Just when you thought it just couldn't get any worse for Notre Dame in their train wreck of a season, it gets worse.
Navy defeated the Fighting Irish yesterday, 46-44 in triple overtime at South Bend, and it gives Navy their first win over Notre Dame since 1963.
Yep, the last time Navy won over the Irish was November 2, 1963, when Roger Staubach was QB and went on to win the Heisman Trophy. How long ago was that? John F. Kennedy was assassinated 20 days later, and I was just 22 months old.
Notre Dame beat Navy 43 straight times. It was the longest win streak by one team over another in NCAA football history. (Navy's drought was also exactly half as long as the Red Sox celebrated 86-year World Series drought that ended in 2004.)
Yesterday's game was tied 28-28 when it went to overtime. Charlie Weis made a very curious call as the fourth quarter was nearing an end. ND had the ball on the Navy 23 on fourth down and six to go with just over a minute to play. Instead of going for a game-winning field goal from about 40 yards, he elected to go for the first down, and QB Evan Sharpley was sacked. Weis showed no faith in his kicker, and it cost him. Right there and then, I knew ND was finished.
Notre Dame is now an unbelievable 1-8 with three games left to play, against Air Force, Duke and Stanford. When Notre Dame scored their third TD yesterday, a graphic went on the screen that 21 points was their highest point total of the year so far. Ugh.
I never thought I'd live to see the day when Notre Dame might actually have a double-digit losing season. Now it is a real possibility, despite the fact the last three of ND's opponents are very good either.
This embarrassing season for ND can't end quick enough, and it will always be remembered as the year the Fighting Irish couldn't even beat Navy.
"couldn't get any worse for Notre Dame"
ReplyDeleteIt could, they could be my school--Nebraska. We had similar winning streaks against multiple conference foes that have all come to an end in very recent years. Like you, I'm lookin' at a team that used to automatically win 9 games minimum, but who now totally stink.