Irish Defeat Navy In Ireland

November 2, 1996

Notre Dame vs Navy Final Stats

By Jim Blaum, The Scholastic 1996 Football Review

Two weeks after suffering an unthinkable and heartbreaking overtime loss to Air Force at home, one might have expected the Irish to run away from Navy, which had defeated the Falcons. And run they did. The Irish ran all the way to Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, and they kept on running over the Navy defense and into the NCAA record books.

Navy came into the game over­ flowing with momentum, hoping to drown a Notre Dame team that had just seen its national title hopes go down the drain. Sporting an im­pressive record of 5-1, the Mid­shipmen were off to their best start since 1979. Fresh off a 47-18 rout of Wake Forest, Navy entered its annual meeting with the Irish own­ ing the third-best rushing offense in the nation and sporting the same wishbone attack that had baffled the Irish two weeks earlier. But, in a game touted as “The Shamrock Classic,” it wouldn’t be wise to bet against the Irish.

The matchup marked the 70th straight season these two teams have met. The Irish led the series 59-9-1 going in, and left with a 54-27 win, setting an NCAA record for the longest winning streak by one team over another.

The outcome, however, was just one of several similarities between this game a major bowl game. And like 1995, the Irish tasted victory, but this time they did in their way, Holtz’s way. 

Last year, the Midshipmen slammed quarterback Ron Powlus to a season-ending injury and held the Irish at bay until the third quarter, when backup quarterback Tom Krug threw two touchdown passes to Derrick Mayes, giving Notre Dame a 35-17 victory. In that game, the Irish threw for about the same number of yards they ran for. That’s not Lou Holtz football. But this year things were different.

In the week leading up to the showdown in Dublin, Holtz had announced that senior tailback Randy Kinder would start in place of sophomore Autry Denson, who had failed to impress the coach with his 14-carry, 46- yard performance against Air Force. “I just don’t think we have the best chance to win right now with Autry Denson at tailback,” Holtz said.

So Kinder entered the lineup, ran for just eight yards on three carries and ran right back to the sideline. After failing to achieve a first down on the opening series, Holtz replaced  Kinder with, who else, Denson. Some say Holtz should have started Denson, who had accounted for 112 of Notre Dame’s 165 yards rushing last year against Navy. Others believe it was simply Holtz’s strategy. “What he did was try to put pressure on Autry and make Autry re­spond in the game, and he did.” Powlus said after the game.

Denson carried 16 times for 123 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown scamper just before halftime, which made the score 21-7 and sank the Midshipmen.

“You have to be prepared for the unexpected,”  Denson said. “During games, Coach Holtz usually goes to the hot back, and fortunately today I was the hot back.”

HoLtz chose the right backs all day, as the Irish rushed for 303 yards and six touch­downs. Denson added a 23-yard score to accompany his 33-yarder before halftime. Starting fullback Marc Edwards found the end zone three times to go along with 47 yards rushing, and his backup, Jamie Spen­cer, added a 2-yard score.

“Our offensive line did outstanding things. And our backs were running over people all day,” said Powlus, who completed six of 11 passes with one touchdown to tight end Pete Chryplewicz and no interceptions.

Just as the Notre Dame backs trampled over the Navy defense, the Irish defense ran ashore the option attack of the Midshipmen. The unit did all that was necessary to give Notre Dame an opportunity to win the game, including making the big plays. Bob Davie’s troops forced three Navy turnovers: one interception and two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

On Navy’s sixth play of the second half, quarterback Chris McCoy dropped back to pass. As McCoy looked downfield, sopho­more outside linebacker Kory Minor came from his blind side and pasted him, jar­ring the ball loose. Renaldo Wynn scooped it up and rambled untouched for 24 yards and six points. Wynn’s return gave the Irish a comfort­ able 28-7 lead. Navy cut the Irish lead to 14 points by the end of the third quarter with a 55-yard pass from backup quarterback Ben Fay to Cory Schemm, mak­ing the score 35-21. But that was as close at Navy would get.

After the dust left by the Irish running backs settled on the foreign soil of Croke Park, the scoreboard showed a decisive Notre Dame victory. Holtz and the Irish had found their stride, continuing their dominance of Navy. Re­demption came to an Irish team that ap­peared on the brink of utter collapse.

“This has been a wonderful experience,” Holtz said. “I’ve asked the players to write a journal about what they experienced, to keep and think about in years to come.”

Maybe they will remember how their luck returned on the Emerald Isle.