Notre Dame’s storied football history can not go much lower than it did today. Navy, who has not beaten Notre Dame since 1963 (when Roger Staubach quarterbacked the Midshipmen), ended the longest losing streak against an opponent in college football history. This is the game all ND fans pencil in every season as a sure win. Well, today it did not happen. And once again Charlie Weis must be questioned. He eschewed a makable field goal on a fourth down play late in the game and it cost him big time. Eventually the Irish lost in the third overtime. Congratulations to Navy! They deserved to win the game.

I have to confess to you big time Irish fans that I have no sympathy for your excuses about this coach or this team. Navy doesn’t have a single "blue chip" recruit on their entire roster. There is no way a team that lost to Delaware last week, and earlier to Ball State, should go into South Bend and outplay Notre Dame. Navy had more heart and more spirit than the formerly "fighting" Irish. This team is pitiful and anyone who watches them can see it. (It does make you wonder about UCLA, who is ND’s only win so far!) Notre Dame plays Air Force next week and will likely lose again. Then they play two teams they could beat: Duke and Stanford. But I wouldn’t bet on the Irish win at Stanford at the end of the season. It is possible this team wins only one game but they will most likely win two or maybe three given the easy schedule they play the rest of the way. Chicago are fans are now selling their tickets, missing the games and hoping for a better future. (A USC fan, who is my friend, told me that two weeks ago it was relatively easy for USC fans to get tickets since so many were being sold by ND ticket holders. I can’t remember this happening since I came to Chicago in 1969.) And I wouldn’t hold my breath about the future of this program. This team is a long way from being really good again any time soon. You could see this coming if you have paid attention to Notre Dame’s fortunes the past few seasons. They have been on a steady downhill course for the past three years. Whenever they played a ranked, skilled and very fast team they were so over matched it was obvious. The difference is that this year they are not even winning the games they should win. Things are a total mess in South Bend. I wonder what NBC thinks of their over-priced contract to cover Notre Dame football games now?

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Comments

  1. David A Booth November 4, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    John,
    It is difficult to describe how exciting it is for us Naval Academy grads for NAVY to beat (even a pathetic) Notre Dame. This is a game we will be talking about for years to come.
    Best wishes,
    David

  2. Michael Valentino November 5, 2007 at 10:32 am

    John,
    Where else can I go to find a blogger who can transition so well from theology to college football?
    This really was the year for Navy to end the drought. I missed the game, and did not know until I saw brief highlights Saturday night that Navy won in triple OT.
    I’m so glad (and relieved) for the Midshipmen. Each year they give up 40-50+ # per man along the trenches, and often face a real pummeling at the hands of the Fighting Irish. Now, at least, they can savor this victory for a year.
    Good to see Roger Staubach’s name in the news. He and Gale Sayers are my two all-time favorite players. Staubach was great at Navy and even better in the pros, leading my Cowboys to four Super Bowls.
    Sorry to see ‘Bama fall to LSU the way they did. That wideout needed to make that catch on their last offensive play. The Tide put up a lot of points on LSU’s vaunted D. I knew your heart sunk in the waning minutes of that game. The SEC is the best conference, top to bottom.
    Go Michigan.

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