Navy Football: Midshipmen don’t miss a beat in 2025

Ahead of this weekend’s Army vs. Navy football game, the Midshipmen are 9-2 on the season and are ranked No. 22 in the AP Top-25. There have been some close losses, huge victories, and plenty of very exciting games over the course of the season. And, if tiebreakers went a different direction, they would have had a chance at making the American Conference title game.

Another Step Forward: Navy Football Takes Care of Business in 2025

Since Week 1, Navy took care of business for the majority of the season.

From the beginning of the year, the Midshipmen won their first seven games with their high-powered offense and a defense that made plays when necessary. Navy only scored less than 30 points one time in their first seven games The only time this occurred was in arguably a season-best defensive performance in a 21-13 win over Rice. The offense showed that it could do a bit of everything; the passing game ripped off 339 yards and three touchdowns against Air Force, while they had at least 200 rushing yards as a team in six of their seven games.

Against North Texas and Notre Dame, the Midshipmen had their worst struggles of the season. They could not get key stops, and most importantly, the offense hit some bumps in the road. Blake Horvath was also banged up at this point of the season, which led to the offense’s season-worst performance against the Fighting Irish.

Yet, those losses did not deter Navy, and they finished their regular season on an extremely high note.

Against USF, the offense led the way once again. The overall unit rushed for 346 yards and four touchdowns on 6.7 yards per carry, with both Braxton Woodson and Alex Tecza rushing for over 100 yards each.

On Thanksgiving, Navy combined more high-level running with one of its better defensive efforts of the season against Memphis. Horvath had another touchdown on 61 yards rushing, while Tecza erupted for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 4.0 yards per carry. Landon Robinson and Griffen Willis led the charge on defense, each notching at least one sack and four pressures. The coverage and tackling were also stout for the Midshipmen; Memphis did not find much room to attack in the passing game or on the ground.

Now sitting at 9-2, Navy has a chance to not only reach 10 wins this season, but reach 11 wins for the first time since 2019. The first step to reach that benchmark, of course, is to defeat Army on Saturday.

Blake Horvath Steps Up

Just like 2024, Blake Horvath led the Midshipmen to great heights once again in 2025.

Entering this week, Horvath has posted 1390 yards and nine touchdowns on 81 completions. While he threw five interceptions, he also had 11 big-time throws and had an ADOT of 12.1. As a rusher, Horvath posted 1059 yards and 14 touchdowns on 5.7 yards per attempt. He has 549 yards after contact, 30 missed tackles forced, and 33 rushes of 10 yards or more. Horvath also accounted for 61 first downs.

In a year where the defense was not as successful as in the past, Horvath was called upon to lead Navy to victory. In most weeks, Horvath did this on the ground. He recorded at least one rushing touchdown in 10 of 12 games in the regular season. He thrived when asked to make big plays as a passer, hitting at least one big-time throw in five games this season. This combination led Horvath to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football this season, notching 99.14 Total EPA, which ranks 11th in the country.

Most importantly, it is evident that Horvath’s leadership played a huge role in the team’s success. He kept them steady in close games while pulling off great comebacks and upsets. Heading into this weekend’s game, Horvath has a claim to being the best team on the field. If he keeps playing as he has for the past two seasons, that will be proven correct on Saturday.

Record-Setting Year for Heidenreich

As a pass-catcher, Eli Heidenreich led the team in receiving by a wide margin. Posting 805 yards and four touchdowns on 40 receptions, the offensive weapon had nine contested catches on 12 attempts while posting an ADOT of 13.7. He also had 277 yards after the catch and accounted for 68.26 EPA on completions. As a rusher, Heidenreich had 409 yards and three touchdowns on 6.6 yards per attempt. He forced 18 missed tackles and accounted for 207 yards after contact.

Whenever Heidenreich touched the ball this season, good things happened. The senior standout created chunk plays and kept drives rolling for Navy. Alongside Blake Horvath and Alex Tecza, Heidenreich helped to form a trio that gave opponents fits all season. And against Army,  expect more of the same to continue.

Best Win: Victory over USF

Out of all of their wins to this point of the season, Navy’s win over USF is its best.

Coming off losses to North Texas and Notre Dame, the Midshipmen hit the ground running to take the lead over the Bulls. They forced Byrum Brown into an early interception, held the Bulls to one first-half touchdown, and posted 24 first-half points on what had been a pretty formidable USF defense.

And while the Bulls stormed back into the game, Navy weathered the storm with their high-powered offense. Even without Blake Horvath for stretches of the game, backup quarterback Brandon Woodson thrived in the spotlight and ran for two big touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

This was a game that showed all of the aspects that make up the Navy football team. They have a defense that can make plays when necessary, while also having an offensive scheme that challenges defenses at all levels and can score at will. Most importantly, the group has the resilience to not crumble under the pressure of comebacks or in general close games.