1963 Navy Midshipmen football team

1963 Navy Midshipmen football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record9–2
Head coach
CaptainThomas Lynch
Home stadiumNavy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1962
1964 →
1963 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 14 Memphis State     9 0 1
No. 3 Pittsburgh     9 1 0
No. 2 Navy     9 2 0
No. 12 Syracuse     8 2 0
Utah State     8 2 0
Oregon     8 3 0
No. 16 Penn State     7 3 0
Army     7 3 0
Air Force     7 4 0
Boston College     6 3 0
Buffalo     5 3 1
Southern Miss     5 3 1
Idaho     5 4 0
Villanova     5 4 0
Oregon State     5 5 0
San Jose State     5 5 0
Xavier     5 4 1
West Texas State     4 4 1
Florida State     4 5 1
Colgate     3 4 1
New Mexico State     3 6 1
Colorado State     3 7 0
Miami (FL)     3 7 0
Texas Western     3 7 0
Detroit     2 6 1
Holy Cross     2 6 1
Notre Dame     2 7 0
Pacific (CA)     2 8 0
Houston     2 8 0
Boston University     1 6 1
Dayton     1 7 2
Rankings from Coaches Poll

The 1963 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy as an independent in the 1963 NCAA University Division football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Wayne Hardin, the Midshipmen finished the year with an overall record of 9–2 and a loss against Texas in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

Quarterback Roger Staubach won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award while leading the Midshipmen to a 9–1 regular season record and a final ranking of No. 2 in the nation. He led Navy to victory over their annual rivalry with Notre Dame, which would be the Midshipmen's last win over Notre Dame until 2007. In the Crab Bowl Classic, Navy defeated Maryland by a score of 42–7. There was talk of cancelling the 1963 Army-Navy game in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but his widow, Jacqueline, insisted that the game should be played. No. 2 Navy accepted an invitation to play in the 1964 Cotton Bowl Classic versus No. 1 Texas, the second No. 1 versus No. 2 bowl game in college football history.