Baltimore, MD (UHND) - It wasn't pretty, and for a while it looked like Navy might end the 38, now 39, game winning streak of Notre Dame over them, but in the end, the Irish came out on top 30-23.  Carlyle Holiday connected with Omar Jenkins for a 67 yard touchdown with just over 2 minutes remaining for the go ahead score.  Navy had two more chances with both drives ending in interceptions by Glen Earl and Courtney Watson.

For the second week in a row Notre Dame had happen to it what they did all year - forcing turnovers and converting them into points.  Notre Dame fumbled the ball three times (2 from contact and 1 from a botched handoff).  Ryan Grant lost the ball twice, one of which lead to a Navy field goal.  After Grant's second fumble, Rashon Powers-Neal handled the running backs duties.  Grant had his worst performance of the year with 10 carries for 13 yards and the 2 fumbles.

The tone was set early that it wasn't going to be an easy game for the Irish when Holiday dropped back on a play action and hit a wide open Omar Jenkins who then fumbled the ball away.  Notre Dame scored first however when a Navy punt attempt ended in a safety when the snap sailed over the punter's head. 

Navy scored the first touchdown of the game however when they marched 95 yards to make the game 7-2.  Notre Dame responded with its own long drive that was ended in a Tommy Lopeinski 1 yard touchdown dive. 

The score was 9-7 at the half and stay that way until Navy scored its second touchdown of the game on a Aaron Polanco 1 yard plunge. Notre Dame responded right away with a 92 yard kick off return for a touchdown by Vontez Duff.  A Navy defender had an angle on Duff, but Duff blew away with his speed.

The Midshipmen went on to score the next 9 points on a Eric Roberts 10 yard run and a Eric Rolfs 36 yard field goal to put Navy up 23-15.  With just 4 minutes 28 seconds remaining, Notre Dame reached the end zone again on a Rashon Powers-Neal touchdown run.  The Irish then went for two and Holiday hit a wide open Arnaz Battle to tie the game.

With the game tied, the Notre Dame defense which showed signs of weakness for the first time this season, responded and shut down the Middies.  After Shane Walton returned the Navy punt for a modest gain, Carlyle Holiday connected on a 67 yard bomb to Omar Jenkins for what was the game winning score.

All in all, it was a very ugly game for Notre Dame.  The defense did not look like its normal spectacular self and gave up 23 points to Navy.  The offense managed only 71 yards on the ground but posted 272 yards in the air (a career high for Holiday).  The passing game was the lone bright spot for the Irish this afternoon.  Holiday missed a few open receivers, but for the most part had a fine game hitting on 13 of 21 attempts for 272 yards and a TD.  Holiday was far from perfect however and stayed in the pocket too long on certain occasions.

It was a disappointing effort since this was a game where Notre Dame could have come out and really beat an opponent.  Notre Dame could have used a convincing victory to show that last week was a fluke but instead fueled the fire that Notre Dame is still not for real.  It will be interesting to see how the pollsters vote Notre Dame tomorrow.  They didn't do anything to prove they should move up in the rankings without anyone in front of them losing so it will be interesting to see if anyone leap frogs Notre Dame.

On the bright side, Notre Dame won the game and is now 9-1 despite being outcaoched and outplayed most of the afternoon.  Navy came into the game prepared and ready for a fight.  Notre Dame game in and didn't look as focused and possibly still disappointed in last week's score.  The win should give the Irish some confidence back heading into the Rutgers a game.  A convincing win over Rutgers could give the Irish some confidence heading into the USC game.