season. In 2017 it was Navy 43 minutes to ND's 17. Defenders on the field that long, for that many plays against all that cut blocking has effects not just in the game but future games. It's destructive. I lost faith in Mike Elko after that game.
It drives me crazy when Kelly concedes in his Navy press conferences that ND will have limited possessions, i.e., concedes TOP. If you're concerned about the safety of your players, then come up with a tactical or strategic answer to prevent that. ND won the TOP last year 32 mins to 28. Admittedly, that was a bad Navy team that couldn't sustain drives (1 10+ play drive when the game was over) or stop sustained ND drives (multiple 10+ play drives). If you see that the defense can't prevent long drives, then be more aggressive on defense, go for it more on 4th down on offense, onside kick. Find a way to protect your defenders. Don't concede that Navy is going to do what it wants to do.