notre Dame.

Notre Dame did not get penalized on Saturday.

A week after the kicking game malfunctioned against Boston College, 

Mission accomplished.

CJ Carr’s deep ball is emerging as a weapon

Notre Dame’s redshirt freshman quarterback has had his ups and downs this season. The USC win was not one of his best games, but he did what he needed to do to lift the Irish to a win.

On Saturday, Carr showed off his deep ball plenty.

Navy stacked the box to stop Jeremiyah Love and the Irish running game, but that opened up man coverage with some of Notre Dame’s speedy receivers.

Carr hit five passes of 20 yards or more. This includes a 52-yard bomb to Malachi Fields and a 34-yard touchdown to KK Smith.

Carr also had a deep pass in the third fall incomplete, but there was pass interference on the play. Carr didn’t complete the pass, but his receiver had his man beat. Carr just had to give him a shot and that forced Navy to interfere. It was either a 15-yard penalty, or a long touchdown.

Carr capped that drive off with a seven-yard touchdown to Ty Washington.

His final stat line: 13 of 16 passing, for 213 yards and three touchdowns. Kenny Minchey replaced Carr in the third quarter.

His deep ball looks as good as DeShone Kizer’s did and has the potential to be even better.

Your weekly Jeremiyah Love moment

On first and 10 from the Navy 48-yard line, Carr handed the ball to Love. Navy looked like it had Love wrapped up, spinning him down.

Love, however, was not down.

He spun himself back up and raced himself to the end zone. The Midshipmen could not sink Love for long. It was another weekly moment that reminds the college football world that Love is just one of the best players in the sport, let alone one of the best running backs.

Love needed 107 yards to break 1,000 yards on the season. That might need to wait until the next game, but that should come in short order.

Love should gain more Heisman traction. It’s head-scratching why he’s not listed as a finalist in some projections.

By closing out the season with a handful of big games, Love might vault himself into the conversation. It might be hard to overtake Fernando Mendoza, however. His heroics vs. Penn State to keep Indiana undefeated might have just earned him the award.

Love deserves to be in the conversation, though. Make no mistake.

Notre Dame should move up in the CFP poll

Entering Saturday, BYU and Texas Tech both lay ahead of No. 10 Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff rankings.

On Saturday, Texas Tech gave BYU the business with a 29-7 win. That should drop BYU, which is no longer undefeated. Notre Dame should rise as they took care of Navy.

Oregon nearly fell to Iowa at Kinnick Stadium. That would have given the Irish a better shot at hosting a CFP game.

Still, there are three weeks left in the regular season. Notre Dame has a good chance to hop into the top eight and host a playoff game, considering how much movement can still happen in the final weeks plus the conference championship games.

It’ll help that Pitt is ranked in the CFP poll at 7-2. If Notre Dame wins that game, the Irish will have two wins over ranked teams. That’s a decent resume.

Stay tuned, Notre Dame.

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