Notre Dame and Navy kick off the 2023 college football season on Saturday.
Will second-year head coach Marcus Freeman restore Notre Dame to her former glory? Will Navy topple their opponents with their unconventional scheme and discipline?
Frankly, no one cares. We just want to watch football again.
This is an actual football game between two real-life teams being played in real time. The starved college football fanbase has been looking forward to this game since Georgia started celebrating their National Championship victory seven months ago.
Notre Dame and Navy will take the field in Aviva Stadium at 2:30 EST for a real game. Not a spring game. Not a scrimmage. Not even an exhibition game. A real football game with stakes.
For months, the closest thing we’ve had to college football was talking about conference realignment, simulating the season dozens of times over on NCAA 14, and having strangely specific dreams about Lincoln Riley asking me to go in when Caleb Williams leaves the game with an injury.
The Fighting Irish and Midshipmen will engage in battle that kicks off a relatively dull Week 0, but hey—it’s football!
Here’s what to look forward to in the Notre Dame vs Navy game this weekend:
Notre Dame vs Navy Preview
Notre Dame
Sam Hartman will be under center for Notre Dame in 2023. He left Wake Forest after last season, becoming the only player in Demon Deacon history that you can name off the top of your head.
The most exciting part about his Irish debut is that he plays football, and that he’s playing it this Saturday.
Hartman won’t be the only Fighting Irish player to take the field on Saturday. Thank goodness for that.
Navy
Navy head coach Brian Newberry will make his coaching debut in literally the first game of the entire season. So, no pressure, Brian.
Under Newberry, Navy will bring their classic triple-option offense to the gridiron. In this offense, the Midshipmen will try to move the ball down the field and score, which we haven’t seen a team do since the National Championship game in January. Unless you watched the USFL, in which case you need this game really, really badly.
At the end of the day, this is a real-life football game we get to watch. You’re gonna watch it and I’m gonna watch it, even though neither of us are a fan of either team.
So lift your Guinness and your grog, and let’s have a happy football season.
Notre Dame vs Navy Preview: A Football Game We Get to Watch