Nov 15, 2001

By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - The question about whether Notre Dame might overlook winless Navy, whom the Irish have beaten an NCAA-record 37 straight times, seemed like a natural.

Still, it caught coach Bob Davie by surprise.

"Man, I haven't even thought of that one," he said.

Maybe it's because Davie has been so preoccupied with questions about whether he will be fired and Notre Dame's struggles that he didn't think about the Irish possibly having an easy game Saturday.

Or maybe he remembers all too well that the last two times the Midshipmen (0-8) have played at Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish (3-5) barely escaped with victories.

Two years ago the Irish got a favorable spot by officials after Bobby Brown caught a pass on fourth-and-10 with 1:20 left, keeping the game-winning drive alive by an inch or so.

Four years ago, Navy quarterback Chris McCoy threw a 69-yard Hail Mary pass that bounced off Irish safety Deke Cooper and fell into Pat McGrew's hands. Cornerback Allen Rossum shoved McGrew out of bounds at the 1-yard line as time ran out to preserve Notre Dame's 21-17 victory.

In fact, although Davie is 6-0 against service academies, four of the games went down to the wire. The Irish needed overtime against Air Force last season to win and a 48-yard field goal with 66 seconds left to beat Army 20-17 in 1998.

"Any time you play a service academy you've got a lot of X's and O's to deal with," Davie said. "Navy is the kind of team that it doesn't matter what the score is in the game, they keep playing so hard. It's hard to ever put them away."

The Irish say they know the Midshipmen are dangerous.

"If you're overlooking them, you're fooling yourself. The older guys know just because we've been around. We've seen what happens," linebacker Courtney Watson said.

The Midshipmen know, too.

"I think we still believe we can go in and beat a good program like Notre Dame," quarterback Brian Madden said. "We've had opportunities. It just seems like the luck of the Irish."

So far this season, though, all the Irish have had is bad luck, which gives the Midshipmen hope.

"They're going to have to make mistakes and we're going to have to capitalize," Madden said. "We have to execute at 100 percent and not turn the ball over. We're going to have to play flawless and hope they make mistakes."

But even some strong Irish teams have had trouble with Navy. In 1974, the No. 7 Irish (6-1) coached by Ara Parseghian were 30-point favorites against a 2-6 Navy team. A punter named John Stufflebeem kept the Irish backed up all game as the Midshipmen nearly pulled off the upset.

"Stufflebeem? The guy put the ball in orbit," Parseghian said this week. "I never saw such a kicking exhibition in all my life. We would drive down the field, fumble the ball at the 10-yard line and he'd kick it back to the other 10-yard line."

Stufflebeem, now a rear admiral and seen frequently in the news in recent weeks as deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, punted the ball 11 times that day in Philadelphia for a 48-yard average. Navy led 6-0 until the fourth quarter before losing 14-6.

"What I remember most about that game is just the energy and electricity that seemed to be on our side of the field that day," Stufflebeem said. "I had a better-than-average day that day and I can't really explain it. In some games I'd be in a zone for a while, then struggle. In that particular game I was in the zone throughout."

Parseghian said he was surprised by Stufflebeem's punting that day, but not by the game the Midshipmen gave them.

"You absolutely can't overlook them. The one thing you always know is that they're going to be in top physical condition and they're going to fight you for 60 minutes," he said.

Which may be why Davie was caught off guard by the question about overlooking Navy.

"I don't even concern myself with overconfidence. That's really the least of my concerns right now," he said. "They've not won a game, but we've only won three. That's pretty simple."