New American Frontier - Featured Game of the Week: Navy vs. #15 Notre Dame

As the conference continues to look for credibility in the eyes of the nation, another opportunity arises this week. Navy carries the United States flag and AAC banner into South Bend on the Golden Domer network aka NBC. 

Navy hasn't beaten Notre Dame since 2010 when Navy beat ND 3 out of 4 times from 2007 to 2010. Recently the Irish have run off four straight but Navy has been competitive the last two meetings.

The Irish are listed as a 14.5 point favorite. Needless to but Irish dominate the series 75-12-1.  Tomorrow the Middies hope to inch closer to narrowing the gap. Can they?

The keys for Navy? Keenan Reynolds, Keenan Reynolds and more Keenan Reynolds. Notre Dame is going to game plan for Reynolds but until they can actually stop him, Navy must feed the Irish a steady Reynolds diet. Of course Navy coaches will keep that in mind when doing their own game plan. If they can work in some play action, they might be able to make Irish defenders hesitate enough to let Reynolds run loose. On the other hand, ND did contain Reynolds to 47 yards on 18 carries but Navy still ran wild with 336 yards. 

The Middie defense must get to ND QB early and often. Even though he is young and inexperienced, Deshone Kizer has performed well since been thrown into the fire. The Irish will need to mix it up with C.J. Prosise running and WR Will Fuller to keep Navy defense off balance.

This is a big game not only for Navy but for the conference resume. With East Carolina traveling to quasi-member BYU and USF hosting Syracuse, the American has a chance to make a resounding statement to the rest of the college football world....The American is no longer rising....We Are Here! Deal With It!