The 42nd Degree - Navy By The Numbers

This weekend will mark the 99th meeting between Notre Dame and Navy in football. 

I challenged myself to come up with 99 different moments, statistics, players and memorable performances for the Fighting Irish against Navy since the two programs first met in 1927. To make sure I don’t obliterate the word count today, the list presentation will be short and to the point. Obviously every game is against Navy and to my teachers and professors through the years, please excuse the lack of proper grammar as we count up from 1 to 99. 

1 — Saturday is the first Notre Dame - Navy meeting at Gillette Stadium. 

2 — Two one-point games in the series: Notre Dame 18-17 (1984) and 27-28 (2016).

3 — The number of interceptions, a program-best for the series, by Dave Duerson in 1982. 

4 — Chase Claypool caught a series record four touchdown passes (7, 47, 3 and 20 yards) from Ian Book in 2019. 

5 — In that same game that Claypool caught four scores, Book threw a series record five touchdown passes (the fifth, a 70-yard bomb, went to Braden Lenzy). 

6 — The two teams scored six points each in the only tie of the series – 6-6 in 1945.

7 — John Huarte (#7), who won the 1964 Heisman Trophy, completed 10 passes for 274 yards against Navy in ‘64. 

8 — The current win streak in the series for the Irish dating back to 2016. 

9 — Saturday marks the ninth Notre Dame-Navy meeting on Halloween. The Irish are 8-0 against the Midshipmen on All Hallows’ Eve. 

10 — Michael Floyd caught 10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown in 2009.  

11 — The 11th series meeting occurred in 1937 with Notre Dame’s winning points (9-7) coming on a Navy dropped fumble in the end zone for a safety. 

12 — Jarious Jackson completed his first 12 passes in 1998, opening 9-of-9 for 107 yards in the first half.  Jackson finished the game 12-for-14 for 159 yards and one touchdown. 

13 — Current Irish linebacker Jaylen Sneed has 13 tackles and a fumble recovery in his four career games vs. Navy.

14 — Mike Kovaleski piled up 14 tackles in a 41-17 victory in 1985. 

15 — Trevor Laws ended up with 15 tackles in 2007 on his way to leading the Irish with 112 stops at the end of the ‘07 season. 

16 — CJ Carr attempted 16 passes, completing 13, for 218 yards and three touchdowns last season. 

17 — In the 43-10 victory in 1977, linebacker Bob Golic piled up 17 tackles. 

18 — We keep moving with the notable tackle totals against Navy, which includes the 18 stops for Michael Stonebreaker in 1988. 

19 — Don’t forget about Bob Crable’s 19 tackles against the Midshipmen in 1979.  

20 — Allen Pinkett (#20, 1982-85) is the only Irish player to post four straight 100-yard rushing games against Navy. 

21 — The series record for tackles by a Notre Dame defender is 21 by Greg Collins in 1973. 

22 — Julius Jones (#22) rushed for a Notre Dame individual record series record 221 yards in 2003.   

23 — Notre Dame has played Navy 23 times in Baltimore which is more than in any other city and where the series began in 1927. The Irish are 19-4 all-time against Navy in Charm City.  

24 — Renaldo Wynn rumbled 24 yards with a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 1996.

25 — Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (#25) had 173 receiving yards vs. Navy in 1990. 

26 — The game in Gillette Stadium will mark the 26th time Notre Dame has played Navy in an NFL venue. The Irish are 22-3 in those games and Gillette will be the ninth different NFL venue to host the series. 

27 — Pass completions from Ian Book in 2018. He finished the game 27-of-33 for 330 yards and two touchdowns. 

28 — Notre Dame erupted for 28 points in the second quarter of a 43-14 win in 1967. The scores were a Terry Hanratty three-yard run, Rocky Bleier and Bob Gladieux each on two-yard runs and a 10-yard Jim Seymour touchdown catch.

29 — Joe Howard, who also played basketball while at Notre Dame, nabbed a 29-yard touchdown pass in 1983. 

30 — Marcus Freeman's average margin of victory vs. Navy is 30 points (29.5).

31 — Maurice Stovall caught three touchdown passes in 2005, the longest of which was a 31-yard grab. 

32 — Vagas Ferguson (#32) posted 219 rushing yards in 1978, the second-most in series history. 

33 — For 1931, this was an unusual long distance pass, as Emmett Murphy caught a 33-yard touchdown from Mike Koken in a 20-0 victory. 

34 — A young Joe Theismann came on in relief of Terry Hanratty in 1968 and did a little of everything: 34 yards passing, 30 rushing, and 29 on six punt returns.

35 — Notre Dame is 3-0 vs. Navy in Dublin, Ireland (1996, 2012, 2023), winning by an average of 35 points and outscoring the Midshipmen 146-40 across the three trips abroad.

36 — TJ Jones caught a 36-yard touchdown from Tommy Rees in a 38-34 shootout victory in 2013. 

37 — The 37 carries by Allen Pinkett in 1984 are the most for an Irish player in the series. Pinkett finished with 165 rushing yards in the game. 

38 — Drew Pyne threw four touchdown passes in 2022, one of which a 38-yard toss to Braden Lenzy who made a spectacular catch over a defender in the end zone. 

39 — Cedric Hiliard forced a fumble in 2001 that was scooped up and returned 39 yards for a touchdown by Gerome Sapp.  

40 — Notre Dame’s 27-24 victory in 2003 came down to a last second 40-yard field goal from DJ Fitzpatrick.  

41 — Rodney Culver rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown in 1989 and was one of 13 different Irish ball carriers that day.

42 — Jim Stone (#42) piled up 211 rushing yards in 1980.  

43 — Notre Dame's record 43-game winning streak over Navy that ran from 1964 to 2006 remains the longest by one team over another in FBS history.

44 — John Carney's 44-yard field goal with 14 seconds left earned an 18-17 win at Giants Stadium in 1984. It is Notre Dame's narrowest winning margin in the series and allowed Carney to redeem himself after missing from 50 yards earlier in the game. 

45 — Dan Kelleher caught a 45-yard pass during his noteworthy seven-catch, 162 yard day in 1976. Kelleher also caught a 58-yard touchdown from Rick Slager in the 27-21 victory. 

46 — Jay Johnson caught a 46-yard pass from Gary Godsey, playing in relief of starting quarterback Matt LoVecchio, in a 45-14 victory in 2000. 

47 — Nick Eddy, one of the most well-known #47s in Notre Dame history, caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from John Huarte in 1964.  

48 — There might have not been a more crucial play in the 25-22 win in 1959 than Bob Scarpitto’s 48-yard interception return for a touchdown.  

49 — The biggest margin of victory for Notre Dame over Navy is 49 points from the 56-7 win in 1970.  

50 — Ralph Guglielmi, an All-American quarterback, played both ways for the Irish in 1953 and returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown in a 38-7 win. 

51 — Tim Brown caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Kent Graham in 1987 on the way to winning the Heisman Trophy.  

52 — Justin Yoon's 52-yard field goal in 2015 is the longest successful field goal for Notre Dame in the series.

53 — Jeff Weston's 53-yard interception return in 1975 just squeaked by Guglielmi’s 50-yarder as the longest interception return for Notre Dame in the series.

54 — Senior running back Aneyas Williams rushed for a 54-yard touchdown last season as part of a five-carry, 72-yard rushing performance. 

55 — Jack Snow caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from John Huarte on Halloween in 1964.

56 — Notre Dame reserve quarterback/running back/wide receiver/special teams player Steve Belles (1986-89) rushed for 56 yards against Navy during his career. 

57 — Jarious Jackson's 57-yard touchdown run in 1999 is the longest touchdown run by an Irish quarterback in the series.

58 — The most points Notre Dame has scored in the series is 58 which was done twice:  58-21  in 1994 and 58-27 in 1993.

59 — In one of the closest outcomes during Notre Dame’s 43-game win streak, Notre Dame needed a 59-yard, 16-play drive that included a fourth-and-10 Bobby Brown conversion by mere inches, capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jarious Jackson to Jay Johnson with just 36 seconds left in a 28-24 come-from-behind win. 

60 — Derrick Mayes caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Ron Powlus during the 58-21 victory in 1994.  

61 — Linebacker Bobby Leopold (#61) returned an interception 50 yards in 1977 as the highlight of a 43-10 victory.  

62 — Ted Burgmeier piled up 62 interception return yards in that same 1977 game.  

63 — George Sefcik carried nine times for 63 yards in 1961. A three-year letterman at Notre Dame (1959-62) in football and baseball, Sefcik went on to a 29-year NFL coaching career as an assistant and offensive coordinator, reaching two Super Bowls (XVI with Cincinnati, XXXIII with Atlanta).

64 — Current Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love broke off a 64-yard touchdown run in 2024.  

65 — Bill ‘Red’ Mack returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown in 1958.  

66 — Nick Rassas also returned a punt, this one a 66-yard effort in 1965.

67 — Omar Jenkins’ 67-yard touchdown from Carlyle Holiday in 2002 proved to be the game-winner, breaking a 23-23 tie with 2:08 remaining. Jenkins finished the game with 166 total receiving yards. 

68 — Ryan Harris (#68) started on the Notre Dame offensive line for four straight wins over Navy (2003-2006). He helped anchor an offensive line that rushed for 881 yards on 168 carries across those four games, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and 220 rushing yards per contest.

69 — Jonas Gray rushed 12 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns in the 2011 56-14 rout.

70 — Kevin Austin snagged a 70-yard touchdown catch from Jack Coan in 2021.

71 — Eric Dorsey (#71) recorded two sacks in 1983.

72 — Nick Pietrosante returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown in 1957. 

73 — Jim Stone's 73-yard run highlighted a 211-yard rushing performance in 1980.

74 — Billy Barrett exploded for a 74-yard punt return in 1951.  

75 — Bob Williams connected with Gary Myers for a 75-yard touchdown pass in 1958.

76 — Who could forget Ernie Zalejski’s 76-yard touchdown run in 1949 during the 49-0 shutout victory?  

77 — Yet another memorable play was defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt scooping up a Navy fumble in Dublin during the 2012 game and outrunning everyone for a 77-yard touchdown return.  

78 — Always poised to break off a huge play, CJ Prosise opened the scoring in 2014 with a 78-yard touchdown reception from Everett Golson. The Irish won the game 49-39. 

79 — Bill Etter broke off a 79-yard touchdown run in 1969. 

80 — If you are going to rush for 200 yards, you need big plays to do it and Vagas Ferguson’s 80-yard scoring run in 1978 helped him get to 219 yards on the day. 

81 — Tim Brown won the Heisman in 1987 but his six-catch, 184-yard receiving game in 1986  – the single game receiving yard series record – might have been the performance that put him on the national radar. 

82 — In one of the two top-scoring games for Notre Dame against Navy (58-27 in 1993), the Irish marched 82 yards in 13 plays for a scoring drive capped by a Robert Farmer nine-yard run.  

83 — Jerome Heavens piled up 83 rushing yards in the first half of the 1977 contest, finishing with 17 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown in a 43-10 win.

84 — Notre Dame's all-time wins over Navy (the Irish lead the series 84-13-1).

85 — Not only did Tony Hunter wear #85 at Notre Dame, he caught 85 yards worth of passes in 1982.  

86 — The first of three games for Notre Dame and Navy in Ireland occurred in 1996 at Croke Park, and Autry Denson set the tone in the contest with 86 rushing yards in the first half. Denson would finish with 123 yards and two touchdowns.  

87 — Denoting the 1987 meeting with Navy on October 31, which is remembered for Anthony Johnson’s four rushing touchdowns. 

88 — Yet another stat from that 1999 thriller, Bobby Brown (#88) caught three passes for 72 yards in the game, which included the aforementioned clutch fourth-down conversion.  

89 — The most dominant defensive lineman in Notre Dame history, Ross Browner (#89) blocked a punt in 1975, then recovered it for a touchdown.  

90 — A quirky stat, as in 1943 Notre Dame piled up 90 yards in penalties in a 33-6 win. It mattered little in the outcome of the game, as the Irish outgained the Midshipmen 323 to negative-seven in total yards.  

91 — There are two entries for 91 – Larry Coutre’s 91-yard scoring rush in 1949 and the eye-popping 91 team rushing attempts for Notre Dame in 1969.

92 — Vontez Duff holds the Notre Dame series record for longest kick return with a 92-yard effort in 2002.

93 — Notre Dame and Navy met for 93 consecutive seasons before the 2020 COVID season ended the streak.  

94 — In the 1994 meeting, Emmett Mosley scored four touchdowns as part of his 206-yard all-purpose game performance. 

95 — Tom Clements rushed for 95 yards in 1972, tacking on 53 yards passing in a 42-23 win.  

96 — In the 1989 win, Rodney Culver (41 yards, one touchdown), Raghib Ismail (36 yards) and Steve Belles (19 yards) combined for 96 of Notre Dame's amazing 414 team rushing yards.

97 — During a career full of memorable performances, Marc Edwards rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns in 1993.  

98 — Meetings between Notre Dame and Navy since 1927.

99 — Lake Dawson caught four passes for 99 yards and a touchdown in 1993.