It was Oct. 7, 2023 when then-sophomore quarterback Blake Horvath made his first start for Navy against the North Texas Mean Green at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Horvath rode the bench in the season opener, at 42-3 drubbing at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Aug. 26. The next week, he took some reps behind starting quarterback Tai Lavatai as the Midshipmen rolled over the Wagner Seahawks 24-0 but only went 2-for-3 passing for a single yard. Lavatai took a majority of the snaps the following week, a 28-24 loss to the Memphis Tigers, with Horvath getting enough time to throw a single incomplete pass in the effort. Then, in a 44-30 loss to the USF Bulls, he came into the game in the second quarter and went 4-for-6 for 83 yards and two touchdowns, enough to earn the starting job against North Texas.
Navy defeated the Mean Green 27-24 and Horvath went 0-for-2 passing and carried 18 times for 88 yards before going down with an injury in the second quarter. He would not take the field again for the rest of the season. It would be up to Lavatai, Xavier Arline and Braxton Woodson to finish out the season with Horvath watching from the sideline.
Midshipmen head coach Brian Newberry knew who he had in mind at the helm for the future of the program. Even though his ace quarterback was on the sidelines, he knew that it was going to be a time of development for him and believed that Horvath was up to the task. It would be up to the quarterback himself to prove any doubters wrong.
Last year, Horvath’s junior year, was a breakout year for him. He started in 12 of 13 games (missing the Nov. 29, 2024 game against East Carolina after rib and back injuries sustained in the previous week’s game against Tulane) and went 80-for-139 for 1,353 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. His passing yards are the 10th most in school history and he is the third quarterback in Navy history to rush and pass for more than 1,200 yards in the same season. Horvath’s leadership at the quarterback position was a key reason the team was able to muster a 10-3 overall record last year and 6-2 American Athletic Conference record, good for fourth place behind Army, Tulane and Memphis. They earned a trip to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 21-20.
There must have been incredible pressure to top that level of production coming into the 2025 season, but Newberry and Horvath each knew there was more room for growth for the young Midshipman.
“He’s a humble dude and it’s a humble group of seniors. Despite what we did last year, there’s confidence and momentum coming off a season like that, but those guys have humility about them. They understand that this is a different football team,” said Newberry. “Blake’s been exceptional. He’s obviously a great leader for us. He’s done a great job in his role as a captain. Despite the success that he’s had and the attention that he’s gotten, the guy hasn’t changed. He’s kept his head down. He works. Cares about his teammates.”
When asked in the Media Day press conference in August what he was asked to work on in the offseason, Horvath said, “I think the biggest thing was, and it was said to the entire team by Coach Newberry what my goal would be, would be to put on some weight, to reduce some of those injuries, so that was sort of the biggest thing, was attacking the weight room in the offseason. That was the main goal this offseason.”
“Otherwise, to grow and trust,” he added. “Continue to grow trust with guys that you throw to, like Eli [Heidenreich] and [Brandon] Chapman and [Nathan] Kent and Luke Hutchison and the new guys, to build trust with them and allow them to make plays in practice and in a game. And then manage expectations, I mean, just be me. Don’t gotta stress too much, do too much, by myself and that’s good enough.”
This year so far he has gone 81-for-131 and 1,390 yards passing, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. He has also carried 174 times for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns, essentially a repeat performance from a year ago.
ESPN ranked him as the 84th best college player in the 2024 season, which was a good benchmark to start the 2025 season, and the awards and watch lists kept pouring in this season. He, along with teammate Eli Heidenreich, were named to the Pony Express Award mid-season watch list. Horvath was also on the watch list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award given to the nation’s best upperclassman college quarterback; named a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award; finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier award for the nation’s top scholar-athlete; as well as a candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
The Midshipmen hold a 9-2 overall record and 7-1 conference mark with one game to go, the 126th Army-Navy Game which will be played at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium at 3 p.m. ET tomorrow.
This will be Horvath’s fourth Army-Navy game. The first two he watched from the sidelines, including his freshman year, a 20-17 double overtime loss to Army in Philadelphia; and a 17-11 heartbreaking loss to Army in Foxborough the next year when Navy got stopped at the goal line.
“In the beginning you just don’t really know. You’ve never been a part of it. People talk about it a lot. You get these cool jerseys and play in these cool NFL stadiums, but you’re not really emotionally connected yet. It doesn’t feel like that at least,” said Horvath. “Once you play in your first one, you’re all in, especially for me, with the pain that came in the first two years, really, I never want to feel that against after that.”
Last year, with Horvath at the helm, Navy took a resounding 31-13 victory over their foe at North West Stadium in Landover, Md.
“When I had the opportunity to play last year and leave my prints on the game, my impact on the game, I just knew I couldn’t let that happen. Going into the fourth year now, it’s just exciting stuff,” he said.
Horvath knows that there is a lot riding on this for the Navy and the Marine Corps, not just those inside the locker room.
“I think the most meaningful part is how much it means to everybody that’s a part of it – the brigade, the alumni, the Marine Corps and Navy in general, and how we can represent them. I think that’s the most powerful thing in that we, in that moment, the second Saturday in December, we represent all these institutions and all these people. Hopefully we can make them proud,” Horvath concluded.
Navy’s season doesn’t end with the Army-Navy game. They also qualified for the 67th AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Memphis, Tennessee, against the Cincinnati Bearcats at 4:30 p.m. ET.
As for Horvath, the Hilliard, Ohio native earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in both semesters in his junior year and no doubt has continued that academic excellence into his senior year. His major is operations research and he plans on being a naval aviator after graduation.
