The 1954 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1954 college football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Eddie Erdelatz,^[1][2] and they acquired the nickname "Team Named Desire" during the press conference following the 25–0 road shutout of Stanford, when Erdelatz said, "Every man on this team is full of desire."^[3]

After defeating #5 Army in Philadelphia,^[4] the Midshipmen were ranked fifth in both final polls, released in late November, and played in their first bowl game in 31 years. Navy shut out #6 Ole Miss 21–0 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day.^[5][6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	William & Mary		Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 27–0		[7]
October 2	at Dartmouth		Memorial Field Hanover, NH	W 42–7	13,200	[8]
October 9	at No. 17 Stanford	No. 19	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 25–0	55,000
October 16	at Pittsburgh	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 19–21	30,151
October 23	at Penn		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 52–6	41,228	[9]
October 30	vs. No. 6 Notre Dame	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)	L 0–6	60,000
November 6	vs. Duke	No. 19	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	W 40–7	28,000–30,000	[10]
November 13	Columbia	No. 10	Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 51–6	11,000	[11]
November 27	vs. No. 5 Army	No. 6	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	W 27–20	102,000
January 1, 1955	vs. No. 6 Ole Miss	No. 5	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	W 21–0	80,190	[12]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

Source:^[13]

Game summaries

Sugar Bowl vs Ole Miss

• Welsh 8/14 passing
• Gattuso (MVP) 111 rush yds, 2 TD
• Weaver 106 rush yds, TD, 3 PAT

Source:^[3][5]