The 2008 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football during the 2008 season. Navy competed as an independent with no conference affiliation.
The team was led by first-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo. He was promoted from the offensive line coach before the season, after his predecessor, Paul Johnson, accepted the head coaching position at Georgia Tech.
The Midshipmen finished the regular season with an 8–4 record to attain bowl eligibility. Navy secured a berth in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl, which had a tie-in with the two independent military academies, the other being Army. The other tie-in was with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Due to a chaotic and closely contested season in the ACC, in the EagleBank Bowl, Navy ended up playing Wake Forest in a re-match of a regular season game, despite a statement in their contracting disallowing it.[1] Unlike the earlier game, Navy lost the rematch against Wake Forest, 29–19.
Schedule [edit]
| Date |
Opponent# |
Rank# |
Site |
Result |
Attendance |
| August 30 |
Towson |
|
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
W 41–13 |
31,613 |
| September 5 |
at Ball State |
|
Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN |
L 35–23 |
22,517 |
| September 13 |
at Duke |
|
Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC |
L 41–31 |
25,082 |
| September 20 |
Rutgers |
|
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
W 23–21 |
37,821 |
| September 27 |
at #15 Wake Forest |
|
BB&T Field • Winston-Salem, NC |
W 24–17 |
33,173 |
| October 4 |
at Air Force |
|
Falcon Stadium • USAFA, CO |
W 33–27 |
46,339 |
| October 18 |
#23 Pittsburgh |
|
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
L 42–21 |
37,970 |
| October 25 |
Southern Methodist |
|
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
W 34–7 |
31,698 |
| November 1 |
Temple |
|
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD |
W 33–27 OT |
34,775 |
| November 15 |
vs. Notre Dame |
|
M&T Bank Stadium • Baltimore, MD |
L 27–21 |
70,932 |
| November 25 |
at Northern Illinois |
|
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL |
W 16–0 |
17,932 |
| December 6 |
vs. Army |
|
Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA (Army-Navy Game) |
W 34–0 |
69,144 |
| December 20 |
vs. Wake Forest |
|
RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C. (EagleBank Bowl) |
L 29–19 |
28,777 |
 Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time. |
[2]
References [edit]
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National championship seasons in bold
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Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
