Nolan James Jr. scores twice as No. 5 Notre Dame pulls away from Navy 35-13

Nolan James Jr. ran for 107 yards and touchdowns of 52 and 23 yards, CJ Carr threw two touchdown passes, and No. 5 Notre Dame beat Navy 35-13 on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It was the Irish's ninth straight win in the series, according to the Associated Press.

For a half, Navy played the game it wanted. Quarterback Jackson Gutierrez carried 28 times for 110 yards, and the Midshipmen held the ball so long that Notre Dame had only three first-half possessions and 6:27 of time of possession, per the AP. Gutierrez's 2-yard run put Navy up 13-7 with 1:52 left in the half.

Notre Dame needed 50 seconds to answer. James broke a 52-yard touchdown run, and the Irish went to the locker room up 14-13.

They scored on each of their first three possessions after halftime. Jonaz Walton finished a 78-yard drive with a 3-yard run, James added his 23-yard score, and on the first play of the fourth quarter Carr hit Jerome Bettis Jr. for a 31-yard touchdown. It was the first career touchdown for Bettis, the son of the Hall of Fame running back and former Notre Dame star.

Carr finished 19 of 29 for 210 yards with no interceptions. Bettis led the Irish with six catches for 78 yards, and Notre Dame piled up 426 yards without a turnover. Luke Talich made 10 tackles.

Navy finished with 212 rushing yards against a defense that came in allowing 67.3 per game, but it had only 33 passing yards and committed eight penalties for 86 yards. The Midshipmen, 29.5-point underdogs, have not beaten Notre Dame since 2016.

Notre Dame is 7-1 and bounced back from its loss at BYU two weeks ago. Navy falls to 2-6. The AP noted that the Irish defense took a while to adjust to Navy's option looks, and next week will ask something very different of it.

What's next: Notre Dame hosts top-ranked Miami next Saturday, and Navy hosts Temple.