SMQ: 3 college football FBS records fell in Week 10

2. Navy’s FBS-record streak of 69 games with rushing TD falls

The last time Navy failed to score a rushing touchdown, Barack Obama was still in his first term as President of the United States and the Midshipmen were still an independent football program. On September 29, 2012, Navy fell 12-0 to a San Jose State team that finished 11-2 for the year and was the runner-up in the last season of football existence for the now-defunct Western Athletic Conference.

Since that point, Navy had gone 69 straight games with a rushing touchdown. Consistently featuring one of the most formidable rushing attacks in the nation thanks to their triple-option offense, the Midshipmen have continued to retool and find new players that fit the system. The players they have found include several strong running backs and quarterbacks who are integral parts of the option offense.

The streak of scoring a rushing touchdown, though, ultimately ended on Saturday.

All streaks must eventually come to an end.

That said, the fact that Navy’s 69-game rushing touchdown streak came to an end on a Thursday night in Philadelphia is really quite surprising. Yes, Week 10 was wild. But the last time that Navy failed to score a rushing touchdown was in a shutout situation. This time, the Midshipmen scored 26 points in defeat but failed to get any from their backfield.

Temple’s defense came up huge in the victory, holding Navy to just 136 yard on the ground. The Midshipmen scored three passing touchdowns, but failed to reach the endzone while carrying the ball.

Entering Week 10, though, Temple was just 74th nationally in rushing defense. The Owls were giving up an average of 172.7 yards per game. Navy came to Philadelphia with the fourth-ranked rushing attack in the nation. Something had to give, and surprisingly it was the Middies offense rather than the Owls defense that came up short.

Likelihood the streak will continue in next decade: Less than five percent

Any consecutive streak is hard to maintain. While both of the other service academies utilize triple-option offensive systems similar to that run in Annapolis at the U.S. Naval Academy, neither Army nor Air Force has come close to replicating the streak put together by Navy over the past five-plus years.

Teams like Georgia Tech that also rely heavily on their run game have the misfortune of playing in a Power Five conference. That makes a shot at the record that much less likely, as they are more likely to run into a championship-caliber defense.

Then again, Navy scored a touchdown against contenders like UCF this year. They crossed the goal line on the ground over the past few years against teams like Houston, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, and Duke. All it takes, though, is one lackluster performance to reset the counter once again. Navy learned that the hard way this weekend, and if any team is likely going to challenge its FBS record over the next decade it will be Navy itself that does so.