Associated Press
The college football notebook …
WEST POINT, N.Y. ó It happens every year at Michie Stadium. The seniors bid farewell to the old stadium hard by the Hudson River, and it’s never easy ó in good times or bad.
“All of a sudden you feel like a plebe again. You wonder where the time went,” senior wideout Austin Barr said.
A win today over Fordham (1-6) of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) would make it just plain sweet.
“Fordham is a game that getting a win could maybe jump-start (the season),” Army linebacker Nate Combs said. “Every time we come back to Michie, I feel like it’s a different energy. We need that.”
Army (2-5) needs six wins before the season finale against Navy to be eligible to play in the postseason for the second straight year, but the Black Knights will be without junior quarterback Trent Steelman, whose academy-record of 32 straight starts will end. Steelman suffered an ankle injury in the first half of last Saturday’s 44-21 loss at Vanderbilt and did not return.
AND THEN, THEREíS NAVY
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó This is the 85th straight year Notre Dame and Navy have played, making it the longest continuous rivalry in college football.
For much of the last five decades, it might have been the most lopsided, too, with Notre Dame winning 43 in a row from 1964 to 2006.
Since then, however, the Midshipmen have won three of four, including the last two. Navy (2-5) will bring its tricky triple option and porous defense to Notre Dame on Saturday as the Irish (4-3) try to bounce back from a humbling loss to USC last weekend.
BC vs. MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK, Md. ó After being pushed around by several of the best teams in the ACC, Maryland and Boston College finally get a break in the schedule Saturday.
They’re playing each other.
The Terrapins (2-5, 1-3) and Eagles (1-6, 0-4) own the two worst overall records in the ACC and are the bottom feeders in the league’s Atlantic Division.
OBIT
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ó Former Alabama and New York Jets punter Greg Gantt, who may be best known for having two punts blocked in a 17-16 loss to Auburn in 1972, has died. His sister, Patricia Gant, said Gantt died Wednesday of complications from heart disease and diabetes.
He was 59. Gantt led the Southeastern Conference in punting for three seasons from 1971-73 and also kicked long field goals for the Crimson Tide.