EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Jeremiyah Love ran for 102 yards, two touchdowns and extended his streak of rushing for a TD to eight games in leading No. 12 Notre Dame to a 51-14 victory over No. 24 Navy on Saturday, knocking the uncharacteristically mistake-prone Midshipmen from the unbeaten ranks.
Love scored on runs of 64 and 2 yards and quarterback Riley Leonard ran for a touchdown and threw two more as the Fighting Irish (7-1) beat Navy (6-1) for the seventh straight time in this 97th meeting, which was played at MetLife Stadium.
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The Midshipmen, who had not lost a fumble all season, lost five and that led to 28 points for the Irish, with Jaylen Sneed recovering a Blake Horvath fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Love's shorter TD run, a 6-yard TD pass from Leonard to Kris Mitchell and a late 4-yard TD run by Kedren Young also followed turnovers, including two on muffed punts.
Leonard finished 13 of 21 for 178 yards, adding a 37-yard TD toss to Beaux Collins in helping the Irish win their sixth straight following a stunning loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2.
The Irish led 31-7 at the half and never were threatened.
Horvath scored on a 47-yard run for Navy and finished with 129 yards on 14 carries. Eli Heidenreich scored on a short run for the other touchdown.
Notre Dame outgained Navy 466-310 with the 51 points being the most allowed by the Midshipmen this season.
The takeaway
Notre Dame: The Irish knew they had to be efficient on offense to keep Navy from running its ball-control offense, and they did just that. Leonard and the offense are rounding into form and it now has scored at least 30 points in four straight games. The defense has been good all season and nothing changed against Navy.
Navy: Horvath is an outstanding quarterback and the offense can go up and down when it doesn't cough up the ball. Navy's defense could not handle Notre Dame's size, speed and talent, and the bad position its offense placed it in.
Poll implications
The Irish played well except for a couple of busts on runs by Horvath. It would not be a surprise if they moved up. Navy played its worst game in years and it probably will knock them out of the poll.
UP NEXT:
Norte Dame: has a bye and returns Nov. 9 at home against Florida State.
Navy: at Rice on Saturday.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll