Notre Dame – Navy is a different kind of football rivalry
Published
Think of college football’s greatest rivalries, and you can’t help but think of bad blood.
Michigan and Ohio State, Alabama and Auburn, Oklahoma and Texas – these are the games teams circle on their schedule a year in advance.
Players, and perhaps to a greater degree, fan bases, that can’t stand each other. And that might be putting it lightly.
Then there’s Notre Dame and Navy.
Watch Notre Dame vs. Navy live Saturday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT on TSN2, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
It’s one the casual follower might have missed, perhaps on account of it being a little one-sided. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2020 season, the Fighting Irish and Midshipmen have met each year since 1927, with Notre Dame prevailing 80 times – including 43 times in row between 1963 and 2006.
It’s a rivalry that transcends the typical realm of competition – one that’s built around tradition and mutual respect. Following the final whistle, the two teams walk together to both end zones, stopping to sing each other’s alma mater.
The story goes like this: During the Second World War, the United States Naval Academy opened a training facility at the University of Notre Dame, providing a financial influx that helped keep the school on its feet. In return, Notre Dame issued an invite to Navy to meet on the gridiron every fall.
From there, a rivalry was fortified.
This time around, there’s an added wrinkle. Like the Irish, the Midshipmen are a genuine playoff contender.
For the first time in 45 years, Navy is 6-0, and currently ranked 24th in the AP Poll, thanks to an enhanced offensive package courtesy of new offensive coordinator Drew Cronic – one that’s been executed to perfection by quarterback Blake Horvath.
This isn’t your standard triple-option attack – the type that service academies like Navy have historically employed to account for undersized linemen – but rather a hybrid version that incorporates a share of pro passing concepts.
Horvath has thrown 10 touchdown passes and added 10 more on the ground, standing alongside Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard as the only FBS quarterbacks with double digits in each category. The Midshipmen are averaging 44.8 points per game, which ranks fourth in all of college football.
There’s another interesting twist involving Navy and its other rival.
This year, Army is a conference opponent, having joined the Midshipmen in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) after spending the previous 19 seasons as an independent. The teams play their traditional game on Dec. 14 – eight days after the AAC championship game, and six days after Selection Day for the College Football Playoff.
As of now, Army and Navy sit one-two in the conference – meaning they’re on a collision course to play for an AAC title on Dec. 6, before meeting again the following Saturday. To top it off, one of Army and Navy could hypothetically claim a berth in the playoff, play the other the following weekend, and then take part in a first-round game on Dec. 21.
It’s all just part of college football’s wildest season yet.
Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Notre Dame and Navy get together for the 94th time – a meeting that has ramifications like it never has before.
For the Midshipmen, it’s a chance to stay undefeated – something they’ll almost certainly have to remain between now and Selection Day if they want to punch a playoff ticket. The Irish, which had an unfathomable loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2, can’t afford to slip-up themselves.
At the end of the day, one team moves forward with hopes of playing in late-December, while the other walks away with playoff hopes dashed.
Regardless of the result, they’ll both gather, pay tribute, and plan to do it all over next fall.