TAMPA, Fla.—The Navy (7-2, 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference) defense held USF (4-5, 2-3 in the AAC) to just 60 yards rushing on 25 carries, while the Navy offense ran for 3 touchdowns and threw for another one as the Mids dominated the Bulls from start to finish 28-7 in front of 34,091 fans at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
 
The win by Navy sets up a huge matchup next Saturday in the race to make the American Athletic Conference title game as the Mids will play host to Tulane (7-2, 5-0) at 12 noon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
Navy is currently in third place, but trail Army (8-0, 6-0) and the Green Wave by just 1 game in the loss column. Army is at North Texas this afternoon, while Tulane plays host to Temple.
 
The Mids jumped out to a 14-0 lead on the first two possessions of the game.  Navy took the opening kickoff and moved 70 yards on four plays with Eli Heidenreich scoring on a 60-yard touchdown run to put the Mids up 7-0.
 
The defense got the ball back for Navy on Kyle Jacob's second interception of the year and the Navy offense promptly moved 79 yards on 13 plays with Brandon Chatman scoring on a beautiful 20-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
 
The Navy defense dominated the first half, holding the Bulls to just 120 yards of total offense, including just 64 yards on their final five possessions. 
 
The biggest play of the half came at the end of the second quarter when junior striker Kenneth McShan came on a blitz to blast USF quarterback Bryce Archie as he was throwing the ball down the field.  Archie's pass ended up short of its intended target and sophomore Ira Oniha picked it off at the Navy 11 and returned the interception 36 yards to the Navy 47 with just 14 seconds left.
 
Two plays later, the Mids led 21-0. 
 
Junior fullback Alex Tecza ran up the middle for 15 yards down to the USF 38 and then Horvath hit Tecza with a 38-yard touchdown pass with 2 seconds left to send the Mids into the locker room up 21.
 
Navy made it 28-0 early in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by Blake Horvath. The touchdown was set up by a fake punt that nose guard Landon Robinson took around left end for 34 yards. 
 
USF scored a meaningless touchdown with 1:06 left.
 
Heidenreich finished with 84 yards and a touchdown on 6 carries, while senior fullback Daba Fofana had 75 yards on 15 carries.  Navy finished the day with 321 yards on the ground.
 
Horvath completed 6 of his 11 pass attempts for 58 yards and the 1 touchdown to Tecza, while rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown.
 
Luke Pirris led the Navy defense with 9 tackles and a ½ sack, while McShan added 8 stops. Robinson added 1.5 sacks to go along with fake punt.