Notre Dame doesn’t stomp Navy anymore — well, except when they do it literally.
The Midshipmen humiliated the Fighting Irish on Saturday, handing Notre Dame an ugly 35-17 loss. It was the Irish’s third loss in four years to a Navy program they had once beaten 43 times in a row. But Notre Dame’s biggest embarrassment came on Ricky Dobb’s one-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Notre Dame defensive end Kerry Neal, perhaps upset that Navy’s John Howell actually tried to block him, decided to do a dance on the Mid’s abdomen as he laid on the ground.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLy9X4tIgyY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]This is not “just part of the game.” It is a BS cheapshot by a frustrated player. The irony here is that Notre Dame and their fans have whined about Navy’s cut blocks and an illegal block thrown last year (which was penalized).
Let me be blunt about Howell’s block: There is nothing illegal — or “dirty” about it. It’s a good clean football play, and a smart one at that. Howell is 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds. Neal is 6-foot-2, 245 pounds. He goes straight ahead at Neal, wisely hits the bigger man low and takes him out of the play. The coaches couldn’t have drawn in up better.
Hats off to Howell for not retaliating. The Navy sophomore had some words for Neal after the play, but kept his emotions in check.
Despite happening in clear view of the refs, Neal’s stomp wasn’t flagged.
(video via The Birddog)
