FedEx Field - Landover, MD
Kickoff: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Notre Dame -14, Total: 55.5

No. 6 Notre Dame looks to improve its playoff chances when travels to Landover, MD on Saturday night to take on Navy.

The Irish have had a solid year thus far while being 5-2 ATS, and lost their first game of the year in their most recent game on Oct. 18 at Florida State. Prior to that contest, they had defeated their opponents by an average of 17.3 PPG while failing to cover the 30-point spread versus Purdue (30-14) and the 16.5 points they were giving to North Carolina (50-43). Notre Dame put forth a great effort in the 31-27 loss against FSU as a nine-point underdog, but could not keep a 17-10 halftime lead as the Seminoles tallied 21 second-half points and won despite being outgained 470 to 323. The Irish held Florida State to a meager 1.9 YPC over 26 rushing attempts, but committed a pair of costly turnovers. Navy had a rough start to the 2014 season, dropping four of its first six games, but has used its explosive rushing attack to take the last two opponents down with a combined 92 points and 773 rushing yards. Overall, the Midshipmen are 3-5 ATS, but were able to cover last week against San Jose State as 8.5-point favorites in a 41-31 victory behind 423 rushing yards (6.2 YPC) while the two programs combined for 901 yards of total offense. Notre Dame has won the past three meetings between these teams SU, but didn't come close to covering the 16.5-point spread in last year's 38-34 victory. Navy actually led that game at half, 20-17, and controlled the clock for 37:36 thanks to 331 rushing yards to 264 rushing yards for the Irish. Some betting trends to keep an eye on include that the Fighting Irish are 23-10 ATS (70%) on the road versus good rushing teams (4.75+ YPC) since 1992, and that Navy is an impressive 42-18 ATS (70%) when coming off a home win in that same timeframe. As far as injuries go, Notre Dame has no significant players missing from its roster while the Midshipmen have WR Ryan Williams-Jenkins (eye) listed as questionable.

Can Notre Dame cover the lofty spread on Saturday? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. StatFox Gary is heating up with a 67% ATS mark (6-3) in Best Bets over the past three weeks.

Notre Dame’s offense has been mostly potent this season with 285.1 passing YPG (29th in nation) and 162.4 rushing YPG (67th in FBS) with 33.4 PPG (42nd in nation). QB Everett Golson (1,996 pass yards, 19 TD, 6 INT) has come back with vengeance after being suspended in 2013 and has thrown for 300+ yards in three of his past four games. He also gets it done with his legs, running for 239 yards (3.5 YPC) and four touchdowns while having double-digit attempts in 5-of-7 games. HB Tarean Folston (383 rush yards, 2 TD) has been impressive over the past two weeks with a full workload, totaling 218 yards on 39 attempts (5.6 YPC) and scoring twice. Folston was also able to be a big part of the passing game in the win over UNC, catching five balls for 71 yards and a touchdown. WR William Fuller (583 rec yards, 8 TD) has impressed all year and has really shined in two games where he had over 115 yards with two touchdowns. With 4 TD catches, WR Corey Robinson (359 rec yards) has also been a threat in this offense while coming off his best game of the year last week against Florida State (8 rec, 99 yards, 2 TD). The defense for the Irish had not allowed a team to score more than 17 points on them over their first five games, but they have surrendered 74 total points over the past two contests which raised their scoring defense to 19.1 PPG (14th in FBS). Senior LB Joe Schmidt (57 tackles, 2 INT) and LB Jaylon Smith (53 tackles, 2 sacks) will have to do their best to improve against this feisty Navy offense.

As usual, the Midshipmen bring one of the best option attacks to the field and have rushed for 352.3 YPG (2nd in FBS) while throwing for a meager 91.6 YPG and scoring 30.9 PPG. QB Keenan Reynolds (518 pass yards, 2 TD, 2 INT) averages just 11.5 passing attempts per game this season and is counted on more in the option as a runner than a passer. He has 639 yards (4.3 YPC) on the ground while scoring 11 times. This includes a huge game last week when Reynolds rumbled for 251 yards (6.4 YPC) and three touchdowns in the win over San Jose State. The team has a wealth of runners that it uses in a variety of ways, and so far HB Noah Copeland (602 rush yards, 3 TD) has been the best performer, while HB Chris Swain (455 rush yards, 2 TD) has also played a big role for the team from the fullback position. The only real receiver of note on the roster is WR Jamir Tillman (303 rec yards, 1 TD) who has averaged 18.9 yards per catch, but has had one or fewer receptions in five of the team’s eight games. The defense has not looked great, allowing their opposition to score 27.6 PPG (76th in FBS) with 411.5 total YPG. LB Daniel Gonzales (57 tackles, 1 INT) and S Parrish Gaines (24 tackles, 3 INT, 1 TD) try to improve this side of the ball moving forward.