COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Notre Dame Flounders for a Half, Wins, 58-27 : Independents: The Irish beat Navy for their 16th consecutive victory.

Coach Lou Holtz insisted he didn’t raise his voice at halftime. Someone, however, got the message through loud and clear to Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish, the nation’s No. 2 team, was staring at a 24-17 deficit at halftime against Navy, a team considered little more than a tuneup for a Nov. 13 showdown with top-ranked Florida State.

“I allowed our seniors to say some words at halftime. There was no ranting and raving,” Holtz said. “We had some adjustments to make and made a few minor changes on defense.”

The changes paid off in the second half as Notre Dame rolled to a 58-27 victory.

Navy Coach George Chaump said he “knew what they could do in the second half. They showed their physical superiority. We tried stunts, everything to slow them down. They went away from their finesse plays like the option and we couldn’t stop them.”

Notre Dame (9-0), trailing at halftime for the first time since 1991, scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, on a 44-yard pass play from Kevin McDougal to Lake Dawson, a 70-yard run by Randy Kinder and Robert Farmer’s nine-yard run for a 38-24 lead.

The Notre Dame defense, which gave up 228 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, limited the Midshipmen (4-4) to a field goal in the final two quarters.

The Irish extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games.

Notre Dame beat Navy for the 30th year in a row and leads the series, 57-9-1.