Notre Dame-Navy Extend, Renew Series Through 2032
After 93 comes 0.
Notre Dame and Navy had owned the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in college football with 93 straight meetings since their first matchup in Baltimore on Oct. 15, 1927.
That will end this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in Notre Dame playing 10 of its 11 regular-season games against ACC opponents while eligible to vie for the league crown.
However, it will be a temporary interruption because the two schools have extended their series contract that ran through 2026 six more years through 2032.
The 94th consecutive meeting with Navy was originally set this year as the Aug. 29 season opener in Dublin, Ireland. With overseas travel discouraged, the season opener was then shifted to Navy’s on-campus site in Annapolis, Md., on either Sept. 5 or 6. It would have been the first meeting ever between the two schools in Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
When the 15-team ACC announced in July that Notre Dame would be included in football this year for the league crown and that it would go to 10 conference games — plus only one non-conference contest — another glitch occurred.
The ACC edict was that the member school’s lone non-conference game must be played in its home state. That eliminated Notre Dame’s trip to Annapolis.
Consequently, the home game with Western Michigan (Sept. 19) will represent the lone non-conference matchup for the Fighting Irish in 2020.
Back in 2011, Notre Dame and Navy agreed to extend their series 15 years through 2026 — which would have been the 100th consecutive year of meeting on the gridiron between the two programs. The athletics directors at both schools, Navy’s Chet Gladchuk Jr. and Notre Dame’s Jack Swarbrick, have agreed to add six more years to the series, extending it through 2032.
“Obviously many will be disappointed that our longstanding competitive streak with Notre Dame will be interrupted due to the scheduling circumstances imposed by the pandemic,” Gladchuk stated in a Navy press release. “However, we have agreed that Navy and Notre Dame will continue as one of college football’s longest intersectional matchups through our extension and I appreciate Notre Dame making this a priority.”
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