Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/400621
GAME PREVIEW: NAVY changed everything. "When [the Midshipmen] recruit, they tell them they'll get to play Notre Dame every year. That Notre Dame game is special on Navy's schedule. Other than the two service academy games, Notre Dame is the third No. 1 special opponent on Navy's schedule. In terms of being a team that was put on a pedestal, I don't think that's there anymore. They know you have to play a perfect game and have Notre Dame stub its toe a little bit in order to ever win this game." This year it's been Navy doing the toe stubbing, with a three-game los- ing streak earlier in the season placing the Midshipmen under .500 and on the bubble for bowl contention. Despite this year's pervasive strug- gles, Wagner feels the program contin- ues to build momentum under Niuma- talolo. "They're headed in the right direc- tion," he said. "Navy football is always going to play games that can go either way. They don't usually get blown out, and if you look at the scores, outside of one game, they have not been blown out. They're also not going to blow people out. Basically there are games where a swing here or there either way is going to make the difference. "For the most part the past 11 years, Navy has won the majority of its close games. The year they went 5-7, the only losing season in the last 11, it was one of those where they didn't win close games. So far this season that's where it's been. There were turning points in each of those games." The Notre Dame game could well represent a turning point in Navy's sea- son. No longer a stranger to hanging with the Irish, the Midshipmen know the importance of avoiding their recur- ring issues. ✦ 2014 NAVY SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 30 vs. Ohio State* L, 34-17 Sept. 6 at Temple W, 31-24 Sept. 13 at Texas State W, 35-21 Sept. 20 Rutgers L, 31-24 Sept. 27 Western Kentucky L, 36-27 Oct. 4 at Air Force L, 30-21 Oct. 11 VMI W, 51-14 Oct. 25 San Jose State (CBSSN) 1 p.m. Nov. 1 vs. Notre Dame^ (CBS) 8 p.m. Nov. 15 Georgia Southern (CBSSN) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at South Alabama TBA Dec. 13 vs. Army* (CBS) 3 p.m. * at M&T Stadium in Baltimore; ^ at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. 2014 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 30 Rice W, 48-17 Sept. 6 Michigan W, 31-0 Sept. 13 vs. Purdue* W, 30-14 Sept. 27 vs. Syracuse^ W, 31-15 Oct. 4 Stanford W, 17-14 Oct. 11 North Carolina W, 50-43 Oct. 18 at Florida State L, 31-27 Nov. 1 vs. Navy+ (CBS) 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Arizona State TBA Nov. 15 Northwestern (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 22 Louisville (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at USC TBA * at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; ^ at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; + at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.