SOUTH BEND, Ind. | Navy’s second consecutive victory at Notre Dame Stadium didn’t produce the same euphoria for the Midshipmen as the previous one.
It was just another win as far as Navy was concerned - though this loss was much more costly for Notre Dame.
Craig Schaefer sacked Jimmy Clausen in the end zone with 60 seconds left Saturday, and Navy held on for a 23-21 victory, its second in three seasons against the 19th-ranked Fighting Irish. The victory ensured Navy a trip to the Texas Bowl.
“I wanted to run on the field and jump up and down, but I was kind of tired,” said linebacker Ram Vela, who had an interception and fumble recovery. “We’d done it before, and we went into this game not really placing as much emphasis or too much importance on it. We just treated it like another game.”
Two years ago when Navy beat Notre Dame, the Irish were in the midst of a 3-9 season. The loss Saturday effectively ends any hope Notre Dame (6-3) had for its first Bowl Championship Series appearance since 2006.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said he believed media speculation about Notre Dame chasing a BCS berth, along with the Irish playing at No. 14 Pittsburgh next week, helped the Mids.
“We kind of felt like we had them in a perfect storm,” he said.
The last time an unranked Navy team beat a ranked Notre Dame team was in 1936, the first year of the Associated Press poll, when the Mids won 3-0. Ranked Notre Dame teams had beaten unranked Navy 41 straight times.
It’s the type of loss that will no doubt fire up the critics of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis.
“That comes with the territory. The sad part of that is that’s this job every week,” said Weis, who is 35-24 in five seasons at Notre Dame. “It’s a week-to-week deal.”
Notre Dame scored with 24 seconds left on a 31-yard pass from Jimmy Clausen to Golden Tate to cut the lead to 23-21, but the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds.
“I love playing in South Bend,” Navy safety Wyatt Middleton said. “I love playing here.”
The Mids said the victory two years ago helped them believe they could do it again. Vela said the biggest difference was that the defense played better.
“Everyone put their all into it and rose to the occasion,” Vela said. “I think that’s what separates this game from the last time we beat them.”
Ricky Dobbs threw a 52-yard touchdown pass and ran for another, and fullback Vince Murray added a 25-yard TD run for Navy to lead the Mids to consecutive victories in South Bend for the first time since 1961 and 1963.
Navy outrushed the Irish, playing without leading rusher Armando Allen because of an ankle injury, 348 yards to 60. Murray ran for 158 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, becoming the first Navy running back to rush for 100 yards for four straight games since Napoleon McCallum in 1983.
Dobbs, who played only seven plays in the previous two games because of a knee injury, added 102 yards on 31 carries and completed two of three passes for 56 yards.
Clausen was 37-for-57 for 452 yards, all career highs. But with Notre Dame down a touchdown and less than two minutes left, Clausen was sacked on consecutive plays. The last one gave Navy its final two points on a safety and all but sealed the victory.
“It’s a heartbreaking loss,” Clausen said.
Said Weis: “It came down to red zone production for us. Getting the ball down into position to score was not the issue - it was scoring that was the issue.”
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