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Notre Dame seems to always have trouble with the service academies - Air Force '96, Navy '97, and Army '98 just to name the more recent ones.   Even though their may be a lot of pride at stake there is no reason Notre Dame should have trouble or come close to losing to any of these fine institutions.  Call me arrogant, but at the University of Notre Dame these types of games should be over by half time.

This is not always the case at Notre Dame however.  In 1996 Air Force traveled to South Bend and beat the Irish in overtime.  In 1997 Navy came to South Bend and came within yards of upsetting ND, and last year it took a 48 yard field goal from Jim Sanson to beat Army again in South Bend. 

Don't get me wrong, I think the service academies are great.  Their players are not on scholarship and the chances of making it to the NFL are slim so that is a non factor in them playing.  They play strictly for the love of the game which I find to be very commendable in a time of agents, huge NFL contracts, and everything else.

As I've said already, the fact remains that there is no reason that Notre Dame should have trouble in a game like this.  They should have it out of hand by half-time and be playing the backups for the second half.  Not being able to do this against the lesser teams is part of the reason Notre Dame football is nearing an all time low.  By not blowing out the lesser teams like schools like Florida State, Penn State, Florida, etc. do they don't give their backups valuable game experience.

Arnaz Battle is going to be the starting quarterback next but has yet to complete a pass this year - does that scare anyone else besides me?   He needs to get in the game in games like these so he can be prepared for next year.

Navy will not have its starting quarterback and overall best player in Brock Broadwater so there is even less room for excuses this week.   Notre Dame should take the ball and pound away.  Then use the play action and have this game won by the end of the second quarter and get Arnaz Battle in the game.   Once Battle is in the game, it might be a good diea to actually let him pass since he will be the starter next year instead of having him hand it off three times in a row.

I am tired of hearing the same old excuses in games like these from the coaching staff - its time to step up and blow these teams out if this team is truly heading in the right direction.  What do the commercials for Adidas say during the games?  "It's not football, it's Notre Dame football?"   Well it's time to start playing like it's Notre Dame Football.

Prediction
Navy hasn't beat Notre Dame since 1963 so don't expect anything to change this year.   Notre Dame rolls and runs the ball with ease in route to a 4 game winning streak.   Go Irish!!! ND 42 Navy 10