<p>Stopping Notre Dame’s last-ranked offense is key to win</p>
<p>[For</a> Mids, ending streak starts with improved ‘D’ – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-sp.navyfoot03nov03,0,4247579.story]For”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-sp.navyfoot03nov03,0,4247579.story)</p>
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<p>Mids outlast Fighting Irish in 3 OTs for first win in series since 1963</p>
<p>[‘Wow</a>, what a game’ – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“Wow! – Baltimore Sun”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-sp.navyfoot04nov04,0,4706333.story)</p>
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<p>[The</a> streak has sailed - - The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper](<a href=“http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071104/SPORTS/111040058/1005]The”>http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071104/SPORTS/111040058/1005)</p>
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<p>[The</a> Washington Times | Multimedia: Streak Broken - Navy defeats Notre Dame: Nov. 3, 2007](<a href=“http://video1.washingtontimes.com/photo/navynotredame/]The”>http://video1.washingtontimes.com/photo/navynotredame/)</p>
<p>For 1st Time Since '63, Navy Beats Irish</p>
<p>By TOM COYNE
The Associated Press
Sunday, November 4, 2007; 1:25 AM</p>
<p>SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It’s over. After 44 years and three overtimes. Navy finally beat Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime on Saturday, ending the Fighting Irish’s NCAA-record winning streak against the Midshipmen at 43 games.</p>
<p>“It’s a big win for our program. It’s a big win for the academy,” Navy coach Paul Johnson said. “I’m happy I don’t have to answer anything else about the streak every time we play.”</p>
<p>Roger Staubach was quarterback for the Midshipmen in 1963 when they beat Notre Dame 35-14. Since then, the Irish have had their way _ that is until Saturday.</p>
<p>Seven times during the streak the Midshipmen had chances to win in the fourth quarter only to be thwarted by bad luck, questionable calls or big plays by the Irish. A few times Saturday it looked as though the win would elude them again. But this time it was the Midshipmen who managed to make the decisive plays.</p>
<p>Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada threw a 25-yard TD pass to Reggie Campbell on the first play of the third overtime, then found him again for the 2-point conversion.</p>
<p>Notre Dame (1-8) cut the lead to two on a 5-yard TD run by Travis Thomas. But after a pass interference call gave Notre Dame a second chance at the 2-point conversion, defensive lineman Michael Walsh and linebacker Irv Spencer tackled Thomas well short of the end zone on the final play.</p>
<p>“Honestly, this win hasn’t even hit me yet,” linebacker Matt Wimsatt said. “I can’t wait to talk to everybody back home. This is definitely bigger than just one football game.”</p>
<p>For Notre Dame, it was its school-record fifth straight home loss, another low point in a season of lows. Weis said the 43-game winning streak had no meaning to him or the team.</p>
<p>“They’re worried about here and now. These kids are 17. You think they’re worrying about 43 years?” he said.</p>
<p>“To be honest, I don’t even know what the streak was at before it ended,” linebacker Joe Brockington said.</p>
<p>Weis said the home losing streak was much more important to the players. It also is the first time the Irish have lost five at home in one season.</p>
<p>Notre Dame did have its best game offensively, rushing for 235 yards, nearly doubling their season output, and James Aldridge ran for 125 yards. It wasn’t enough.</p>
<p>The Irish, who did little to slow Navy’s option offense, held the Midshipmen to three-and-out late in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 28. Greg Veteto had the first punt of the game, and Tom Zbikowski returned it 32 yards to the Navy 38.</p>
<p>The Irish drove to the 24, but on fourth-and-8 Weis decided to go for it rather than attempt a field goal. Chris Kuhar-Pitters, who earlier returned a fumble 16 yards for a touchdown, sacked Evan Sharpley with 45 seconds left.</p>
<p>It was the fourth sack for Navy, which entered the game with five.</p>
<p>Notre Dame, which hadn’t scored more than 20 points this season, led 21-14 at halftime, the first halftime lead for the Irish.</p>
<p>The two teams traded touchdowns most of the day and had just traded missed field goals when Kuhar-Pitters came up with his big play early in the fourth quarter. Sharpley dropped back to pass and was wrapped up by nose guard Nate Frazier and defensive end Michael Walsh knocked the ball loose. Kuhar-Pitters scooped up the loose ball and rumbled into the end zone.</p>
<p>Kaheaku-Enhada ran in the 2-point conversion to give the Midshipmen a 28-21 lead.</p>
<p>The Irish responded, though, with a touchdown of their own as Thomas went in from 3 yards out with 3:25 remaining to tie it.</p>
<p>In the first overtime, Navy’s Eric Kettani scored from a yard out and Notre Dame tied it with Duval Kamara’s 8-yard touchdown catch. The teams traded field goals in the second OT.</p>
<p>Weis was asked whether the game, following a 38-0 loss to USC, was a low point for the Irish.</p>
<p>“A low point is when you get beat 38-0. That’s a low point,” he said. " A low point is when the game is going OK and one team is pulling away from you and making plays when you’re not making plays. The low point for me is we didn’t win the game."</p>
<p>Robert Hughes, whose brother Tony was fatally shot on Tuesday, scored Notre Dame’s first touchdown on a 3-yard run. Irish players, some of whom attended the funeral Friday, swarmed Hughes. He ran over to the sideline and got a hug from Weis.</p>
<p>Weis said the biggest disappointment for him is the Irish couldn’t win the game for Hughes and his family.</p>
<p>“I wanted Robert Hughes standing up on the chair singing the fight song in the locker room,” he said. “You want to know what’s important to me? That’s what’s important to me.”</p>
<p>Before the game, a moment of silence was held for Hughes’ brother and the death of Ryan Shay, a former Notre Dame runner who died Saturday during the U.S. men’s marathon Olympic trials.</p>
<p>Vela disrupts Irish on fourth down</p>
<p>By Corey Masisak
November 4, 2007</p>
<p>SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Ram Vela was moving at top speed toward his target - Notre Dame quarterback Evan Sharpley, but diminutive tailback Armando Allen was in the way.</p>
<p>So Vela, a 5-foot-9, 196-pound outside linebacker, improvised and leapt in the air flying over Allen’s block attempt and into Sharpley on a fourth-down play last night in the final minute of the fourth quarter of Navy’s 46-44 triple overtime win against the Fighting Irish.</p>
<p>“It was just a straight blitz, and I really don’t know what I was thinking,” Vela said. “It was kind of, ‘What do I have to lose?’ I saw him get low and I just jumped over him.”</p>
<p>Added junior defensive end Chris Kuhar-Pitters: “I just remember seeing this body and then there was just air, and I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Out of the corner of your eye you see this body at like head level. … I am definitely looking forward to seeing that again on film.”</p>
<p>Vela didn’t receive credit for a sack Sharpley slipped out of his grasp - but Kuhar-Pitters wrapped him up almost simultaneously to end the drive. The sophomore disrupted the game’s most critical play to that juncture. Notre Dame faced a fourth-and-8 on Navy’s 24 and Irish coach Charlie Weiss opted against trying a potential game-winning, 41-yard field goal with the score knotted at 28.</p>
<p>He also helped atone for a mistake on nearly the same blitz in the same situation earlier in the game. Weiss decided to go for it on fourth-and-14 at his own 32 midway through the final quarter, and Vela came on a blitz from the other side of the field.</p>
<p>Vela had a free path to Sharpley, but this time the Notre Dame quarterback saw it coming and evaded him before scrambling to his left and finding tight end John Carlson for a 16-yard gain to prolong the drive.</p>
<p>The Irish would eventually score on one of Travis Thomas’ three rushing touchdowns to tie the game at 28.</p>
<p>“It was unreal,” Vela said. “I thought that I had lost the game. I was sitting on the sidelines with all the seniors and I just felt horrible. We could’ve ended the game right there, and I felt like the whole world was on my shoulders.”</p>
<p>The highlight-reel leap will certainly be one of the high points for Vela this season, but just being on the field could be considered one. A sophomore from San Antonio, Vela was a slot back in his plebe year in Annapolis.</p>
<p>Buried on the depth chart, this spring he moved to the other side of the ball to cornerback. When injuries and poor play ravaged Navy’s defense early in the season, Vela made another move, to be the team’s hybrid outside linebacker/nickel back.</p>
<p>Vela has played in all nine games while starting the past five. He had 34 tackles before last night, and matched his best game of the season with nine stops against the Irish even if he wasn’t credited with a tackle on his best play of the night.</p>
<p>“He’s such a great competitor,” Kuhar-Pitters said. “He gives his all on every play, and I am just thankful to be able to play with guys like that. He has played all around [the field]. He is really an amazing athlete.”</p>
<p>Navy torpedoes ND streak</p>
<p>[South</a> Bend Tribune: This ship has sunk](<a href=“http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS13/711040347/1021/Sports]South”>http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS13/711040347/1021/Sports)</p>
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<p>[South</a> Bend Tribune: Winning pass = no class](<a href=“http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS13/711040374/1021/Sports]South”>http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS13/711040374/1021/Sports)</p>
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<p><a href=“ESPN.com - Member Services - Global Registration Error”>https://r.espn.go.com/espn/contests/07GameChangingPerformance/index?seo=goo_pontiac_game_changers</a></p>
<p>[College</a> FB Notre Dame Full Game Replays - NBCSports.com](<a href=“http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site/nbcsports/menuitem.1794e27812f9d885cb4a07af493c2d04/?vgnextoid=c11c2f9ceb672110VgnVCM100000dc032c03RCRD&vgnextfmt=default]College”>http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site/nbcsports/menuitem.1794e27812f9d885cb4a07af493c2d04/?vgnextoid=c11c2f9ceb672110VgnVCM100000dc032c03RCRD&vgnextfmt=default)</p>
<p>Saturday Observations, Part III
By
Stewart Mandel</p>
<p>EUGENE, Ore. – I¹m guessing there were a whole lot of newfound Navy fans around the country Saturday. And I¹m guessing there were a whole lot of people smiling and celebrating right along with the Midshipmen when, at about 6:40 p.m. EST, they stopped Notre Dame¹s two-point conversion attempt in triple overtime to finally end the 43-game losing streak.</p>
<p>(The Autzen crowd let out a giant roar when the p.a. announced the score.)</p>
<p>Who cares if it was a 1-7 Notre Dame team the Midshipmen beat? I can’t imagine a happier set of players or fans than Navy¹s must be right about now. I can¹t even imagine what it¹s like to achieve such a significant victory in such dramatic fashion.</p>
<p>As for the now 1-8 Irish I’ll just say this: At his introductory press conference three years ago, Charlie Weis memorably proclaimed, “If it comes down to everything being even and it’s X’s and O’s, I have to believe we’re going to win most of the time.” If there’s anyone besides Weis himself who still believes that there are excellent facilities where you can get the help you need.</p>
<p>[Navy</a> Midshipmen, NCAA Football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish - CBSSports.com](<a href=“http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10450537]Navy”>http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10450537)</p>
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<p>[‘It’s</a> not a streak’ - Video - NBCSports.com](<a href=“http://video.nbcsports.com/player/?id=178680#videoid=178693]'It’s”>http://video.nbcsports.com/player/?id=178680#videoid=178693)</p>
<p>Navy’s victory fits well with lore of Notre Dame</p>
<p>[Navy’s</a> victory fits well with lore of Notre Dame - Navy Sports - (HometownAnnapolis.com)](<a href=“http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/11_04-21/NAS]Navy’s”>http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/11_04-21/NAS)</p>
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<p>[Mids</a> break 43-game losing streak - Navy Sports - (HometownAnnapolis.com)](<a href=“http://capitalgazette.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/11_04-47/NAS]Mids”>Hip-hop icon Nas will perform this summer with the BSO)</p>
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<p>Navy brings skid to dramatic stop</p>
<p>[Mids</a> end 43 years of losing - Navy Sports - (HometownAnnapolis.com)](<a href=“http://capitalgazette.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/11_04-23/NAS]Mids”>Hip-hop icon Nas will perform this summer with the BSO)</p>
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<p>[Heart</a> still fluttering from memorable end - Navy Sports - (HometownAnnapolis.com)](<a href=“http://capitalgazette.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/11_04-32/NAS]Heart”>Hip-hop icon Nas will perform this summer with the BSO)</p>
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<p>[ESPN</a> - Notre Dame’s NCAA-record 43-game win streak over Navy ends - NCAA College Football Recap](<a href=“College Football on ESPN - Scores, Stats and Highlights”>Navy 46-44 Notre Dame (Nov 3, 2007) Game Recap - ESPN)</p>
<p>Streak-Busting Win at Notre Dame Is Honored Back Home</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110401413.html]washingtonpost.com[/url”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110401413.html]washingtonpost.com[/url</a>]</p>
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