Notre Dame 41, Navy 24: Five things we learned

DeShone Kizer was excellent, going 22 of 30 for 281 yards. But C.J. Prosise really carved up Navy on the ground, giving Notre Dame's offense some excellent balance.

Prosise ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Josh Adams added eight carries for 38 yards. Prosise did much of his best work in the red zone and on third down — 14 of ND's 27 first downs came on the ground.

Starter Tarean Folston tore his MCL just a few plays into the season, but Prosise has filled in more than admirably — he has 779 yards on 110 carries with nine touchdowns through six games.

Navy is going to run the ball a lot. We know this. But zero passing yards in the first half and 22 total just isn't going to do it. When they go down by two scores, the Midshipmen have a tough time coming back and just couldn't keep pace with Notre Dame, which used its running game to drain the clock.

Keenan Reynolds finished 2 of 4 for 17 yards. Backup Tago Smith was 1 of 2 for six yards and threw a late interception.

Reynolds entered the day with just 27 pass attempts on the season.

Notre Dame dominated Georgia Tech's option attack, showcasing great speed on the edge to bottle up quarterback Justin Thomas and his weapons.

The Irish weren't nearly as strong defending Navy. They allowed 318 yards on 49 carries, an average of 6.5. When Navy got down, it just couldn't move the ball through the air to get back into it.

It seems like Keenan Reynolds has been at Navy since 2008. But the four-year starter poised to break the NCAA record for touchdowns will finally depart after this season.

Junior Tago Smith will likely take over, and with Reynolds sidelined for part of Saturday's game with an injury, he played well. Smith ran for 47 yards on nine carries and looked comfortable leading this option attack. He did throw a late pick to seal the Irish victory.

Last year, Smith completed 10 of 14 passes for 215 yards and ran for 118 yards and three scores on 38 carries.

Between 1964 and 2006, Navy didn't beat Notre Dame. The two teams played every year.

Finally in 2007, the Midshipmen broke through with a victory and won two of the next three, as well. Notre Dame has won four straight since, but the last two have come by a combined 14 points.

This year, Navy was very much in the game. A series of miscues — two big plays that setup an ND field goal to close the first half, fumbling the opening kickoff of the second — ultimately cost them a chance to win it, but Ken Niumatalolo's group shows up against the Irish.