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Nov. 3, 2008

• Navy Football Game Notes

Game 10:  Navy (6-3) vs. Notre Dame (5-3)
Saturday, Nov. 15 • 12:00 p.m. • Baltimore, Md. • M&T Bank Stadium (70,008) • CBS

Gameday Multimedia
Television: 
    •    CBS College Sports Network - Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play), Steve Beurlein (analyst)
Radio / Internet: 
    • Navy Radio Network
       Bob Socci (play-by-play), Omar Nelson (analyst), John Feinstein (analyst), Pete Medhurst (sideline)
    • Sirius Radio — Channel to be announced
    • XM Radio — Channel to be announced
Live Stats: 
    • Gametracker on NavySports.com

Naval Academy Accepts EagleBank Bowl Bid
    • Following Saturday’s thrilling comeback victory over Temple, Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced it has formally accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 20 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. against a projected opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference. 
    • The game will be televised nationally by ESPN and game time is tentatively set for 11 a.m.
    • The bowl bid is a landmark achievement for the football program as it marks the first time in school history that Navy has gone to six-straight bowl games. 
    • Navy can achieve another first by winning the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for a school-record sixth-consecutive year on Dec. 6 when the Mids play Army at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
    • Tickets prices range from $45-$110. 
    • Tickets for the EagleBank Bowl are on sale now at www.navysports.com(.)  Tickets can also be purchased on by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY or stopping by the Ricketts Hall Ticket Office. 
    • Fans are also encouraged to purchase tickets to sponsor a midshipman or enlisted personnel and their families for $35.   Donated tickets will be administered through the Naval Academy Athletic Association ticket office.
    • "We strongly encourage Navy fans to buy their bowl tickets from the Naval Academy Athletic Association,” said Gladchuk.  “Our goal is to bring the majority of the Brigade of Midshipmen and we want more than 30,000 Navy fans in the stands.  It is very important for this game and for future bowl considerations for our fans to purchase tickets through the NAAA.  "If you can't make it to the game we ask that Navy fans buy tickets for our midshipmen, enlisted personnel and their families which will allow us to create our usual electric Navy atmosphere.  Ticket donations for our military and their families through the NAAA ticket office are 100 percent deductible."
    • Anthony Travel is the official Naval Academy EagleBank Bowl travel agency.  Travel packages include hotel accommodations at the Mayflower Hotel (Navy team hotel) or the JW Marriott for $149, tailgate admissions, a souvenir and much more.  Visit AnthonyTravel.com and search Navy Bowl or call (800) 736-6377 to make your reservations. 

Navy-Notre Dame Game Data
    • After overcoming a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to capture a 33-27 overtime win over Temple last Saturday, Navy (6-3) will  have a week of rest before facing Notre Dame,  who was on the losing side of an overtime game last weekend against Pitt.  The Mids and Irish will battle a week from Saturday (Nov. 15) at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
    • The Navy-Notre Dame contest will be televised nationally by CBS in high definition. 
    • Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play) and Steve Beurlein (color) will call the action from M&T Bank Stadium (70,008) beginning at 12:00 p.m.
    • The Navy Football Radio Network will provide more than six hours of coverage starting at 10:00 a.m. with its pregame show on 1430 WNAV (Annapolis) hosted by Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller and Wiley Baker. 
    • The Navy Football Pregame Show will get underway at 11:00 a.m. with Bob Socci, Omar Nelson, John Feinstein and Pete Medhurst setting the scene from Baltimore, followed by game action beginning at 12:00 p.m.  Sirius Radio will carry the Navy broadcast, as well “The Best of Sirius” on XM on a channel to be announced.

        The Navy Radio Network includes of the following ...
        • WNAV 1430 AM (Annapolis) | WBAL 1090 AM  (Baltimore)
        • WFED 1050 AM, 1500 AM, 820 AM (Washington DC)
        • WTRI 1520 AM (Frederick)
        • WXTG 102.1 FM (Va. Beach) | 1490 AM (Hampton Roads)

    • Get the insider news by tuning in to the Navy Football Pregame Show with Bob Socci, Omar Nelson, John Feinstein and Pete Medhurst.  The pregame show includes feature news on  “This Date in Navy History” presented by Navy Federal Credit Union, “The Coaches Corner” presented by General Dynamics, “Keys to the Game” presented by Toyota, “Today in College Football” presented by BAE Systems, as well as interviews with head coach Ken Niumatalolo and select players.
    • New to this year’s radio line-up is a 60-minute postgame show on 1430 WNAV.  Recapping the day’s events will be Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller live from M&T Bank Stadium.

Pregame Information
    • Pregame festivities will get underway at 11:49 a.m. with the march-on of the Brigade of Midshipmen.
    • The fly-over features four McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C aircraft from the “Thunderbolts” of Marine Fighter-Attack Squadron 251 based in Beaufort, SC. 
    • The lead aircraft is piloted by Capt. Allen “Gomer” Szczepek, USNA Class of 1999. 
    • Piloting dash two, three, and four, respectively, are Capt. Alexander “Steamer” Goodno, USNA Class of 2002, Capt. Eric “El-Rod” Northam, USNA Class of 2002, and Capt. Michael “Pucker” Woodard. 

Niumatalolo Makes History
    • Since World War II, Navy’s 11 head coaches are a combined 43-77-4 (.363) in their first season.  
    • Only Wayne Hardin in 1959 (5-4-1) and Gary Tranquill in 1982 (6-5) were able to post a winning record. A win over Notre Dame would make Niumatalolo the winningest first-year coach at Navy since World War II.
    • Directing Navy to an unbelievable come-from-behind win over Temple, Niumatalolo becomes the first head coach in program history to lead the Mids to a bowl game in their first year.

Scouting Notre Dame
    • The Irish, who will face Boston College on the road prior to traveling to Baltimore for the Nov. 15 contest against the Mids, are 5-3 on the year, including a 1-2 mark away from Notre Dame Stadium. 
    • The Notre Dame offense is ranked 91st on the ground (121.8 yards per game), 18th through the air (263.6 ypg), 45th in total offense (385.4 ypg) and 51st in scoring offense (27.4 points per game). 
    • The Notre Dame defense is ranked 50th in rushing defense (127.8 ypg), 64th in pass defense (206.8 ypg), 41st in total defense (334.5 ypg) and 38th in scoring defense (20.9 points per game).
    • Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is 24th nationally in total offense per game (257.0 ypg), while on defense Kyle McCarthy is tied for 22nd in the country in tackles per game (9.5 per game) and David Bruton is tied for 24th (9.12 per game).

 The Last Time ...
Navy 46, Notre Dame 44 (3OT)    Nov. 3, 2007 | South Bend, Ind.
    • Irv Spencer and Michael Walsh,along with a host of teammates hit Notre Dame’s Travis Thomas behind the line of scrimmage on the Fighting Irish’s two-point conversion attempt in triple overtime to give Navy a thrilling 46-44 victory.
    • Navy took the lead in the third OT when QB Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada hit slot back Reggie Campbell with a 25-yard TD pass on Navy’s first play and then hit Campbell on the two-point conversion.
    • The game was a see-saw affair throughout, featuring three lead changes and five ties. The biggest lead of the game came in the third overtime when Navy took a 46-38 lead.
    • The biggest play of the game might have come early in the fourth quarter with Navy trailing 21-20. Nose guard Nate Frazier and Walsh hit ND quarterback Evan Sharpley in the backfield. Walsh knocked the ball out of Sharpley’s hands and Navy senior defensive end Chris Kuhar-Pitters picked up the fumble and rumbled 16 yards for the touchdown to give Navy the lead back at 26-21. Kaheaku-Enhada ran in the two-point conversion to give the Mids a 28-21 lead.
    • ND tied the game at 28-28 with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Travis Thomas and had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Kuhar-Pitters sacked Sharpley on a fourth-and-eight play from the Navy 24-yard line with 41 seconds left in the contest.
    • Navy got a one-yard touchdown by fullback Eric Kettani in the first overtime, but the Irish answered with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Sharpley to Duval Kamara.
    • In the second overtime, Brandon Walker hit a 26-yard field goal for Notre Dame, but senior Joey Bullen answered with a 32-yard field goal setting up the heroics of Kaheaku-Enhada,Campbell and Wimsatt in the third overtime.

Miracle at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium
    • Linebacker Clint Sovie’s (Jr. / Jacksonville, Fla.) 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown with 37 seconds left in regulation capped a 20-point rally in the final 9:16 to send the game into overtime and QB Ricky Dobbs’ (So. / Douglasville, Ga.) one-yard run in overtime gave Navy a miraculous 33-27 overtime victory over Temple. 
    • It was the largest fourth-quarter comeback in school history and with the win the Mids clinched a berth in the Dec. 20 EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
    • Navy trailed 27-7 with 13:41 remaining in the contest when Kee-ayre Griffin scored from 16-yards out.  Temple, however, left the door open for a Navy comeback when kicker Jake Brownell, a transfer from Navy, missed the extra-point.
    • Dobbs, in relief of starter Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (Sr. / Kapolei, Hawai’i), started the rally with a 22-yard scoring strike to T.J. Thiel (Sr. / Plymouth, Minn.) with 9:16 remaining.  It was the first career touchdown for Thiel and the first career touchdown pass by Dobbs.
    • Navy held Temple on its next possession and Dobbs calmly led the Mids down the field, capping off a nine-play, 64-yard drive with a miraculous pitch on fourth down to fullback Eric Kettani (Sr. / Kirtland, Ohio), who took it in from one-yard out.  Dobbs was stacked up at the line by three Temple defenders but was able to pitch the ball to Kettani before being brought to the ground.  Senior Matt Harmon’s (Greenville, S.C.) extra point was blocked leaving the Mids still down seven.
    • With two timeouts and 2:52 remaining on the clock, the Mids did not try an onside kick.  Unfortunately for Navy, on third-and-five Temple quarterback Adam DiMichele hit Kevin Armstrong with a seven-yard pass on the right sideline giving Temple a first down.  After Griffin carried for a loss of two yards on first down, the Mids used their final timeout.  On second down, Griffin rushed for one yard and on third down Temple elected to run Griffin one more time. Griffin was stacked up at the line of scrimmage and linebacker Ross Pospisil (Jr. / Temple, Texas) knocked the ball out of Griffin’s hands and Sovie scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown.
    • Navy won the toss and elected to go on defense to begin overtime.  Temple chose to play on the end of the field away from the Brigade of the Midshipmen.  That plan didn’t work when half the Brigade moved to the other end of the stadium and filled the seats around the South End Zone.
    • The Owls moved the ball down to the Navy one-yard line, but on third down Griffin was stuffed by Pospisil for no gain and on fourth down Temple tight end Steve Maneri dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone as the Navy defense danced off the field.
    • Navy’s possession began with a three-yard rush by Kettani followed by three-straight runs by Dobbs and a 15-yard facemask penalty on Temple to position the Mids on the Owls’ one-yard line.  Dobbs was stopped for no gain on second-and-goal, but scored on the next play to give the Mids the win.

Six Bowl Appearances in Six Years
    • Navy’s bid to the 2008 EagleBank Bowl marks the first time in school history that Navy has earned the right to play in six-straight bowl games. 
    • The Mids lost to Texas Tech in the 2003 Houston Bowl, 38-14, defeated New Mexico in the 2004 Emerald Bowl, 34-19, crushed Colorado State, 51-30, in the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl, lost a heartbreaking 25-24 decision to Boston College in 2006 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl and lost to Utah, 35-32, in last year’s Poinsettia Bowl. 

Winning Record
    • Navy clinched a fifth-straight winning season a year ago by defeating Northern Illinois, 35-24. 
    • It marked the first time Navy has strung together five-straight winning seasons since 1978-82. 
    • A win by the Midshipmen over Notre Dame would give Navy its seventh win and mark the first time since 1952-61 (10 in a row) that it has put together six-straight winning seasons. 

Playing in the Big Time
    • Since the start of the 2003 season, Navy has played 18 games in 11 different big league stadiums (10 NFL and one MLB), posting an 11-7 record (.647).
    • No college team in the country has played in more NFL stadiums than Navy over the last five years. 
    • This year, the Mids will play Notre Dame at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on Nov. 15 and Army at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 6. 

Turn Heat Up When Temperatures Drop
    • Over the last six years, the Navy football team has turned in an 19-6 (.760) record in games played after Oct. 31, winning 12 of the last 14 games. 
    • The Mids are averaging 38.0 points per games in games played in November and December over the last six years (949 points in 25 games), including 45 points per game in five games last year (225 points).