By By ADAM PAYNE / Niles Daily Star
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The annual gentlemen's contest turned out as it usually does, an Irish victory over the Midshipmen as Notre Dame vanquished Navy 42-21 on Saturday, stretching the current streak to 42 victories.
This streak is the longest of its kind in NCAA history, and there was hardly any doubt of its staying intact this year.
The last time Navy beat the Irish was 1963, with Heisman winner and to be-Texas demigod Roger Staubach at the helm for the Midshipmen.
The Irish moved 73 yards on eight plays in an opening drive that consisted of just two passes and six rushes. Brady Quinn hit Jeff Samardzija for an 11-yard gain to start the drive and found Maurice Stovall in the corner of the end zone from 31 yards to cap the drive with a touchdown, but it was really Stovall who found Quinn's pass which appeared to be horribly ill-advised when it left Brady's hand.
The ball was flung high into heavy coverage, and it was the Navy defender who had the best position on the ball to begin with, but Stovall took that position back by sheer will, leaping acrobatically to take down the ball.
The Irish appeared to be well on their way to yet another record-setting afternoon.
Navy came back charging, however, dead set on proving they were worthy opposition. Their opening drive swallowed up seven minutes and 45 seconds as they rushed the ball for 15 of the drive's 16 plays and made up 68 yards for a touchdown.
The only pass was a throw over the middle from the Irish 16-yard line by Lamar Owens intended for Marco Nelson who had snuck through and was wide open. The pass flew over his head, however, landing at the back of the end zone.
Owens' visible tribulation at his missed opportunity no doubt waned when Navy converted on fourth and one from the 16, and two plays later Adam Ballard ran for nine yards and the tying touchdown. Navy had used two timeouts in their opening drive, however, and would need to better manage the clock to compete for a whole four quarters.
While it was apparent that the Midshipmen weren't counting themselves out of the game just yet, they may as well have. The second quarter featured two Notre Dame rushing touchdowns and a touchdown pass from Quinn to tight end Anthony Fasano concluding a six-play, 55-second, 48-yard drive within the last two minutes of the half.
This touchdown pass brought Quinn's career total to 51, bringing him within one of Ron Powlus for most all-time at Notre Dame.
As halftime came along, the Irish held a seriously commanding 28-7 lead, and it seemed the only question to be answered with the second half would be whether or not Quinn would break any records.
As it would turn out, he certainly did, hitting Stovall for scores twice more to lead the Irish to the 42-21 victory. Quinn finished with 284 yards and four touchdowns on 22-for-31 passing. He also threw an interception, his first since completing 130 passes without one.
His 22 completions bring his career total to 547, 11 behind Powlus for most-ever behind center for the Irish.
Quinn also becomes the man to have attempted the most passes in Notre Dame history and now stands alone with his 53 touchdown passes. He also extended several of his own school records on Saturday, including most games with a touchdown pass, now at 14.
Darius Walker finished with 124 yards on the ground on only 19 carries for a 6.2 average, and Stovall finished with eight receptions for 130 yards and three touchdowns. This brings Stovall's touchdown total to 16, tying him with Jim Seymour for third all-time at Notre Dame.
The yardage brings his career total to 1,708, only 29 yards behind Malcolm Johnson for seventh all-time and 51 yards behind Ken MacAfee for sixth.
When asked Sunday about his notably sour mood the week prior to the Navy game, and what kind of mood he might be in this week, Head Coach Charlie Weis said, “Probably worse.”
That does not bode well for Syracuse on Saturday, Notre Dame's final home game of the season.