To modify, if I am permitted, the official unofficial motto of the season — “winning is hard” — beating Navy is hard. It’s only easy in hindsight, in the cold review of the final scores. More often than not, the result comes down to a couple of plays that, if they went the other way, would have turned the result on its head.
Such was the case on Saturday, when Notre Dame met the United States Naval Academy in San Diego. The moment Miles Boykin became separated from the football in the game’s opening play, a nice thirteen yard pass from Ian Book, I experienced a feeling of horror and dread I reserve for the Navy game’s fourth quarter.