For the second straight time the Notre Dame football team lost at home to Navy, and students predictably took the loss hard, especially with the possibility of an at-large BCS bid all but evaporating.
"It was possibly one of the most depressing games I have ever seen," senior Alex Tomala said.
Graduate student David Moors said he — like many students — was not expecting such a close game, or a Notre Dame loss.
"I thought we could run the table," he said.
While this was not the first home loss for the Irish this year, students were shocked a ranked Notre Dame team fell to unranked Navy.
"It's harder losing to a team that you are closer to in skill as opposed to the USC game," freshman Jaimie Morrison said.
Other students said they felt disappointment that a seemingly overmatched Navy team was able to defeat Notre Dame.
"I was really excited for my first Navy game at home but ended up really disappointed," freshman Ashley Okonta said. "I expected a blowout."
Freshman Louise Fauth said the team's failure to fulfill their high expectations was shocking.
"I thought that we were supposed to kill them so it was kind of a shock that we lost," she said.
Students seemed to be especially disappointed at the bad luck that Notre Dame seemed to experience throughout the game.
"The whole game I was like ‘What just happened?'" freshman Sam Boers said.
Especially nerve-wracking to the student body was quarterback Jimmy Clausen's failed attempt at a rush into the end zone that resulted in him remaining on the ground for several minutes after being hit by a Navy defender.
"There was a moment of shock when he didn't get up right away but when he came back I was confident that he was fine," Boers said.
Other students felt Clausen's play in the game, including the hard hit he took, was one of the bright spots in an otherwise long day.
"I really respect him for going for it. Most quarterbacks wouldn't. I respect him more this year because he takes more risks," sophomore Daniel DeMars said.
DeMars also said a bright spot for the Irish was the continued trend of strong play late in the game.
"We picked it up in the fourth quarter as usual," he said. "We just didn't keep it up for the first three."
