Navy 46, Notre Dame 44

Notre Dame's NCAA-record 43-game win streak over Navy ends

Lou's Pep Talk: Navy vs. Notre Dame

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	23	27
Total Yards	338	375
Passing	81	140
Rushing	257	235
Penalties	5-47	4-36
3rd Down Conversions	9-16	9-19
4th Down Conversions	2-2	6-8
Turnovers	1	1
Possession	29:19	30:41

Individual Leaders

Navy Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT K. Kaheaku-Enhada 6/8 81 1 0	Notre Dame Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT E. Sharpley 17/27 140 2 0
Navy Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG E. Kettani 20 70 2 9	Notre Dame Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG J. Aldridge 32 125 0 14
Navy Receiving   REC YDS TD LG O. Washington 2 19 0 14	Notre Dame Receiving   REC YDS TD LG D. Kamara 5 44 2 21

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				NAVY	ND
	TD	11:40	Robert Hughes 3 Yd Run (Brandon Walker Kick) Drive: 9 plays, 69 yds, 3:20	0	7
SECOND QUARTER				NAVY	ND
	TD	14:56	Zerbin Singleton 2 Yd Run (Joey Bullen Kick) Drive: 19 plays, 85 yds, 8:04	7	7
	TD	08:59	Travis Thomas 1 Yd Run (Brandon Walker Kick) Drive: 12 plays, 46 yds, 5:48	7	14
	TD	04:06	Shun White 8 Yd Run (Joey Bullen Kick) Drive: 11 plays, 63 yds, 4:48	14	14
	TD	00:12	Duval Kamara 21 Yd Pass From Evan Sharpley (Brandon Walker Kick) Drive: 10 plays, 59 yds, 3:47	14	21
THIRD QUARTER				NAVY	ND
	TD	06:37	Eric Kettani 1 Yd Run (Pat Failed) Drive: 15 plays, 66 yds, 8:13	20	21
FOURTH QUARTER				NAVY	ND
	TD	10:24	Chris Kuhar-Pitters 16 Yd Fumble Return (Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada Run For Two-Point Conversion)	28	21
	TD	03:25	Travis Thomas 3 Yd Run (Brandon Walker Kick) Drive: 14 plays, 76 yds, 6:53	28	28
OVERTIME				NAVY	ND
	TD	00:00	Eric Kettani 1 Yd Run (Joey Bullen Kick) Drive: 4 plays, 25 yds, :00	35	28
	TD	00:00	Duval Kamara 8 Yd Pass From Evan Sharpley (Brandon Walker Kick) Drive: 4 plays, 25 yds, :00	35	35
OVERTIME				NAVY	ND
	FG	00:00	Brandon Walker 26 Yd Drive: 8 plays, 16 yds, :00	35	38
	FG	00:00	Joey Bullen 32 Yd Drive: 6 plays, 10 yds, :00	38	38
OVERTIME				NAVY	ND
	TD	00:00	Reggie Campbell 25 Yd Pass From Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada Pass To Reggie Campbell For Two-Point Conversion) Drive: 1 plays, 25 yds, :00	46	38
	TD	00:00	Travis Thomas 5 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion Failed) Drive: 6 plays, 25 yds, :00	46	44

Photo Wire
	Navy running back Reggie Campbell (7) jumps into the arms of an unidentified teammate after scoring a two-point... (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) · View Photo · Photo Gallery

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- 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.

Rivalry Renewed
Navy scored a 46-44 3OT victory over Notre Dame to snap the Fighting Irish's 43-game winning streak against the Midshipmen, the most consecutives victories over one major opponent in NCAA history.
Teams	Wins	Seasons
Notre Dame over Navy	43	1964-2006
Nebraska over Kansas	36	1969-2004
Oklahoma over Kansas State	32	1937-1968

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

"They're worried about here and now. These kids are 17. You think they're worrying about 43 years?" he said.

"To be honest, I don't even know what the streak was at before it ended," linebacker Joe Brockington said.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It was the fourth sack for Navy, which entered the game with five.

Notre Dame, which hadn't scored more than 20 points this season, led 21-14 at halftime, the first halftime lead for the Irish.

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.

Kaheaku-Enhada ran in the 2-point conversion to give the Midshipmen a 28-21 lead.

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.

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.

Weis was asked whether the game, following a 38-0 loss to USC, was a low point for the Irish.

"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."

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.

Weis said the biggest disappointment for him is the Irish couldn't win the game for Hughes and his family.

"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."

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.