Notre Dame to play Navy at MetLife Stadium

Notre Dame football has announced they will play Navy at MetLife Stadium in the 2024 season, according to a report in the Associated Press.

It will be the eighth time time the Meadowlands has hosted a Notre Dame-Navy game. It’ll be the first contest scheduled there since 2010, when Navy defeated Notre Dame 35-17.

The Notre Dame-Navy game was the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in college football–93 consecutive years–before Covid-19 cancelled the game in 2020.

Let’s take a look back at some of the games from the rivalry.

2019 – Notre Dame 52 Navy 20: Former Notre Dame wide receiver Chase Claypool caught four touchdowns in this contest as the Fighting Irish routed Navy 52-20. Notre Dame’s offense put on a clinic, throwing for over 300 yards and rushing for over 100 yards.

2016 – Navy 28 Notre Dame 27: Navy quarterback Will Worth rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns as the Midshipmen got their fourth win in the rivalry since 1963. Navy completely gashed Notre Dame on the ground in this game, piling up 320 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 56 carries.

2007 – Navy 46 Notre Dame 44: This win by Navy was significant since it snapped Notre Dame’s 43 game consecutive winning streak. Former Navy head coach Paul Johnson was a master of the triple-option attack. Navy rushed for over 250 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the classic upset.

2003 – Notre Dame 27 Navy 24: Notre Dame kicker D.J. Fitzpatrick hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Fighting Irish to a win over Navy. This helped to extend Notre Dame’s winning streak over Navy.

1997 – Notre Dame 21, Navy 17: Notre Dame defensive back Allen Rossum knocked Navy receiver Pat McGrew out of bounds at the one-yard line on a 69-yard pass as time expired.

1990 – Notre Dame 52 Navy 31: This game was more about the classic players than the actual game itself. Notre Dame football legends such as Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, Ricky Watters, and Jerome Bettis all suited up for this 1990 Notre Dame roster.

Potential future locations

The Notre Dame-Navy rivalry has been played at a variety of places over the years, Chicago, Cleveland, New Jersey, Orlando, and even Dublin, Ireland. They’ve even played the game in San Diego, California in Qualcomm Stadium. A Notre Dame blog contemplated a few potential sites for the rivalry in the future.

ALOHA STADIUM – HAWAII

AT&T STADIUM – ARLINGTON, TEXAS

NEW ERA FIELD – ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK

ALLEGIANT STADIUM – LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

WRIGLEY FIELD – CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

It would definitely be interesting to see if the rivalry decides to go to Las Vegas or Arlington, Texas, as those two spots have two of the nicest football facilities on planet Earth. The Raiders’ stadium in Las Vegas is brand spanking new and the Dallas Cowboys facility was just built in 2009. It has a sparkling reputation as one of the nicest football facilities in the world.