I Guess We Saw This Coming

jperg2 · November 15, 2007

Midshipmen headed to bowl game for fifth straight season

SOURCE: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?i...ce=NCFHeadlines

ESPN.com news services

Updated: November 12, 2007, 9:46 AM ET

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy stamped its season of big moments by announcing Sunday it has accepted an invitation to play in the third annual San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

Navy (6-4) clinched a fifth straight bowl appearance with Saturday's prolific 74-62 victory over North Texas. The teams' combined 136 points was a major-college record, and the Midshipmen -- who have the nation's best rushing offense -- set a school record by running for 572 yards with eight rushing touchdowns.

The previous week, coach Paul Johnson's team snapped a 43-year losing streak to Notre Dame, 46-44 in triple overtime.

Navy will play a Mountain West opponent in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.

"A beautiful setting in a Navy city at one of the finest football venues in the country has everyone excited," Navy athletics director Chet Gladchuk said in a statement. "Five bowl games in a row is historic for the Academy and our congratulations to Coach Johnson, his staff, our players and the Brigade of Midshipmen for reaffirming that Navy is one of the finest football programs in the nation."

The Midshipmen have tied a school record by scoring at least 30 points for the eighth straight game. That stretch included previous victories of 46-43, 48-45 and 46-44, with a 59-52 loss. Against North Texas, they scored their most points in a game since beating Colby 121-0 in 1919.

"I'm excited the team has achieved one of its goals, to have a chance to go to a bowl game," Johnson said in a statement. "We still have two very important games remaining against Northern Illinois and Army, so we are going to put the bowl game on the back burner until the regular season is over."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.