ANNAPOLIS, Md.— Navy football will honor the 100th anniversary of its 1926 national championship team by wearing a commemorative Under Armour uniform inspired by the one worn by the Midshipmen a century ago when Navy takes on Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.  The Navy-Notre Dame game is presented by Navy Federal Credit Union and Navy Mutual.
 
The uniform commemorates Navy's only football national championship team, which finished the 1926 season undefeated at 9-0-1 and earned a share of the national championship.
 
The jersey is a modern interpretation of the iconic "Chevron Stripe" uniform worn by Navy during the 1926 championship season. It features nine stripes across the upper body—four on the front and five on the back—symbolizing the nine victories recorded by the Midshipmen that season.
 
The uniform features Navy's traditional blue-and-gold color palette and pays tribute to the Naval Academy alma mater, "Navy Blue and Gold." The song was first performed publicly in its current form on April 24, 1926, and was officially designated as the Academy's alma mater in 1927. The words "Navy Blue and Gold" are inscribed on the interior collar of the jersey.
 
Additional elements of the uniform draw inspiration from Naval Academy artifacts bearing the championship year of 1926. The back-neck locker tag is based on the Class of 1926 pin, which features an eagle, trident and the year 1926. The same emblem was incorporated into the Class of 1926 ring, while the jersey numbers were inspired by the typography found on the class pin.

The uniform also features a commemorative patch recognizing the 100th anniversary of Navy's 1926 national championship.
 
A limited edition of the Under Armour 100th Anniversary Sideline Collection, including replica jerseys, polos, quarter-zips, hoodies, t-shirts and hats, is available online at the team story on navysports.com: Click Here
 
Nearly a century ago, college football faced a situation that would generate plenty of debate even today: three undefeated teams with claims to the national championship.

Navy, Stanford and Alabama each completed the 1926 season without a loss. Stanford finished 10-0-1 after playing Alabama to a 7-7 tie in the Rose Bowl, while Navy and Alabama each finished 9-0-1. With no playoff or formal national championship system, the title was determined by the recognized selectors of the era. Boand and Houlgate both selected Navy as national champion.

The foundation for Navy's championship season was laid by first-year head coach Bill Ingram, a former Navy standout who played for the Midshipmen from 1916-18. Ingram took over a program that had won just seven games over the previous two seasons and immediately engineered a turnaround built around a powerful rushing attack and physical brand of football.
 
At the center of that attack was All-America tackle and team captain Frank Wickhorst, whose blocking helped create opportunities for quarterback Tom Hamilton and Navy's formidable ground game.
 
One of the defining moments of the season came against Michigan before 80,000 fans at Baltimore's Municipal Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Navy scored 10 points in the second half to defeat the Wolverines, 10-0. The Midshipmen produced 165 yards of offense, with Hamilton and Henry Caldwell leading the rushing attack and Caldwell scoring the game's only touchdown on a one-yard run.
 
The victory was particularly satisfying after Michigan had handed Navy what was then the worst loss in program history, 54-0, the previous season. Navy fans celebrated the 1926 victory by tearing down the goal posts at both ends of the stadium and carrying away the markers lining both sides of the field.
 
The victory improved Navy to 9-0 heading into its season finale against Army at Chicago's Soldier Field. More than 110,000 fans packed the stadium for a game The New York Times' James R. Harrison called "the greatest of its time" and "a national spectacle."
 
Navy jumped to a 14-0 lead before Army rallied to take a 21-14 advantage early in the third quarter. The Midshipmen answered behind their ground attack, led by Alan Shapley. Facing fourth down and three yards to go, Shapley broke through for an eight-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 21-21.
 
Army had one final opportunity to win the game, but a 25-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter sailed wide. The tie preserved Navy's undefeated season and helped secure its place in college football history.
 
The 1926 season also produced a remarkable connection between Navy and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame entered its Nov. 27 game against Carnegie Tech undefeated at 8-0 and had surrendered only one touchdown all season. The Fighting Irish appeared to be headed toward a possible national championship before Carnegie Tech stunned Notre Dame, 19-0, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
 
Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne wasn't there to see it.
 
Confident his team would defeat Carnegie Tech, Rockne instead traveled to Chicago to watch the Army-Navy game at Soldier Field. While Rockne watched Navy preserve its undefeated season with a 21-21 tie against Army, Carnegie Tech was handing Notre Dame its only loss of the season.
 
Notre Dame would finish 9-1.
 
One hundred years later, that unusual intersection of Navy and Notre Dame history provides another connection as the Midshipmen honor the team that delivered the program's only national championship.
 
The 1926 team remains one of the great chapters in Navy football history—a team coming off two difficult seasons, led by a first-year head coach, that went undefeated, defeated Michigan, battled Army to a tie before more than 110,000 fans and finished the season as a national champion.
 
Tickets are still available for the Navy-Notre Dame game by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY or online here: Click Here