The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have won the 2023 Aer Lingus College Football Classic after comprehensively beating the Navy Midshipmen 42-3 at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.
Notre Dame scored off all four possessions in the first half to completely blow Navy away and didn't take their foot off the pedal in the second half as they added two further seven-pointers.
The Midshipmen simply had no answer and never really troubled the Notre Dame endzone in a one-sided game in Dublin.
First-quarter touchdowns from Audric Estime and Jadarian Price gave Notre Dame a commanding 14-0 lead after 15 minutes, while further touchdowns from Jaden Greathouse and Jayden Thomas in the second quarter gave the Fighting Irish an unassailable 28-0 half-time lead.
Quarterback Sam Hartman, who was playing his first game for Notre Dame after transferring from Wake Forest earlier in the year, threw two touchdown passes in the opening half, finding Greathouse from 35 yards before picking out Thomas from 14 yards ten seconds before the end of the half.
Hartman ➡️ Greathouse
YES#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/eEnbFlIhEd
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 26, 2023
Hartman threw two more touchdown passes after the half-time interval, finding Greathouse again early in the third quarter before throwing to Deoin Colzie who ran in from distance.
Hartman was awarded the MVP award for his performance and said after the game that it was "special" to make his debut in Dublin.
Navy did manage to launch a late drive in a bid to avoid a shut-out but were rebuffed time and time again by a watertight Notre Dame defense and eventually settled for an Evan Warren field goal to open their account late in the contest and some respectability to the scoreline.
Prior to kickoff, there was all of the usual pageantry, with a special performance from the famous Notre Dame Marching Band, the oldest college marching band in the United States.
Three V-22 Osprey aircraft also flew over the stadium as the band performed the Star-Spangled Banner ahead of kickoff, while the predominately American crowd greeted a rousing rendition of the Irish national anthem (Amhrán na bhFiann) with a huge cheer ahead of kickoff.
Three @usnavy Ospreys perform a flyover Aviva Stadium Dublin during the Star Spangled Banner 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nVZdVWI6Al
— U.S. Embassy Dublin (@USEmbassyDublin) August 26, 2023
Meanwhile, the mid-game appearance of NFL legend and former Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana was greeted with a raucous cheer by the partisan Notre Dame crowd.
Several events took place around Dublin on Saturday afternoon as Notre Dame fans took over the streets of Ireland's capital ahead of the game on Saturday evening.
Tens of thousands of Notre Dame fans gathered on Dame Street - renamed Notre Dame Street for the weekend - and on College Green, which were both pedestrianized for 24 hours to allow American fans to tailgate.
There were also pep rallies, cheer squad performances, and band performances as Dublin city center was transformed for the afternoon.
Tá Notre Dame sa Bhaile 🇮🇪☘️
What an incredible turnout for the @NDFootball tailgate on ‘Notre Dame Street’.
Only a few more hours ‘til kickoff! #MuchMoreThanAGame | #TouchdownIreland pic.twitter.com/LUiyf6x4cY
— Aer Lingus College Football Classic (@cfbireland) August 26, 2023
More than 6,500 Notre Dame fans also attended an opening mass in Dublin Castle on Saturday morning.
6,500 members of the @NotreDame community attended an opening mass in Dublin Castle today!
Incredible. 🙌 🇮🇪#MuchMoreThanAGame | #TouchdownIreland pic.twitter.com/8DTHHTKxoR
— Aer Lingus College Football Classic (@cfbireland) August 26, 2023
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