No. 7 Notre Dame Sinks Navy Yet Again

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Brady Quinn passed for four touchdowns, three to Maurice Stovall, to lead No. 7 Notre Dame to its No. 7 Notre Dame sinks Navy yet againover Navy, extending the NCAA-record streak with a 42-21 victory Saturday.<br> <br> Notre Dame broke the game open by scoring on all three of its second-quarter possessions, including a pair of touchdowns 1:28 apart late in the quarter by Darius Walker, who ran for 118 yards on 19 carries, and Anthony Fasano to take a 28-7 halftime lead.<br> <br> The Irish (7-2) need to win their final two games against Syracuse and at Stanford to remain eligible for a Bowl Championship Series berth. Navy (5-4) still needs a win over either Temple or Army to become bowl eligible.<br> <br> It was another record-setting day for Quinn, who was 22-of-31 passing for 284 yards. That gives him 2,931 yards passing for the season, breaking the mark of 2,753 yards set by Jarious Jackson in 1999. Quinn needs 254 yards passing in Notre Dame&#39;s final two games to pass the school career mark of 7,602 set by Ron Powlus from 1994-97.<br> <br> Quinn&#39;s three TD passes give him 52 for his career, tying the school mark set by Powlus.<br> <br> Quinn extended his school record of games with TD passes to 14 straight. He also set a school record by throwing 130 passes without an interception before safety DuJuan Price intercepted his pass at the 12-yard line in the fourth quarter. The old mark was 126 straight set by Carlyle Holiday in 2001 and 2002. It was Quinn&#39;s fifth interception this season.<br> <br> The main target for Quinn on Saturday was Stovall. He had TD catches of 31, 16 and 10 yards, giving him eight touchdown catches in the past three games. Stovall finished with eight catches for 130 yards. Jeff Samardzija saw his school record streak for games with at least one TD catch end at eight.<br> <br> Notre Dame started the game running more than usual, but reverted to the pass as the game wore on. The Irish attempted just five passes on two possessions in the first quarter, but threw the ball 13 times in the second quarter. <br> <br> But with the score tied 7-7, Notre Dame scored its next two TDs on the ground. Travis Thomas scored first on a 12-yard run, Notre Dame&#39;s first rushing touchdown since Quinn scored on a 5-yard run late in the fourth quarter against USC three games earlier.<br> <br> Navy was driving when Lamar Owens fumbled a pitch attempt and linebacker Corey Mays recovered at the Navy 49. It took Notre Dame just three plays to score. Quinn threw a 26-yard pass to tight end Fasano and a 10-yard pass to Samardzija to set up a 13-yard TD run by Walker, who had his first 100-yard rushing game since starting the season with four straight.<br> <br> Notre Dame held Navy to three-and-out. Quinn then completed 4-of-6 passes for 48 yards, capping the drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Fasano.<br> <br> Navy opened the second half with a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Lamar Owens, marking the sixth straight game the Midshipmen have scored on their first possession of the second. But the Irish answered with a 15-yard TD pass from Quinn to Stovall.<br> <br> Navy, which entered the game second in the nation in rushing at 282.6 yards a game, finished with 239 yards running on 58 attempts. The Midshipmen played most of the game without Matt Hall, their second leading rusher, because he sprained his left knee on his first carry.<br> <br> The Midshipmen added a touchdown when backup quarterback Brain Hampton threw a 17-yard TD pass to Tyree Barnes with 1:17 left.<br> <br> The victory marked the sixth time this season the Irish have scored at least 40 points, tying the school record set by in 1991 and 1992.<br> <br> © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.