It wasn’t pretty, but sometime you just have to say ... a win is a win.

Last week, Notre Dame held off upset minded North Carolina, 44-34, for its third straight victory. It allows the Irish to head into the crucial month of November with a 7-1 record.

That record put Notre Dame at No. 10 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday.

Although the Irish continue to improve their running game, the defense had problems. It’s hard to believe that one player, in an 11-player sport, can hurt a team. But it is apparent the loss of junior Kyle Hamilton in the secondary does severely hurt the Irish defense. It’s not only his play - he is a sure bet to be an All America defensive back this year - but his on-field leadership is what is really hurting the Irish. Defensive back D.J. Brown said, “The main problem for us is just communication. It gets loud when we’re out there on third down.”

Hamilton is out with a knee injury suffered in the USC game. When he will return is not yet known. It is hopeful he will be back soon but head coach Brian Kelly and his staff are pretty quiet about when he will return - if at all this year. He was on the sidelines for the North Carolina game with clipboard in hand charting plays.

Without Hamilton the Tar Heels did pretty much what they wanted to for long stretches of time. QB Sam Howell completed 24 of 31 attempts for a whopping 341 yards and a touchdown. Top receiver Josh Downs had 10 catches for 142 yards with Antoine Green catching five for 83 and a TD. Howell spread the ball around with no less than eight different players catching passes in the game for the Tar Heels.

As you would guess, it was a season high for yards allowed. The Tar Heels had 564 total yards on offense.

Offensively, Kyren Williams had an outstanding night and one of the most exciting runs for a touchdown that you will ever see. In the fourth quarter with ND deep in its own territory, Williams took the hand off, appeared to be stopped, but managed to escape and like lightning took off on a 91 yard TD run. He finished with 199 yards on 22 carries. ND managed 293 rushing yards to go along with 230 passing.

More stats later.

Today, the Irish host long-time rival Navy. ND and Navy started playing on a regular basis in 1927. The series was the longest uninterrupted inter-sectional rivalry in the country before the teams were forced to abandon last year’s game due to COVID-19 and the Irish joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.

ND leads the series, 77-13-1. The two teams last played in 2019 with the Irish winning, 51-20. The cancellation of the 2020 game ended a streak of 91 consecutive games between the two schools.

Navy enters the game at 2-6 with wins over UCF, 34-30, and Tulsa last week, 20-17. The losses have been to Marshall, 49-7; Air Force, 23-3; Houston, 28-20; SM, 31-24; Memphis, 35-17; and Cincinnati, 27-20.

The lone common opponent for the two teams is Cincinnati. The Middies were ahead of Cincinnati for a time in that game and pushed the unbeaten Bearcats to the very end.

The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV. Note the change in kickoff time. The game has a 3:30 p.m. kickoff - an hour later than usual. The next home game, Georgia Tech, will have a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.

IRISH NOTES ... Williams’ backup, freshman Logan Diggs, carried 11 times for 42 yards and a score. Irish quarterback Jack Coan completed 16 of 24 attempts for 213 yards and a score, Tyler Buchner was 2-for-2 through the air for 17 yards and a score. Avery Davis caught five passes for 51 yards and a score; Michael Mayer had 51 yards on four catches; Lorenzo Styles Jr., had 74 yards on three catches and Kevin Austin had 36 yards on three catches . Jonathan Doerer was 3-for-3 on field goals. Defensively, Isaiah Foskey had seven tackles with Houston Griffith, Clarence Lewis, JD Bertrand, TaRiq Bracy and Drew White all making six ... Of late, November had been a very successful month for the Irish, after the dismal 2016 season. In 2016, ND went 1-3 in November and finished 4-8 on the year. Kelly then revamped his coaching staff. Since the makeover of the staff, ND and Kelly are 15-1 in November with the lone loss to Miami in 2017. That loss has been followed by 22 successive regular-season wins against ACC teams. ND had two more ACC games left this season, Virginia on the road and Georgia Tech in South Bend ... Navy has lost to three teams ranked in the AP top 25. Besides Cincinnati, the Middies lost to Houston and SMU - all coming by eight points or fewer, which should gave ND reason for concern ... Navy won last week, 20-17, but didn’t complete a pass in the game ... Defensive coordinate Marcus Freeman is no stranger to Navy’s triple-option. In his first meeting against Navy as defensive coordinator, Freeman’s defense took a licking, giving up 622 yards in total offense to Navy in a 42-32 loss. However, the next year Freeman’s defense shut down Navy in a 42-0 Cincinnati win as Mids managed only 124 yards rushing and 171 total for the game ... Some facts from the ND athletic department. Running back Kyren Williams ranked third among all players in FBS with 261 all-purpose yards during Week 9. Williams’ 91-yard TD run tied for the fifth-longest rush in Notre Dame history. Defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey is tied for third in the NCAA with 9.0 sacks on the season. It is the most sacks for an ND player since Stephon Tuitt had 12.0 sacks during the 2012 season. The Irish have won 38-consecutive games against unranked opponents dating back to the 2016 season. It is currently the longest active streak in the FBS. With the win over North Carolina, Notre Dame won its 50th game over the past five seasons (2017-21). It is the third time in program history they have won at least 50 games over a five-year span (53-8-1 from 1988-92 and 52-9-1 from 1989-93) ... ND and Navy announced this week that the 2023 game between the two schools - scheduled for South Bend on Nov. 11 - will be played in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26. It will be the first time an ND home game will be played outside the United States and the first time NBC will televise a college game outside the U.S. ND and Navy were scheduled to play the 2020 game in Ireland but it was canceled due to COVID 19 travel restrictions ... ND is favored by 21 points today, which I think is a little high. In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning today, and they should. Hamilton’s absence in the game should not be a big problem since Navy does not like to throw the football very much. I will stay with my pick as ND should get win number eight.