Navy quarterback Blake Horvath is having a historic season

Annapolis, Md. — On a hot, sunny, September morning, hundreds of midshipmen, donning their matching fatigues on a “Tactical Thursday,” crossed the Navy campus to attend their next class, uniform black backpacks slung over their shoulders.

Midstride, a midshipman peeked out from under his requisite hat to say good morning with a huge grin.

“That’s our quarterback,” Navy fullback Daba Fofana told a nearby spectator.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, junior Blake Horvath blends in easily with his classmates in the yard during school — including his 3.53 GPA as an operations research major. As for Navy quarterbacks, though, Horvath stands alone as the best dual-purpose quarterback the program has seen — and perhaps the only one in the country who didn’t enter the season but statistically aligns himself with some of the best in the sport.

Navy’s highest quarterback finish in QBR — which ESPN has been tracking since 2004 — is sixth in 2019 by Malcolm Perry. Horvath enters this week No. 3 in total QBR but has been No. 1 for nearly a month — a spot that in past years has been occupied by Jayden Daniels (2023), Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (2021), Alabama’s Mack Jones (2020), LSU- was reserved for the likes of Joe Burrow (2019) and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray (2018).

Just a few first-round NFL draft picks.

“And there’s Blake!” Navy quarterbacks coach Evin Jasper said with a smile.

Not bad for an unassuming Ohio kid who was recruited by a few Division II schools and Mid-American schools Toledo, Ball State and Miami (Ohio) — as a wide receiver and safety.

“People don’t understand,” Jasper said. “Blake is really freaking athletic. You see some high school film where he’s going down on two feet and dunking it — I mean going up and throwing it down. It was like, ‘Whoah.’ But he walks in the room, he’s got this goofy smile on his face, he’s always cracking jokes and giving guys a hard time. He reminds me of a character from ‘Police Academy.’ As a football player, I’m sure he can do anything — but we’re glad he’s playing quarterback for us.”

Horvath is a big reason Navy enters Saturday’s critical game against Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium 6-0 for the first time since 1979. He is the nation’s No. 4 scoring offense (44.8), Navy’s highest average of over 100. On the year the Midshipmen are also No. 1 in red zone offense (23-23), No. 2 in yards per completion (19.3), and No. 4 in rushing offense (274.8).

Horvath, whose breakout season was also his first as a full-time starter, joins Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard as the only FBS quarterbacks to reach double figures in both rushing (10) and touchdowns (10). Threw an interception, accounting for 20.7 points per game, which ranked seventh nationally. And he enters this week ranked by Pro Football Focus as the No. 1 overall quarterback in FBS with a 92.7 grade and the No. 2 overall runner (all players, not just quarterbacks) with a 93.0 grade.

It is an undefeated quarterback whose class lineup includes advanced mathematical programming, data wrangling and visualization, applications in cyber engineering, and dynamic and stochastic models.

(Free wings for any college football fans who know what stochastic models are.)

“The academics here are pretty tough,” Horvath said. “So, being able to get a bad grade on a test, or a bad quiz and go to football and forget about it — or the other way around, and not let the success of football get to your head and force you to take any academic lighter, because they’re both Equally important in their own right.

“In the past, a big thing for our football team was tryout week,” he said. “During exam weeks, things get pretty stressful and last season, we had two of our worst games during exam week because of the stress and everything. This year, we already had one during UAB week and we were able to pull out the win. That’s a sign of our team and something this season. Our ability to overcome anything.”

(No, they don’t have tests this week before the Notre Dame game.)

the game

Blake Horvath launches 77-yard pass to Nathan Kent for Navy TD

Blake Horvath connected with Nathan Kent on a 77-yard pass to make it 21-3 Navy over UAB.

Instead, the test will be whether Navy can sustain its offensive success against a Notre Dame defense that will be light years better than any the Midshipmen have faced so far this season. The Irish are No. 5 in opposing scoring defense, holding opponents to 11.86 points per game. Navy opponents currently rank 119th in winning percentage (.433).

While Navy’s offense has surged, it has come away with a winning record against just one team: Memphis (5-1). Temple, UAB and Air Force have combined for four wins.

This isn’t the Navy offense you’re used to seeing, though.

Navy still runs the triple option — in fact first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic roots for the wing-T. However, the Navy has modernized it.

How?

Well, for starters they call it the “Millennium Wing-T.”

It is a multiple offense. Navy quarterbacks need to be fluent in the option, RPO and pro style. They run zone reads and inside zones and it’s all working. Navy is just one of three teams in the nation, along with Army and Indiana, to win every game by double digits this season.

“It’s not the old-school wing that some high schools still run under center, just handoff left, handoff right,” said Horvath, who along with rival Army’s Bryson Dailey is one of three quarterbacks with at least 10 rushing touchdowns. and Milroe, Alabama. “You can run whatever you want, and we’re going to do it. We’re going to line up shotgun, we’re going to do whatever it takes to put our guys in position to be successful in football.”

Make no mistake — this is still a run-first offense, as Horvath only attempted 72 passes. By comparison, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeyer threw it 284 times. The difference in Kronik’s system is that Horvath is talented enough to add that option to the playbook. He completed 64% of his passes — about the same as Nussmeyer (64.7%). Heading into a game against Navy’s No. 1 ranked opponent, Horvath is not only joining, but in some cases blowing away, some of the records set by Navy quarterbacks.

Horvath could erase the school record for passing efficiency set by Malcolm Perry, and he is on pace for the third-best completion percentage behind Hall of Famer Roger Staubach (who is first and second). He became the first quarterback in school history to rush for 2,000 and 1,000.

“We have a lot of good football players here, kids that I think could play anywhere in the country,” Kronick said. “Maybe they’re 2 inches shorter or 10 pounds lighter, but we’ve got some kids who can run and do things and play football. Blake is running by people.”

Horvath also broke the school records for passing yards per attempt (set by Will Werth) and passing yards (set by Ricky Dobbs) and touchdowns in a season (set by Dobbs).

A 6-0 start as a team is a departure from the recent past. Navy has finished 5-7, 4-8, 4-8 and 3-7 in the past four seasons. They haven’t had a winning season since going 11-2 in 2019.

“We talk a lot about what the seniors have been through and what a lot of the guys as a team have been through the last few years,” Horvath said. “We really wanted to come into this season to make a change, and leave a different legacy than what we’ve created in the past. At the position I’m at, Navy has had a lot of great quarterbacks — Keenan Reynolds, Malcolm Perry, Roger Staubach — a lot of guys that have been at Navy. The face of the football was because they were the quarterback, so when it comes to being the quarterback, you step into that role and you have to be able to handle it.”

Horvath earned the role late this past spring, when he beat out sophomore Braxton Woodson in a “neck-and-neck” competition for the starting job. Horvath started just one game last season — and has played in four total games in his collegiate career. His season ended early in October 2023 because of a dislocated thumb that required surgery and a screw. Jasper said Horvath’s arm has gotten stronger, he’s throwing the football better — and it’s “much more” than they expected.

“You never really knew how he was going to react under the lights until he came into the game,” Jasper said. “We’re loving it. We got our quarterback.”

Just two years ago, their quarterback was on the scout team and didn’t play a snap in a game. Now he has thrown for at least 100 yards in six games – the longest streak by a Navy quarterback since Jim Kubiak did it in 22 games during the 1993 and ’94 seasons.

“He’ll step up to throw, know he’s going to get hit and put it on the money,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said.

And those within the program agree that even with all his accomplishments, Horvath remains humble.

“Blake has the ability to convey confidence without being arrogant,” Kronick says. “He has a toughness about him. He needs the right skill set, obviously, but if he’s tough and he’s a competitor, and guys believe he’s going to get them in the end zone, that’s what you’re looking for. When they believe we’re going to win because he In the game, everyone else plays well, plays freely.”

Navy, one of only 10 undefeated teams left in the country, was picked by the media to finish 11th in the 14-team American Athletic Conference. The Midshipmen are currently in second place with a win over preseason favorite Memphis. A win over Notre Dame would give Navy its first 7-0 start since 1978.

That would legitimize Navy as a potential playoff contender, as the five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field. If Navy wins the AAC — and has a neutral-site road win against Notre Dame on its resume — the CFP selection committee could rank Navy high enough for inclusion. It will also depend on how the other Group of 5 conference races unfold, starting Friday night with Boise State at UNLV.

Navy has beaten a ranked Notre Dame team just four times in series history, the last time in 2009. Horvath realizes that he’s chosen his way into elite company, staying true to who he is.

“I don’t have to do anything outside of who I am to win a game,” said Horvath, who was recruited out of Hilliard Derby High School in Hilliard, Ohio. “I don’t have to play like Joe Burrow or Caleb Williams for us to win. I can just be Blake Horvath and we can still win the game. As long as everybody’s doing the same thing, we’ll be pretty good.”