In a season full of upsets, this might not have been the most unexpected, but it was certainly, for one underdog, the most gratifying. Coming into the game as 3 or 4 point underdogs, depending on which book's statistics you were looking at, Navy had lost to Notre Dame for 43 consecutive games over the last 44 years, the longest drought one team has had against another in NCAA history. Not since 1963 had Navy defeated Notre Dame.

So in a season where Notre Dame is historically bad, and struggling despite finding some recent signs of life, and Navy was fielding a solid team that had bowl potential, this was a date on the calendar that had been marked in every Naval Academy attendee's calendar since the second week of the season. Things weren't all sunshine. Navy had lost to I-AA Delaware only the week before, and Notre Dame had upset UCLA while beginning to find their offense again.

There was a surprising amount of scoring for a game where the leading passer, Notre Dame's Sharpley, had only 143 yards, and the leading receiver less than fifty. Navy beat Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime. They made a TD and 2 pt conversion, putting the pressure on the fighting Irish, who scored a TD, and then missed the two point conversion, but had an extremely dubious pass interference call called on Navy to give them half the distance to the goal and another lease on life.

With the second attempt they tried to run it in, and a whole swarm of white jerseyed Midshipmen stormed all over the running back, stopping him well short and ending Notre Dame's record winning streak. Want some idea of how long the streak was? Roger Staubach was the last quarterback for Navy to beat Notre Dame, and if you are less than forty years old, this is the first time this event has occurred in your life time.

This was the first victory for Navy since 1963 when future NFL star and Hall of Fame quarterback roger Staubach. They beat Notre Dame 35-14, and that was it. During this long streak there were seven times the Midshipmen had chances to close it in the 4th quarter, but success eluded them again and again. But Navy was persistent, they fought tooth and nail, and in the end their pure heart and desire would not let them lose.

Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada was Navy's winning quarterback, and he ran and passed extremely well, mixing it up. No Navy runner had more than 100 yards, but the offense was explosive as the players shared the load and got the job done.

Congratulations to Navy for breaking Notre Dame's winning streak, and to the young men of this team who have etched their place in Naval Academy lore.

Learn more about this author, Shane Dayton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Legendary college football teams: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish?
We want to hear your view. Write now!