Notre Dame Pulls Off Extremely Rare Feat in Dominant Win Over Navy

Saturday night was anything but pretty as Notre Dame battled Navy in South Bend. Temperatures were near freezing as rain fell throughout the night and eventually that rain turned to a wintery mix as Notre Dame blew out Navy, 49-10.

It wasn't the prettiest of nights at Notre Dame Stadium, but at the end of the day it was very clean for the Fighting Irish.

Not just because Notre Dame won going away, but because it accomplished something the program hadn't done in nearly 30 years.

Notre Dame's Penalty Free Night vs. Navy

Notre Dame played all 60 minutes Saturday night without committing a single penalty. According to the Notre Dame Football Public Relations team, that is the first time that has happened since the Irish upset LSU in Baton Rouge all the way back in 1997, Bob Davie's first season as head coach.

Notre Dame won that game 24-6 and won Saturday night 49-10.

Positive Step for Notre Dame's Penalty Woes

You can't expect a team to go penalty-less like Notre Dame did Saturday, but it was a pleasant change of pace compared to what has plagued the Irish this season.

Notre Dame entered the game averaging 6.3 penalties per game and 57.9 penalty yards per contest. It's not like it entered the game averaging a couple of penalties per night, penalties have been a fairly big issue for the Irish.

The @NDFootball team ended the game with zero penalties in teh 49-10 victory over Navy.
It is the first penalty-free game for the Irish since 1997 against LSU.
— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) November 9, 2025

Notre Dame's Domination of Navy Continues

Notre Dame's domination of Navy continued on Saturday night, winning the contest 49-10. Since dropping four of 10 games from 2007 to 2016, Notre Dame has now won its last nine games over the Naval Academy.

The last three have been by a combined score of 142-27.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaways:

The lack of penalties on Saturday night was a step in the right direction but overall it was just a much more complete game by Notre Dame compared to a week ago. The offense started fast and although it didn't play a complete first half, there was a lot more good than bad.

Defensively, Notre Dame had its early struggles against the Navy offense like everyone seemingly does but was dominant as the game went on.

Mix in a kicking game that saw Notre Dame successfully kick all seven extra point attempts while not sending any kickoffs out of bounds, and it was a great night overall all around and should give Notre Dame an added boost in confidence after last week's sleeper of a performance at Boston College.