Notre Dame football roundtable: Should Irish continue Navy rivalry game?
It usually comes in November, but this year sees Notre Dame start its season with annual rival Navy.
The game is unlike any other on Notre Dame’s schedule. This rivalry is anything but the dislike and almost disrespect you see when the Irish take on Michigan or USC.
It’s also different in that it’s been about as lopsided as any rivalry in the history of college football. Saturday’s game will be the 96th meeting all-time between the two with Notre Dame winning 81 of the previous 95 games.
That’s not to say there haven’t been memorable moments — for Navy those especially from 2007-2016 when the Midshipmen won four times. Great going there, Charlie Weis and Brian Kelly.
Notre Dame won each contest from 1964-2006 but a few close calls in there had Irish fans fearing an upset.
The history books show the Naval Academy helping to keep Notre Dame’s doors open during World War II, a favor the university says they’ll forever repay. That’s an admirable thing to do but just you as a college football fan – do you like that Notre Dame and Navy play annually to this day and should that tradition continue?
Here is what the Fighting Irish Wire staff has to say about that:
Geoffrey Clark
As historic as this rivalry is, it’s been very one-sided. A rivalry only is a rivalry if there’s been enough good memories in the series for fans of both teams. The Irish might enjoy having this nearly guaranteed win pop up on their schedule every season, but that’s not good for the sport. If they decided to take this series away, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.
Michael Chen
College football is all about tradition and with conferences going through realignment, Notre Dame might end up as a stand alone. Who really knows what will happen in the future. As for the next few years, it makes sense to continue to play the traditional games for as long as the Irish can. They’ve lost some and gained some over the years, so with the way the game is trending, they might as well continue to play Navy until Notre Dame has to, gasp, eventually join a conference.
John Kennedy
I understand and respect the history here, but the way this game is actually physically played makes it my least favorite game of the year, every year. I was a strong advocate for eliminating this game prior to the rule changes that forced Navy to modify some of their much-maligned sometimes injury-inducing blocking tactics. My position presently is that if Notre Dame wants to play it, fine, but only in Week 1. Get it done and over with and with plenty of prep time.
Jeff Feyerer
Call me old-fashioned, but in an era of college football dominated by change, I still relish the opportunity to watch tradition trump new. I know “because its always been that way” is flimsy rationale when you consider all of the dollars being thrown around the game nowadays, but for someone who has witnessed the pomp and circumstance during these games, the respect for both universities and programs is palpable. It’s a throwback and I’d like to hang on to as many of these relics as we can before they’re all gone.
Nick Shepkowski
In this ever-changing world of college football can we at least keep one thing the same? Notre Dame-Navy isn’t ever going to be a rivalry that’s filled with hate — that’s what USC, Michigan, Miami, and several others are for. It’s unique in its history and regardless of if Notre Dame was one of several schools the Navy helped save during WWII, I hope this game stays on the schedule for as long as I live. The only thing I wish would change is that just once Notre Dame would make the trip to Annapolis.
