2007 Navy vs. Notre Dame football game
Encyclopedia
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
consecutive wins streak by one team over another. On November 3, 2007, the Navy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
Midshipmen
Navy Midshipmen football
The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I-A college football. They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school and coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007...
defeated the Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
46–44 in triple-overtime
Overtime (sports)
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
at Notre Dame's home field, Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame Stadium is the home football stadium for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. The stadium is located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States, just north of the city of South Bend....
in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
. Notre Dame came into the game with 43 consecutive wins against Navy since the last loss in 1963. With the win, Navy improved to 5–4 and Notre Dame fell to 1–8 on the season.
Leading into the game
The 2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team
The 2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was the college football team that represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2007 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Charlie Weis in his third year as head coach, and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre...
began the season with a 33–3 loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
. It was the most lopsided loss Notre Dame had ever suffered in a season-opening game. Notre Dame then lost to Penn State
2007 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
The 2007 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2007 college football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania....
, Michigan
2007 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 2007 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 2007 college football season. This was Lloyd Carr's final season as Michigan head coach. The 2007 season began with a stunning loss to Appalachian State, but the Wolverines won eight straight games after...
(tying Notre Dame's worst-ever loss at 38–0), Michigan State
2007 Michigan State Spartans football team
The 2007 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 2007–2008 college football season. Mark Dantonio began his first season as the Spartans' head coach. The Spartans play their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.-Schedule:-2008 NFL...
, and Purdue
2007 Purdue Boilermakers football team
The 2007 Purdue Boilermakers football represented Purdue University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Joe Tiller, in his 11th season at Purdue, was the team's head coach. The Boilermakers' home games were played at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette,...
It was the first time in school history for Notre Dame to open the season with five losses. Notre Dame's worst opening prior to 2007 was 0–3.
The Fighting Irish snapped their losing streak with a win at UCLA
2007 UCLA Bruins football team
The 2007 UCLA Bruins football team represented UCLA in the college football 2007-2008 season. They played their home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and were coached by Karl Dorrell for the regular season. It was Dorrell's fifth, and final season as the UCLA head coach. UCLA's...
but then lost to Boston College and USC
2007 USC Trojans football team
The 2007 University of Southern California Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California during the college football season of 2007–2008, winning a share of the Pacific-10 Conference Championship and winning the 2008 Rose Bowl...
to fall to 1–7. With only four regular season games remaining, Notre Dame was assured of a losing season and they were out of contention for a bowl game
Bowl eligible
Bowl eligibility in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision College Football is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible"...
.
The 2007 Navy Midshipmen football team was off to a better start. They had achieved victories against Temple, Duke, Air Force, and Pittsburgh. Losses against Rutgers, Ball State, Wake Forest, and Delaware put them 4–4 on the season. With four games remaining in the season, Navy needed to win at least two in order to be invited to a bowl game. The Poinsettia Bowl
Poinsettia Bowl
The Poinsettia Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was created in 2005. The game was created by the organizers of the Holiday Bowl and is played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game is currently sponsored by the San Diego...
and Navy had arranged for Navy to play in that bowl if they reached six wins.
Both teams play NCAA Division I FBS football as independent teams, unaffiliated with any conference. The game was televised nationally by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, which has the exclusive TV broadcast rights to Notre Dame home games.
Game summary
Notre Dame made the first score of the game, a 3 yard touchdownTouchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
run by Robert Hughes. It was the only score of the first quarter. Each team scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, to give the Irish a 21–14 lead at halftime.
Navy scored a touchdown in the third quarter but they failed to make the extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
. It was the only score of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Navy's Chris Kuhar-Pitters collected a fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
at the Notre Dame 16 yard line and ran it in for a touchdown. Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada rushed for the two-point conversion to take a 28–21 lead - their first of the game. Notre Dame tied the score with a touchdown. The game eventually went to overtime, with the aid of a questionable decision from Irish head coach Charlie Weis
Charlie Weis
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Weis is an American football coach. He currently serves as offensive coordinator for the Florida Gators. For five years, from December 2004 through 2009, he was the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame...
: With 45 seconds left in regulation, Notre Dame faced a fourth-and-8 on the Navy 24; instead of attempting a 41 yard field goal that could have won the game, Weis opted to go for the first down. The gamble backfired when Navy sacked quarterback Evan Sharpley in spectacular fashion, with Midshipmen linebacker Ram Vela literally leaping over a blocker to assist in the sack.
In the first overtime, Notre Dame won the coin toss
Coin flipping
Coin flipping or coin tossing or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air to choose between two alternatives, sometimes to resolve a dispute between two parties...
and elected to go on defense. Navy scored a touchdown and their extra point was good. The Irish replied with a touchdown and extra point to bring up the second overtime. This time, each team scored a field goal, necessitating a third overtime.
NCAA rules stipulate that, beginning with the third overtime, teams may not kick an extra point after making a touchdown; instead, they must go for a two-point conversion. Navy went to the air; Reggie Campbell caught a 25 yard pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
from Kaheaku-Enhada on their first play from scrimmage. Kaheaku-Enhada threw again to Campbell for the successful two-point conversion. Notre Dame also scored a touchdown on their possession. Their first attempt at the conversion ended in an incomplete pass, but Navy was called for pass interference on the play. The Irish got a second chance at the conversion, this time from the 1½-yard line instead of the 3. They opted for a running play, but Navy stuffed the attempt at the line of scrimmage. That gave Navy the 46–44 win.
Analysis
The game ended the longest streak for most consecutive wins by one team over anotherMost consecutive wins over one opponent (NCAA football)
The following is a list of the all-time leading NCAA Division I FBS college football single-opponent winning streaks. Teams are ranked by the number of consecutive wins they've posted against a specific opponent. All streaks of at least 20 games are in the list.† Active Streak...
in college football. Prior to the game, Notre Dame had achieved 43 consecutive wins against Navy since the last loss in 1963, when Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
was quarterback for the Midshipmen. The game was the fifth straight home loss for the Irish, establishing a new school record.
After the game, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was asked whether the game, following Notre Dame's 38-0 loss to USC, was a low point for the Fighting Irish. He said, "A low point is when you get beat 38-0. That's a low point. A low point is when the game is going OK and one team is pulling away from you and making plays when you're not making plays. The low point for me is we didn't win the game."
Navy coach Paul Johnson said, "It's a big win for our program. It's a big win for the academy. I'm happy I don't have to answer anything else about the streak every time we play." Weis, on the other-hand, was not bothered by being the coach of the team that allowed Navy to end the streak. He said the 43-year winning streak had no meaning to him or his team.
ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
reported, "For Notre Dame, it was its school-record fifth straight home loss, another low point in a season of lows."
With this streak broken, the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats football
The Kentucky Wildcats football team is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.-History:Paul "Bear" Bryant Era...
held the two longest active losing streaks to an annual opponent in Division I FBS. Their then-current streak of 22 losses to Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
reached 26 before the Wildcats ended that streak
2011 Kentucky Wildcats football team
The 2011 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the college football season of 2011–2012. The team, led by second-year head coach Joker Phillips, played their home games at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, and competed in the Eastern Division of the...
on November 26, 2011. The Wildcats' losing streak against Florida
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
, which was 20 at the end of the 2006 season and 21 by the time of this Navy–Notre Dame game, stands at 25 as of the end of the 2011 season
2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level, began on Thursday, September 1, 2011...
and is now the longest current such streak in FBS. Temple has a 29-game losing streak to Penn State, with their last win being in 1941. However, this series is not played every year.
See also
- College football rules
- American football strategyAmerican football strategyAmerican football strategy concerns the deployment of offensive, defensive, and special teams players in American football.-Offensive strategy:The goal of offensive strategy is to score points...
- Glossary of American footballGlossary of American footballThe following terms are used in American football and Canadian football, but see also the glossary of Canadian football.-0-9: A formation of the 4-3 defense featuring several dramatic shifts of personnel...
- Most consecutive wins over one opponent (NCAA football)Most consecutive wins over one opponent (NCAA football)The following is a list of the all-time leading NCAA Division I FBS college football single-opponent winning streaks. Teams are ranked by the number of consecutive wins they've posted against a specific opponent. All streaks of at least 20 games are in the list.† Active Streak...