How Navy's Blake Horvath optimizes play on – and off – the field as Midshipmen's star QB

Fourth-and-1 with 47 seconds left. Down a touchdown. On the road. 

This was the end-game situation that Navy faced on Oct. 11 at Temple. The Midshipmen took a timeout, but almost everybody – including Navy coach Brian Newberry – had to know where the ball was going. 

Navy quarterback Blake Horvath was that guy against the Owls. 

"Great players are at their best when their best is needed, and that's who he is," Newberry told The Sporting News. "When we need somebody to come up with a play – he seems to be the guy that can do that in those clutch moments. Not everybody can do that."

Horvath took a power run up the middle and into the open field for a 51-yard TD with 39 seconds remaining to cut Temple's lead to 31-30. Horvath followed a sequence of blocks to perfection, and he recounted the play exactly the way expected from a Midshipmen quarterback. 

— The American (@American_Conf) October 11, 2025

"Our running back Alex Tecza, our left guard, Ben Purvis, our tight end Cody Howard – they all had some pretty surreal blocks on that play that opened up the hole and allowed me to run for that touchdown," Horvath told SN. "Credit to them, and credit to everybody that was blocking on that play." 

Horvath threw the game-winning two-point conversion to Tecza on the next play for a 32-31 victory. He ranks fifth in the FBS with 926 yards – one spot ahead of Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love – who has 894 yards heading into the Irish's prime-time matchup against the Midshipmen at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Navy (7-1) is one of the toughest remaining games left for Notre Dame (6-2) in the College Football Playoff race. The Midshipmen also remain in the hunt in the American Conference and playoff race.

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Horvath also could flirt with a 2,000-yard season in passing yards depending on how the final third of the season shakes out. He's one of the 16 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, which is commonly referred to as the academic Heisman. 

"I think that one of the significant things about Blake is his ability to process information really quickly," Newberry said. "He does a phenomenal job with that. We talk about in this program – how you do anything is how you do everything. That's why I can't think of a better candidate for that award."

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Blake Horvath nears 1,000-yard season in Navy's hybrid offense 

Newberry – who took over as Navy's head coach in 2023 –  changed Navy's offense to a hybrid model. Yes, the Midshipmen still rely on  the triple option, but there are more Wing-T and spread concepts built in now.

The veer and midline option was not a problem for Horvath. He was an option quarterback at Darby High School in Darby, Ohio. Horvath had 391 carries for 2,946 yards and 49 TDs in his high-school career. 

"I felt comfortable still coming in here and operating at an option level – even at the college level," Horvath said. "Obviously guys have longer arms and can move around faster, but it wasn't anything overwhelming to me." 

Taking hits is part of the job description as a service academy quarterback. Horvath has 138 rushing attempts this season – which is five more than Georgia Tech's Haynes King (133) and trails Army quarterback Cale Hellums (173) and Air Force's Liam Szarka (158). 

Horvath is the most-productive rushing quarterback in the FBS. He needs 74 yards against Notre Dame to hit 1,000 for a second straight season, and he's on pace to become the eighth QB to hit 1,500 rushing yards. That impressive list includes Louisville's Lamar Jackson and Northern Illinois'' Jordan Lynch. Navy's Malcom Perry set the record for a QB with 2,017 yards in 2019. 

Most rushing yards by a FBS QB in single season

Year	QB	School	Total
2019	Malcolm Perry	Navy	2,017
2013	Jordan Lynch	N. Illinois	1,920
2012	Jordan Lynch	N. Illinois	1,815
2017	Ahmad Bradshaw	Army	1,746
2010	Denard Robinson	Michigan	1,702
2024	Bryson Daily	Army	1,659
2017	Lamar Jackson	Louisville	1,601
2016	Lamar Jackson	Louisville	1,571
2016	Quinton Flowers	USF	1,530

Horvath learned how to minimize those hits through the last two seasons. It's interesting listening to him progress toward the thought of sliding on a play. 

"There is a difference between getting hit and trying to get extra yards and getting hit and doing something dumb," Horvath said. "Being able to limit those this year has been a big thing for me. If a slide opportunity is absolutely there because you're completely surrounded, yeah, maybe that's needed. With our offense and our culture, it's all about getting those hidden yards."

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Blake Horvath improves passing in Navy's offense 

Newberry was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Navy when Horvath was being recruited. 

"We were really divided on the staff on whether we wanted to take Blake, believe it or not," Newberry said. "A really, really good option quarterback. I think the question was, 'How well did he throw it?' At the time, coming out of high school, it's not something they did a lot. We had enough guys stand on the table for him to get an offer." 

To be fair, there wasn't much to go off of. Horvath had 931 yards and eight TDs on just 125 passing attempts in high school. 

Navy hired Mercer coach Drew Cronic as the new offensive coordinator in 2024. Horvath finished 80 of 139 (57.6%) for 1,353 yards, 13 TDs and four interceptions in his first year with Cronic. 

"I think the biggest thing is working with Coach Cronic," Horvath said. "He makes things very simple and easy to understand. That was something I struggled with. I didn't deal well with reading defenses and knowing coverages in high school."

This year, Horvath is 68 of 107 (63.6%) for 1,143 yards, seven TDs and five interceptions. He had 339 yards and three TDs in a 34-31 victory against Air Force on Oct. 4. That was the Midshipmen's first leg in their Commander-In-Chief's Trophy defense, which will come down to the Army matchup on Dec. 13. 

"Second year in the system," Newberry said. "A lot more comfortable with what we're doing."

Comfortable enough to tell Cronic which two-point conversion pass play he wanted against Temple, too. Horvath made the play-action read, stepped through the tackle attempt of Owls linebacker Ty Davis and roped a pass in the end zone near the sideline to Tecza for a 32-31 victory.

Blake Horvath – Campbell Trophy finalist – prepares for Notre Dame 

Horvath is one of the 16 candidates for the Campbell Trophy, and he carries a 3.69 GPA in the Navy's operation research program. 

"To be in that conversation (for the Campbell Trophy) with people who have won that award like Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow and Jalen Milroe last year, is really, really cool," Horvath said.  

There is at least a surface correlation between the read-option and his field of study. Horvath said operations research is "utilizing the computer to solve math problems and solve these questions you might have of optimization of supply in business." 

"A lot of times it can be used for sports analytics," Horvath said. "I'm starting my capstone here soon, and it's going to be combined a little bit with sports analytics and data, stuff like that. Sort of quantifying all these subjective plays. It's pretty cool and very interesting to me." 

The Midshipmen lost 31-17 to North Texas last week – which snapped the program's 10-game win streak dating back to last season.  Notre Dame beat Navy 51-14 on Oct. 26, 2024 – a game in which the Midshipmen committed six turnovers, including five lost fumbles. 

Navy has re-emerged as a contender this season. No Group of 5 schools were in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings, so the path to a playoff berth is open.

Horvath said that refinement of the program started his freshman year, coming out of the COVID-19 epidemic. Navy won 10 games last season and has a chance to get to that mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. 

"When people see us on their schedule, it's like 'Oh crap, we have to really focus on Navy,'" Horvath said. "To have some respect on our name again and be relevant in the landscape of college football. I think (Newberry) has done that."

The Midshipmen lead the FBS with 317.2 rushing yards per game. Navy will have a challenge against a Notre Dame defense that has allowed just 43.7 rushing yards with no TDs in its last three games. If the Midshipmen are going to have a chance, then Horvath is going to take those hits. Horvath – and Newberry – would not have it any other way. 

"It's the nature of what we do with our offense," Newberry said. "That guy has got to be able to carry the football. He's one of the toughest players on our team. He takes a lot of hits and keeps popping up. He's a guy that will step into some throws and take a hit. He's not afraid to do that. I can't speak a lot to his toughness – his physical and mental toughness."