#24/24 Navy (6-0, 4-0 AAC) vs. #12/11 Notre Dame (6-1)
When	Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024 | 12:00 pm (ET)
Location	East Rutherford, N.J. | MetLife Stadium
Television	ABC (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath)
Live Video Stream	ESPN+
Listen	Navy Football Radio Network (Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff) WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.) | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WNAV 1430 AM (Annapolis) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego) | WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM (Norfolk, Va.) | WJGM 105.7 GM (Jacksonville, Fla.) | KIKI 990 AM (Honolulu, Hawai'i) | Satellite: Sirius 82, SXM App 82 | Apps: Audacy (WNAV) and TuneIn (WBAL)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Navy | Notre Dame | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | Notre Dame | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Opening Kick
•    #24 / #24 Navy (6-0) and #12 / #11 Notre Dame (6-1) meet for the 97th time on the gridiron when the two square off on Saturday afternoon (12 noon) at MetLife Stadium (82,500) in East Rutherford, N.J. Saturday's contest is being televised by ABC and is presented by Navy Federal Credit Union and Navy Mutual.
•    Navy is looking for its first 7-0 start to a season since 1978 and just its fifth in program history (1926 when Navy won the National Championship, 1934, 1960 and 1978). 
•    Notre Dame enters Saturday having won 5-straight games which is tied for the 13th-longest streak in in the country.  Navy has won 6-consecutive games which is tied for the 7th-longest streak in the country.
•    Navy is 2-0 all-time at MetLife Stadium, upsetting Notre Dame 35-17 in 2010 and beating Army 17-13 in 2021.
•    Notre Dame leads the all-time series against Navy 82-13-1 and has won 6 in a row against the Mids. Navy last defeated Notre Dame in 2016, 28-27, in Jacksonville, Fla.
•    Navy and Notre Dame are two of the winningest college football programs in history. Notre Dame's 954 all-time wins are tied with Texas for the 4th most among schools on the FBS level, while Navy's 744 wins are tied with Arkansas for 24th.
•    Navy is 1 of just 10 FBS teams who enters this weekend undefeated. With its 6 wins, the Mids are bowl eligible for the first time since 2019.
•    Navy is 1 of just 3 teams (Army, Indiana) in the FBS to have won every game this season by double figures. 
•    Saturday marks the first time that both teams enter the game ranked in the Associated Press top 25 since 2019 when #21 Navy lost to #16 Notre Dame 52-20 in South Bend. Navy last beat a ranked Notre Dame team in 2009 when the Mids stunned #19 Notre Dame 23-21 in South Bend.    
•    Navy has beaten a ranked Notre Dame team just 4 times in the history of the series (2009, 1957, 1944 and 1936).  
•    Navy already owns a win over a ranked team this year (defeated #22 Memphis, in the coaches poll, 56-44). The last time Navy beat two ranked opponents in the same year was 1958, when the Mids beat #8 Rice 20-7 and #14 Michigan 20-14. 
•    This week is just the 26th time in the last 50 years Navy has been ranked in the Associated Press poll. The Mids were ranked 6 times in both 2015 and 2019.  Navy went from 1980 to 2003 without being ranked and again from 2005 to 2014.
•    Navy, picked 11th in the 14-team AAC preseason poll, is currently in second place with a 4-0 record and owns a win over preseason favorite Memphis. The Mids play 3 of the top-4 teams in the preseason poll (Memphis, Tulane, South Florida).  
•    Navy's 269 points in the first-6 games of the year are 57 more than it scored in all 12 games last year (212).
•    Navy has scored a touchdown on the 1st play of a drive 5 times this fall, which is the 3rd most in the FBS.
•    Navy is averaging 274.8 rushing yards per game this fall, the 4th-best average in the FBS and the program's best since 2019 when it averaged a school-record 360.5 rushing yards per game.
•    Navy is 23-23 in the red zone this year with 22 of those scores resulting in touchdowns (Navy's first 20 red zone trips resulted in touchdowns before settling for a field goal last week against Charlotte). Last year, the Mids were tied for 130th in the country in red zone offense, scoring just 14 touchdowns on 29 attempts. Navy is 1 of 5 teams that are perfect in the red zone this year.
•    Navy is coming off a 51-17 win over a Charlotte in a game that saw Navy take a 38-0 lead with 10:24 left in the second quarter. It's the 2nd time this year the Mids have scored 50 points in a game (56 vs. Memphis). It's the 1st time since 2019 Navy has scored 50 or more points in multiple games in the same season.
•    Eli Heidenreich (Jr. / Snipe) or Alex Tecza (Jr. / FB), who grew up in Pittsburgh and have known each other since the 1st grade, have scored a touchdown for Navy in 13 of the last 16 games dating back to the 2023 season. Tecza scored on the first-3 drives of the game last Saturday against Charlotte.
•    The Navy defense forced 5 turnovers against Charlotte, the most since forcing 5 against Houston in 2019. Navy's 4 interceptions were the most since that same Houston game.
•    Lane III made his 36th-consecutive start at safety for the Mids against Charlotte, which is the longest active streak for a safety in the FBS and second longest by a player in the secondary. Lane III also has 3 forced fumbles this year, tied for the 4th most in the FBS.  Last week, Sporting News named him to the Midseason All-America Team.
•    DaShaun Peele (Sr. / CB) became the 1st player in school history to return 2 interceptions for a touchdown in the same game last week against Charlotte. It's the 3rd time this year Navy has returned an interception for a touchdown as Rayuan Lane III (Sr. / S) had an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the game against Memphis that clinched the victory for the Mids. 
•     Blake Horvath (Jr. / QB) threw 3 touchdown passes in Navy's win over Charlotte last Saturday. He is the 1st Navy quarterback to throw 3 touchdown passes in a game since Keenan Reynolds did it in his first-career start on Oct. 11, 2012 at Central Michigan. His 10 passing touchdowns this year are the 6th most in Navy history for a single season, just 3 behind record holder Ricky Dobbs (13 in 2010). 
•    Horvath has thrown for at least 100 yards in the first-6 games of the year. It's the longest streak by a Navy quarterback since Jim Kubiak did it in 22-straight games over the 1993-94 seasons.  
•    Horvath and Alabama's Jalen Milroe are the only 2 quarterbacks in the FBS that have reached double figures in both rushing and passing touchdowns this fall.  
•    Horvath is the No. 1-rated quarterback and the No. 2 overall runner, Heidenreich is the No. 2 overall receiver and Lane III is the No. 7-rated safety in the FBS according to Pro Football Focus. Additionally, Connor McMahon (Sr. / OT) is tied for 3rd as a pass blocker.

Game Day Timeline
•    11:41 am - March-on of the Brigade of Midshipmen
•    11:51:30 am - National Anthem, followed by a flyover
•    Saturday's fly-over will feature 4 F/A-18E Super Hornets from the "Gunslingers" VFA-105 and the "Rampagers" from VFA-83 based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, Va. Piloting the lead aircraft of the four-ship will be former Navy football player Lt. Cmdr. Travis "Sunshine" Keating USNA Class of 2013. The wing aircraft will be piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Robert "Fat Goose" Nelson, Class of 2012, Lt. Cmdr. Britton "Beavis" Girard and Lt. Matthew "Pool Boy" Baugh, Class of 2018. Providing ground control and support will be Cmdr. Travis "Sweet T" Amerine from the Class of 2005.  
•    The "Gunslingers" and "Rampagers" returned home in July from a 9-month combat deployment in the Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR) attached to Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) onboard the USS Eisenhower.  
•    11:54 am - Parachute Jumpers will leave plane.
•    12:01 pm - Parachute Jumpers land on the field.
•    12:03:20 pm - Navy will take the field with Notre Dame to follow.
•    12:07 pm - Kickoff 
•    1st/2nd Quarter Break - The Navy women's golf team will be honored. The Mids earned the program's 2nd NCAA Regionals berth by shooting a tournament-best 9-over par 289 over the final 18 holes to capture the 2024 Patriot League Women's Golf Championship title. Claiming the league title for the first time since 2021, the 882 marked the lowest 54-hole Patriot League Championship score by total strokes for the Mids in program history. Carding a 2-over par 72 on the final day, senior Stephanie Lee posted an 8-over par 218 (73-73-72) to earn individual medalist honors and become the first golfer in program history to finish at the top of the Patriot League Championship leader board. Lee also became the third player in program history to earn All-Patriot League honors 3 times in a career.
•    Halftime - The Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps will perform.
•    3rd/4th Quarter Break - The pilots from the pregame flyover will be recognized.
•    Postgame - Navy's alma mater, Navy Blue & Gold, will be played as the team stands at attention in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen. It is one of the best traditions in all of sports.

Broadcast Coverage
•    ABC will carry Saturday's game with Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (color) and Molly McGrath (sidelines) on the call.
•    The Navy Insider Show on WBAL Radio in Baltimore (1090 AM) will air from 7-8 pm on Friday night with Scott Wykoff serving as the host.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein will get underway at 11:00 am on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 12 noon with Medhurst, Miller and Mills on the call.
•    Following the contest, Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day's events in a 30-minute postgame show.

Why We Play
•    Without Navy, Notre Dame may not still exist. Notre Dame fell on hard times in World War II. The school's population dwindled to a depression era number of 2,623 students in 1943 and a 20 percent reduction in 5 years led to stark financial problems for the school. Then the Navy came to Notre Dame's rescue.
•    According to then Notre Dame president Hugh O'Donnell, the school "offered all of the facilities of this institution to the government. In April of 1943, the V-7 Indoctrination School was created and the first group of 900 men, all college graduates enlisted for one month as apprentice seamen."
•    The late Notre Dame Vice President Father Edmund Joyce also shared the same sentiments of Navy's importance to the school. "All I can say is without the Navy during the war, this institution would have gotten down to a few hundred students. Instead of that, we were almost twice our normal size during the war, and we were able to contribute something to the Navy."
•    The Navy signed a contract with the South Bend-based school at the time, guaranteeing $487,711 for its infrastructure needs and administrative expenses.
•    Notre Dame has never forgotten Navy's kindness and support in its time of dire need. In fact, in the 1950s and 60s when colleges across the country en masse were ending their ROTC programs, Notre Dame stood by Navy and allowed its University to serve as a base for college naval recruits.

And Then There Were 10
•    Heading into the week, Navy (6-0) is 1 of just 10 teams in the FBS that has not lost a game this year.
•    The other teams include Army (7-0), BYU (7-0), Indiana (7-0), Iowa State (7-0), Miami (7-0), Oregon (6-0), Penn State (6-0), Pitt (6-0) and Liberty (5-0).

Better Get Used To The Road
•    After opening the season with 3-consecutive home games, the Mids will play 7 of their final-9 games away from home (5 road, 2 neutral site).
•    Navy is the only FBS team in the country that has just 2 true home games in the final 9 contests.