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The 5 Best Games in Notre Dame vs. Navy History

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, IN - NOVEMBER 02: The U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform a stadium flyover before the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Navy Midshipmen at Notre Dame Stadium on November 2, 2013 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - NOVEMBER 02: The U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform a stadium flyover before the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Navy Midshipmen at Notre Dame Stadium on November 2, 2013 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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2. 2007 Navy 46, Notre Dame 44

Steve Spurrier once said something to the affect of, “You can’t have a rivalry if one team is always winning.” He said things like it to get under the skin of Florida’s rivals. Proving him right, though, was Kentucky. Kentucky dropped 31 straight games to the Gators before beating them in 2018. For Kentucky, beating Florida was everything. For the Gators, Kentucky wasn’t a rival, but a possible embarrassment.

In many ways, Navy was Notre Dame’s Kentucky for decades. The 43 straight wins that Notre Dame holds over Navy is the most consecutive wins by one program over another ever. The closest active streak is Ohio State over Indiana, at 24 games.

So, when Notre Dame lost to Navy in 2007 it was a surprise and an embarrassment. For the Midshipmen, it was jubilation. It was proof they weren’t a free win or a laughing stock.

The 2007 Notre Dame team was the one to upset if you were sick of Notre Dame’s long history of dominance. Charlie Weis led the Irish to a shocking 3-9 season, following a 10 win campaign from the year before. On top of that, Notre Dame was consistently being blown out in games.

As for Navy, they had a strong year. They went to and lost the Poinsettia Bowl, in a close game to Utah. They’d finish at 8-5. However, going into the Notre Dame game, Navy was coming off of a shootout loss to FCS Delaware. That Delaware team could have been nicknamed the “Fighting Joe Flaccos,” which is the main reason Navy lost.

Notre Dame scored first on a Robert Hughes touchdown rush. From there, the two went back and forth. Navy kept answering Irish scores, but Notre Dame did just enough to keep the Midshipmen down by a touchdown at the half, 21-14.

The second half is when Navy made its push. They scored 14 unanswered points to jump ahead of Notre Dame 28-21. That’s when Navy’s ball control attack put pressure on the Irish, who weren’t able to score until just about 3 minutes left in the game. That score was a rush by Travis Thomas would tie the game at 28, and force overtime.

Notre Dame and Navy would match scores through the first two overtimes. First a touchdown, then a field goal. The game was then tied at 38. Navy had the ball first in the third overtime. They marched into the endzone, and got the two-point conversion on a pass from Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada pass to Reggie Campbell.

To keep the game going, Notre Dame needed to match the score. They got the touchdown, but not the two point conversion. Navy won 46-44, in what was Paul Johnson’s last season at the academy before taking the Georgia Tech job. Ken Niumatalolo took over for him. It should have been Charlie Weis’ last season, but Notre Dame stuck with him through two more mediocre seasons before paying his ridiculous buyout.

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