Mids adjust, but Irish don't

SOUTH BEND, IND. - Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis bragged last week about how his defense "dominated" and "mauled" the Navy offense in last year's meeting between the schools.

Weis got his come-uppance yesterday as the Midshipmen and their dangerous triple-option offense made a proud Fighting Irish defense look silly.

Quarterback Ricky Dobbs and fullback Vince Murray led the way as Navy rolled up 348 yards rushing, repeatedly fooling Notre Dame and catching defenders out of position. Murray found some huge holes up the middle in running for 158 yards and a touchdown while Dobbs was highly effective on keepers in contributing 102 yards and a score.

Because of the comments made by Weis, the Navy coaching staff felt certain that Notre Dame would employ the same type of defensive alignment it did last year. The Midshipmen worked all week on a counter-attack.

"I really hope this doesn't come across wrong, but I think the one thing that helped us this year was last year because we knew they'd line up the same way," Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "They did a great job against us last year defensively, so we had a pretty good clue that they were going to come back and do the same things, and we had a few things."

Murray, who became the starting fullback five games ago, surpassed the 100-yard mark for the fourth straight game. Napoleon McCallum was the last Navy running back to accomplish that feat, rushing for 100 yards or more in six straight games in 1983.

"He's just been getting better and better and better with each game," Niumatalolo said of Murray, who now has 796 yards for the season. "Our guys inside blocked better, too."

Dobbs sat out the Wake Forest win and played sparingly in the Temple loss due to a cracked bone in his knee. However, the powerful 6-foot-1, 198-pound junior looked in top form yesterday while breaking tackles and running over defenders.

"I thought Ricky played phenomenally. For him to be back playing against Notre Dame is a miracle," Niumatalolo said. "The doctors thought he was done for the season, but he is a man of great faith and determination."

Navy started sophomore Eric Douglass at center and bumped Curtis Bass to right guard. That's because the coaching staff expected Notre Dame to leave the center uncovered and thus it was more important to have Bass, the season-long starter at center, playing guard.

Douglass got hurt just before halftime and did not return, so Bass moved back to center and fellow senior Andy Lark took over at right guard. Those two combined with left guard Osei Asante to provide strong interior blocking.

"The offensive line was making huge holes. We just came off the ball hard and played as hard and fast as we could," Murray said.

THOSE SNEAKY MIDS: Navy worked all week on a play involving wide receiver Greg Jones that was designed to fool the Notre Dame defense. Offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper saw the perfect opportunity to call the play and it produced a 52-yard touchdown pass that proved crucial to the victory.

Throughout the game, Jones lined up in the slot and off the line of scrimmage, making him an ineligible receiver. With Navy facing second-and-seven from its own 48-yard line, the coaching staff called for the trick play, which saw Jones move up to the line of scrimmage and outside receiver Mike Schupp take a few steps back. That made Jones eligible and Schupp ineligible.

Notre Dame cornerback Robert Blanton thought Jones was ineligible as he had been all game, and let him go free. Dobbs threw a perfect spiral to the wide-open Jones, who caught the ball at about the 15-yard line and raced into the end zone to extend the Navy lead to 21-7.

Jasper said wide receivers coach Danny O'Rourke actually called for the play, which worked just the way it was drawn up. "We moved the backside slot up to the line and dropped the outside receiver off the line and that made Greg eligible. We thought we could sneak the guy out the back and Coach O'Rourke had the presence of mind to ask me to call that play when we really needed it," Jasper said.

It was the first career touchdown catch and only the fourth career reception for Jones, a junior out of San Antonio, Texas. "That was a play we were working on all week. We had a feeling that when that play was called it would wind up being something special," Jones said.

MID BITS: Senior Craig Schaefer made his first career start at outside linebacker and responded with a career-high nine tackles and a sack for a safety… Kicker Joe Buckley missed a 30-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the first half, snapping a streak of seven straight successful field goals… Kyle Delahooke continues to punt well, with a 46.2-yard average on five kicks yesterday.