BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Junior quarterback Blake Horvath completed 9 of his 11 pass attempts for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing for 84 yards and a touchdown to lead Navy (4-0, 3-0 in the AAC) to a 41-18 rout of UAB (1-3, 0-1) in front of 21,536 fans at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. 

Navy is now 4-0 for the first time since 2017.

"I am really proud of the way we fought today," said Navy head coach Brian Newberry. "With that being said, I think we can play better and there is a lot of stuff that we can clean up on both sides of the ball."

Navy jumped out to a 7-0 first quarter lead as the Mids scored on the opening drive for the first time this year. Horvath directed a 7-play, 61-yard drive over the first 3:33 of the game, with Horvath capping it off by faking a pitch and taking it to the end zone from 20 yards out.

After the defense forced a punt on UAB's next possession, the MIds went on its longest drive of the year time wise, milking 7:56 off the clock on a 14-play, 84-yard drive capped off by a 6-yard touchdown run by Alex Tecza to make it 14-0 Navy.

UAB then went on a long drive of its own, taking 7:45 off the clock on a 15-play, 57-yard drive but the Navy defense held in the red zone and forced a 35-yard field goal by Jonah Delange to make the score 14-3.

Navy got the ball back with 1:11 left in the first half and it looked like they would just run out the clock as the Mids ran an option pitch to Brandon Chatman for a two-yard loss on first down. Not so fast.  On the next play, Horvath threw a perfect strike to Nathan Kent for a 77-yard touchdown pass and the MIds would take a 21-3 lead into the locker room.

Navy made it 28-3 on the first drive of the second half when Horvath tossed a screen pass to Eli Heidenreich, who took it 74 yards for a touchdown.  Heidenreich was sprung by a devastating block by guard Ben Purvis two yards down the field and Heidenreich did the rest outrunning the Blazers secondary.

It is believed to be the first time in school history that Navy had two touchdown passes of more than 70 yards in the same game.

"All the credit goes to Nathan Kent, Eli Heidenreich and the offensive line," said Horvath.  "When you are throwing to an Olympic-caliber sprinter and have all day to throw on the first one and on the second pass I threw it one-yard and Eli did the rest with the help of Purvis destroying a guy and even Kent was hustling his butt off downfield to help throw a block for Eli.  They made my job easy."

The Mids finished off the Blazers thanks to two Nathan Kirkwood field goals, the first tying his career-high of 45 yards and the second setting a new career-high from 46 yards, and a 16-yard touchdown run by fullback Daba Fofana that finished off a eight-play, 94-yard drive.

Navy ran for 227 yards and threw for 225 yards on the day.  Heidenreich had 3 catches for 108 yards to lead the receiving corps, while Horvath led all rushers with 84.

Safety Rayuan Lane III led the Navy defense with a career-high 12 tackles and two forced fumbles, while Justin Reed recorded seven tackles, a career-high three tackles for a loss and a career-high two sacks to go along with a caused fumble. Mbiti Williams Jr. and Justin Ross both had interceptions, it was the first career interception for the freshman Ross.

Navy will travel to Colorado Springs next Saturday to take on the Air Force Falcons in the first leg in the battle for the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy. Navy has not won at Air Force since a 28-21 overtime win in 2012.