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Air Force crushes hapless Notre Dame in South Bend

Nov 10, 2007 - 11:23 PM SOUTH BEND, Indiana (Ticker) -- Air Force authored the latest chapter to Notre Dame's nightmare.

Shaun Carney threw two touchdown passes Saturday as the Falcons rolled to an easy 41-24 triumph over hapless Notre Dame.

It was the fifth victory in the last six games for Air Force (8-3), which ended a three-game losing streak against the Fighting Irish and improved to 6-22 all-time in this series.

Conversely, Notre Dame (1-9) continued the worst season in its storied history, dropping its fourth straight contest while losing to Air Force for the first time since 1996.

The Fighting Irish failed to rebound from last week's 46-44 triple-overtime loss to Navy, their first loss in that historic series since 1963. Notre Dame had not lost to two service academies in the same season since 1944, when it dropped decisions to Navy and then-No. 1 Army.

But Carney helped etch yet another dubious distinction into Notre Dame's record book Saturday, completing 10-of-16 passes for 120 yards to lead Air Force to its most lopsided win in the 44-year history of this rivalry.

Carney also rushed for 41 yards and a score on nine carries for Air Force, which bridged the second and third quarters with 21 straight points to turn a tight contest into a laugher.

Spencer Armstrong gave Air Force the lead for good with 1:12 remaining in the first half, scoring on an eight-yard run to make it 17-10. Carney tossed TD passes of 7 and 10 yards in the third quarter to give the Falcons a 31-10 edge.

Notre Dame has never finished a season with less than two victories. The Fighting Irish close out their home schedule next week against Duke before visiting Stanford in their season finale November 24.

Freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed 22-of-40 passes for 246 yards and three TDs for the Fighting Irish.