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Navy hopes that traveling across the country will provide it a home-field advantage Saturday night as the Midshipmen take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in a primetime CBS matchup from San Diego, home of the Navy’s Third Fleet.
Last year, Navy gave Notre Dame all they could handle in South Bend, eventually falling 24-17 and the Mids hope that they can repeat this year while finding a way to come out on top. It was a four quarters game, with the game tied 17 apiece heading into the final 15 minutes.
We all know what has to happen for Navy to pull off this upset. Control the clock, have sustained drives, avoid untimely penalties, win the turnover battle, and keep Ian Book and Co. off the field.
Can the Mids spring the upset? It will be a tough task, but they’ve been here before. As usual, the Notre Dame crowd is calling for the cancellation of this series because well, quite frankly, they see the game as a no-win situation for the Irish.
Navy’s offense looked to find its footing in the first half last week against Houston. If they are able to turn that into four quarters of execution, expect this game to come down to the final whistle. If not, it could be a long evening ahead.
Regardless, here is all the info you need about the matchup and don’t forget to follow along @AAE_SBN and here in the game thread during the action!
Match-up
Navy
Current Record: 2-5
Mascot: Bill the Goat
Location: Annapolis, MD
2017 Record: 7-6
Head Coach: Ken Niumatalolo (86-53)
Notre Dame
Current Record: 7-0
Mascot: Leprechaun
Location: South Bend, IN
2017 Record: 10-3
Head Coach: Brian Kelly (55-33 at Notre Dame, but that does not include vacated wins)
Gameday Briefing
Stadium: San Diego County Credit Union Stadium
Capacity: 70,561
Surface: Natural Grass
Tickets: Starting at $39 on Stubhub
Kickoff Time: 8:00 PM EDT
SB Nation: One Foot Down
TV: CBS; Carter Blackburn (PbP), Aaron Taylor (color), Rick Neuheisel (color)
Satellite Radio: Sirius Channel 206, XM Channel 210
Odds: Navy +24, O/U 54
All-Time Series: Notre Dame leads 77-13-1
Navy Motivation: LET’S GO!!!