| Navy (4-0, 3-0 AAC) at Air Force (1-3, 0-2 Mountain West) |
| When |
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 | 12:00 pm (ET) / 10:00 am (MT) |
| Location |
Colorado Springs, Colo. | Falcon Stadium |
| Television |
CBS (Rich Waltz, Ross Tucker, Tiffany Blackmon) |
| Live Video Stream |
CBS |
| Listen |
Navy Football Radio Network (Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff)
WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.) | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego) | WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM (Norfolk, Va.) | WJGM 105.7 FM (Jacksonville, Fla.) | KIKI 990 AM (Honolulu, Hawai'i) | Satellite: Sirius Ch. 121 or 202, SXM App Ch. 964 | Apps: Audacy (WNAV and KWFN) and TuneIn (WBAL) |
| Live Stats |
StatBroadcast |
| Game Notes |
Navy | Air Force | AAC |
| Season Statistics |
Navy | Air Force | AAC |
| Social Media |
@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram |
Opening Kick
• RV / RV Navy (4-0) and Air Force (1-3) meet for the 57th time on the gridiron when the two square off on CBS Saturday (12 noon ET / 10:00 am MT) at Falcon Stadium (39,411) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Navy is looking for its first 5-0 start to a season since 2017. Saturday's contest also marks the 1400th game played in Navy football history.
• Saturday's contest marks the first leg in the battle for the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy. It is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies — Army, Navy and Air Force — and is named in honor of the President of the United States. The winner of the CIC visits the White House in the spring. If the teams all go 1-1 against each other, whoever currently possesses the trophy keeps it, but they do not get to visit the White House.
• Navy has won the trophy 11 times in the last 21 years, but has not won it since 2019. The Mids have won the trophy a total of 16 times: 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
• Navy has gone on to win the CIC Trophy 11 of the last 12 times it has beaten Air Force.
• The home team is 8-2 in the last 10 Navy-Air Force games. The only road team to win during that stretch was Air Force in 2021 (23-3) and again in 2023 (17-6). The Falcons have won four straight over the Midshipmen, with Navy's last win coming in 2019 (34-25).
• Navy has not won in Colorado Springs since 2012, when freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds came off the bench to spark the Mids to a come-from-behind 28-21 overtime victory.
• Navy, picked 11th in the 14-team AAC preseason poll, is currently tied for 1st with a 3-0 record and owns a win over preseason favorite Memphis.
• Navy plays at home just 2 times in its final 9 regular-season games. No other FBS team in the country plays 2 of its final 9 games away from home.
• With a win on Saturday, Navy will improve to 5-0 for just the 5th time since 1960 (1960, 1978, 1979, 2004, 2017).
• Navy has scored at least 38 points in the first-4 games of the season for the 1st time in school history (144 years).
• Navy's 184 points in the first-4 games of the year are more than the Mids scored in the first-9 games last year.
• Navy has scored a touchdown on the first play of a drive an incredible 5 times this season which leads the FBS.
• Navy is 14-14 in the red zone this year with all 14 scores resulting in touchdowns. Last year, the Mids were tied for 130th in the country in red zone offense, scoring just 14 touchdowns all year on 29 attempts. Navy is the only team in the FBS that is perfect in the red zone with all scores resulting in a touchdown.
•
Blake Horvath (Jr. / QB) is the first quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2016 to rush for 7 or more touchdowns and throw for 7 more touchdowns in the first-4 games of the season. Horvath has rushed for 450 yards and 8 touchdowns on just 47 carries (9.6 yds/carry) and has completed 30 of his 44 passes (.682 completion pct.) for 637 yards and 7 touchdowns this season. Jackson went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2016.
• Horvath had touchdown passes of 77 yards to
Nathan Kent (Jr. / WR) and 74 yards to
Eli Heidenreich (Jr. / Snipe) last Saturday against UAB. He is the first player in the FBS this year to have 2 touchdown passes of 70 yards or more and it is believed to be the first time in Navy history that a quarterback had multiple 70-plus-yard touchdown passes in the same game.
• Horvath is the first Navy QB since Keenan Reynolds (2015, 6 gms) to throw a touchdown pass in 4-consecutive games.
• Heidenreich has 5 touchdown catches this season and 9 in his career. The school record for touchdown catches in a season is 6, while the career record is 13. He is the first Navy player with a TD catch in 4-straight games since Jamir Tillman did it in 2015 (4 gms).
•
Rayuan Lane III (Sr. / S) made his 34th-consecutive start at safety for the Mids against UAB which is the longest active streak for a safety in the FBS and second longest by a player in the secondary. Lane III recorded a career-high 12 tackles and forced 2 fumbles against the Blazers. His 86-yard interception return for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the game against Memphis clinched the victory for the Mids. It was the second pick-6 of his career. Lane's pair of pick-6's are tied for the second most in school history. Rashad Smith (1994-97) holds the Navy career record with 3.
Broadcast Coverage
• CBS will carry Saturday's game with Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (color) and Tiffany Blackmon (sidelines) on the call.
• The Navy Football Pregame Show with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein will get underway at 11:05 am (ET) on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 12 noon (ET) with Medhurst, Miller and Mills on the call. Radio coverage for the Air Force game is presented by USAA and supported by Maxar.
• Following the contest, Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day's events in a 30-minute postgame show.
Better Get Used to the Road
• Navy opened the season by playing three-consecutive games at home. However, the Mids will have to play away from home in 7 of their final-9 games (5 road, 2 neutral site).
• Navy is the only FBS team in the country that has just 2 true home games in the final 9 contests.
Horvath Off to a Blistering Start
•
Blake Horvath (Jr.) won the starting quarterback job in the spring over
Braxton Woodson (So. / QB) in a close contest.
• Horvath made his first-career start last October against North Texas and ran for 88 yards on 18 carries in the first half before leaving with a season-ending thumb injury late in the 2nd quarter.
• He finished his sophomore campaign completing 6 of his 12 passes (50.0) for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns, while carrying the ball 37 times for 183 yards (4.9 yds/carry, 45.8 yds/gm).
• Horvath had some bright moments last year in his limited playing time, completing 4 of his 6 pass attempts for a career-high 83 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushing for 52 yards on 10 carries against USF. He entered the Memphis game with 10:47 remaining in the contest and rushed for 49 yards on 7 carries.
• Horvath made his second-career start in the 2024 opener against Bucknell where he completed 7 of his 12 passes for 108 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 33 yards on 7 carries. He left in the third quarter due to cramps.
• Horvath was sensational against Temple, rushing for a career-high 122 yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 carries, while completing 5 of his 9 pass attempts for a career-high 112 yards and a touchdown.
• According to ESPN Stats and Information, Horvath is the first Navy player to throw 3 touchdown passes in the first 2 games of the season.
• He received multiple national awards for his performance against nationally-ranked Memphis - the Maxwell Award National Player of the Week, Davey O'Brien National Co-Quarterback of the Week, DC Touchdown Club Player of the Week, Manning Stars of the Week, Davey O'Brien Great 8 and AAC Offensive Player of the Week. He also received a helmet sticker from ESPN for a second-consecutive game. He rushed for a career-high 211 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 12 carries, while throwing for a then-career-high 192 yards and 2 TDs on 9 of 12 passing. Additionally, he caught his first-career pass for 13 yards.
• His 6-combined touchdowns against the Tigers are the most by a Navy player since Malcolm Perry had 6 (4 rush / 2 pass) against East Carolina in 2019.
• His 416 yards of total offense were just 12 yards off the school record of 428 set by Will Worth in 2016.
• He is the first Navy quarterback to throw for over 200 yards and rush for over 100 yards since Zach Abey did it against Florida Atlantic in 2017.
• He is the first Navy quarterback to rush for more than 100 yards and throw for more than 100 yards in consecutive games since Zach Abey did it 3 times at the end of the 2016 season and beginning of the 2017 season.
• His 211 rushing yards against Memphis are the most by a Navy player since Malcolm Perry ran for 213 yards in Navy's Liberty Bowl victory over Kansas State in 2019.
• His 90-yard touchdown run against Memphis is tied for the fifth-longest run in school history and the second longest in the FBS this year.
• Horvath was sensational once again when the Mids traveled to UAB for their first road trip of the season. He completed 9 of his 11 passes for a career-high 225 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing for 84 yards and 1 TD on 13 carries in Navy's 41-18 rout of the Blazers. Horvath had touchdown passes of 77 (
Nathan Kent / Jr. / WR) and 74 yards (
Eli Heidenreich / Jr. Snipe).
• Horvath is the first player in the FBS this year to throw 2 touchdown passes of 70 yards or more in the same game and it is believed he is the first QB in Navy history to achieve that feat.
• On the year, Horvath has rushed for 450 yards (112.5 yds/gm, 10th in the FBS) and 8 touchdowns (T5th in FBS) on just 47 carries (9.6 yds/carry, 2nd in FBS) and completed 30 of his 44 pass attempts for 637 yards with 7 TDs and an interception.
• Horvath is the first quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2016 to rush for 7 or more touchdowns and throw for 7 more touchdowns in the first-4 games of the season. Jackson went on to win the Heisman Trophy that year.
• Horvath is the first Navy quarterback since Keenan Reynolds to throw a touchdown pass in 4-consecutive games. Reynolds did it in the final-6 games of his career in 2015.
• As a team, Navy is ranked 1st in the FBS in yards per completion (21.0) and team passing efficiency (219.7).
• Horvath has been responsible for 94 points this season. His 23.5 points responsible for per game is 9th in the FBS, while his 12.0 points per game is tied for 7th.
• Horvath ranks 1st in the FBS in ESPN's QBR Rating (98.0).
• Horvath is ranked as the No. 1 overall quarterback in the FBS by Pro Football Focus with a grade of 93.8.
Dominating in the Red Zone
• Navy leads the country in red zone offense (14-14) with all 14 scores resulting in touchdowns. Last year, Navy was tied for 130th in the country in red zone offense, scoring just 14 touchdowns on 29 attempts.
• Navy is the only team in the FBS that is perfect in the red zone with all the scores resulting in touchdowns.
• Navy's defense has given up just 9 scores in 14 red zone opportunities this fall with just 6 resulting in touchdowns (all rush). The Mids rank 11th nationally in red zone defense. Navy is one of just 6 teams not to have given up a red zone passing touchdown.
Winning the Turnover Battle
• Navy and Air Force are both forcing 2 fumbles per game, which is tied for the most in the country.
• Navy is 7th nationally in turnover margin at +1.50 per game.
• The Navy offense is one of 12 teams that has yet to lose a fumble this year and the Mids' 2 total turnovers are tied for the 5th fewest in the country. Navy's 2 interceptions thrown stands 23rd in the FBS.
• Navy's defense came up with 2 turnovers in the 2024 opener against Bucknell, both on forced fumbles, and then forced 3 turnovers against Temple (1 fumble, 2 INTs). Navy got 1 turnover against Memphis (INT) and 2 against UAB (2 INTs).
