2007 Navy Midshipmen football team
The 2007 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Navy competed as an independent with no conference affiliation. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Paul Johnson until he accepted the head coaching position at Georgia Tech prior to the team's final game of the season. Offensive line coach Ken Niumatalolo was first promoted to interim head coach and then named as the team's permanent head coach.
After beginning the season with a 4–4 record through the first eight games, including a loss to Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) foe Delaware, the Midshipmen broke a 43-year losing streak in the Navy–Notre Dame football rivalry in the 2007 Navy vs. Notre Dame football game by winning in triple overtime. The next week, the team became bowl eligible by winning its sixth game of the season in the 2007 Navy vs. North Texas football game, which set a record for the most points scored in a regulation-length FBS college football game. The Midshipmen finished the regular season with an 8–4 record and secured a berth in the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl, which had a single-year tie-in with the USNA. The other tie-in was with the Mountain West Conference (MWC). In a close game that came down to the final seconds, Navy lost the game to the Utah Utes with a score of 35–32.
Schedule
Date |
Time |
Opponent |
Site |
TV |
Result |
Attendance |
August 31 |
7:00 p.m. |
at Temple |
Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA |
ESPNU |
W 30–19 |
30,368 |
September 7 |
7:00 p.m. |
at No. 15 Rutgers |
Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ |
ESPN |
L 24–41 |
43,514 |
September 15 |
5:00 p.m. |
Ball State |
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
CSTV |
L 31–34 OT |
32,087 |
September 22 |
1:00 p.m. |
Duke |
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
CSTV |
W 46–43 |
31,278 |
September 29 |
1:00 p.m. |
Air Force |
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) |
CSTV |
W 31–20 |
37,615 |
October 10 |
8:00 p.m. |
at Pittsburgh |
Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA |
ESPN |
W 48–45 2OT |
30,103 |
October 20 |
1:00 p.m. |
Wake Forest |
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
CSTV |
L 24–44 |
36,992 |
October 27 |
1:00 p.m. |
No. 9 (FCS) Delaware |
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
CSTV |
L 52–59 |
35,213 |
November 3 |
2:30 p.m. |
at Notre Dame |
Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry) |
NBC |
W 46–44 3OT |
80,795 |
November 10 |
3:00 p.m. |
at North Texas |
Fouts Field • Denton, TX |
|
W 74–62 |
26,012 |
November 17 |
3:30 p.m. |
Northern Illinois |
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
CSTV |
W 35–24 |
34,517 |
December 1 |
12:00 p.m. |
vs. Army |
M&T Bank Stadium • Baltimore, MD (Army–Navy Game/Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) |
CBS |
W 38–3 |
71,610 |
December 20 |
7:00 p.m. |
vs. Utah |
Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego, CA (Poinsettia Bowl) |
ESPN |
L 35–32 |
39,129 |
Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time. |
[1]
Game summaries
Notre Dame
|
1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | 3OT | Total |
---|
• Navy |
0 |
14 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
46 |
Notre Dame |
7 |
14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
44 |
|
|
Scoring summary |
---|
|
Q1 |
11:40 | ND | Hughes 3 yard run (Walker kick) | ND 7–0 |
|
Q2 |
14:56 | NAVY | Singleton 2 yard run (Bullen kick) | Tie 7–7 |
|
Q2 |
8:59 | ND | Thomas 1 yard run (Walker kick) | ND 14–7 |
|
Q2 |
4:06 | NAVY | White 8 yard run (Bullen kick) | Tie 14–14 |
|
Q2 |
:12 | ND | Kamara 21 yard pass from Sharpley (Walker kick) | ND 21–14 |
|
Q3 |
6:37 | NAVY | Kettani 1 yard run (kick failed) | ND 21–20 |
|
Q4 |
10:24 | NAVY | Kuhar-Pitters 16 yard fumble return (Kaheaku-Enhada run) | NAVY 28–21 |
|
Q4 |
3:25 | ND | Thomas 3 yard run (Walker kick) | Tie 28–28 |
|
OT |
| NAVY | Kettani 1 yard run (Bullen kick) | NAVY 35–28 |
|
OT |
| ND | Kamara 8 yard pass from Sharpley (Walker kick) | Tie 35–35 |
|
2OT |
| ND | Walker 26 yard field goal | ND 38–35 |
|
2OT |
| NAVY | Bullen 32 yard field goal | Tie 38–38 |
|
3OT |
| NAVY | Campbell 25 yard pass from Kaheaku-Enhada (Campbell pass from Kaheaku-Enhada) | NAVY 46–38 |
|
3OT |
| ND | Thomas 5 yard run (run failed) | NAVY 46–44 |
|
[2]
References
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National championship seasons in bold |