Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 14, 2026 53 T he online cries for Notre Dame foot- ball to cancel its annual series with Navy grew louder during and after the teams' 99th meeting Oct. 31. That's because while Notre Dame was on a rocky path to a 35-13 victory at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., several Irish players left the game with injuries. Senior linebacker and two-time cap- tain Drayk Bowen sustained a right an- kle injury. Junior defensive tackle Fran- cis Brewu sustained a left knee injury. Sixth-year defensive tackle Jason Onye sustained a right knee injury. Junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert also left the game with an apparent ankle injury. That list of injuries became more evi- dence for those arguing in favor of the Irish backing out of the annual challenge of playing against the Naval Academy. Accusations were thrown at Navy for dirty plays with an intent to injure the Irish. Those often came with a lack of un- derstanding of which cut blocks are legal in college football and/or a conflation of legal cut blocks and illegal chop blocks. That's not to say that Navy didn't commit any chop blocks. The Midship- men were flagged for one in the fourth quarter on a block against junior defen- sive tackle Sean Sevillano Jr. Head coach Marcus Freeman even suggested that Onye's injury came on a chop block, though NBC rules analyst Terry McAu- lay explained that same day why he be- lieved it wasn't an illegal block combi- nation against Onye. However, Freeman pushed back on the idea that Navy players were doing any- thing with malicious intent. Navy wasn't the first team to be flagged for a chop block penalty against the Irish either. "I don't think it's intentional," Freeman said. "I choose to believe that. I have a lot of respect for Coach [Brian] Newberry." Freeman then explained how those other injuries Notre Dame absorbed against Navy this year had nothing to do with illegal blocks or nefarious acts. "Some things unfortunately hap- pen in the game of football," Freeman said. "I don't want to say it's because we played Navy. We have to be alert of the high-lows on the backside and try to protect ourselves. But also, if it's illegal, then make sure the referees call it. "When you play Navy, you can't play the game fearful of getting hurt. Because if you do, you're gonna get hurt. You get hurt one of two ways. You're gonna get hurt physically because you're not playing the game at a fast pace and with physicality. … Or you're gonna get hurt emotionally because you were worried about getting hurt and you didn't play the way you want to play." Freeman didn't create that point of view. It's a widely used cliché — though probably not a scientifically backed one — across the game of football. The violence of the sport causes injuries, but Freeman's point was that players cannot let fear dictate how they compete. Injuries aren't the only reason some Notre Dame fans seem motivated to stop playing Navy on an annual basis. There's a belief that the one-sided nature of the series gives pundits or, more importantly, College Football Playoff selection com- mittee members a reason to discredit a Notre Dame win over Navy as a qual- ity one. But that says more about the in- creasingly dubious committee than Navy. Even if the CFP committee doesn't want to give Notre Dame credit for beat- ing Navy, that shouldn't be a reason to abandon a long-standing rivalry rooted in history and tradition. Notre Dame doesn't necessarily have to be forever in- debted to Navy for helping keep the uni- versity afloat through World War II, but every scheduling decision shouldn't be made with the College Football Playoff in mind, either. Plenty of playoff contend- ers schedule games against far worse op- ponents than Navy, and the Navy series isn't preventing Notre Dame from filling out a playoff-worthy schedule. Southern Cal let its desperate desire to reach the College Football Playoff interrupt its annual series with Notre Dame, setting aside decades of tradition (at least until the series resumes again from 2030-33). It might not feel the same because Southern Cal was the program strug- gling to beat Notre Dame in recent years, but if the Irish discard Navy because they believe the series no longer benefits them on the path to the CFP, the only differ- ence is optics. And if the folks frustrated by injuries were honest with themselves, plenty of them were more concerned about those players being available to play in a must-win game against Miami than their actual well-being. If the CFP field eventually grows to 24 teams, college football will continue to evolve into something very different than it was even two decades ago. But there needs to be room in the sport for ri- valries and traditions to be valued. Here's hoping the decision-makers at Notre Dame continue to recognize that. ✦ Notre Dame and Navy met for the 99th time Oct. 31, with the Irish winning 35-13 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., before renewed debate over the future of the historic rivalry. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE Keep The Navy Rivalry Tyler James has been covering Notre Dame athletics since 2011. He can be reached on X @ TJamesND FIRST AND LAST TYLER JAMES