ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy (6-0, 4-0 in the American) senior quarterback Blake Horvath has been named a Davey O'Brien Great 8 Quarterback of the Week and a Manning Award Star of the Week.
The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced the Week 7 Davey O'Brien Great 8, a list that features Byrum Brown (South Florida), Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (Marshall), Blake Horvath (Navy), Tucker Kilcrease (Troy), Fernando Mendoza (Indiana), Kaidon Salter (Colorado), Demond Williams Jr. (Washington) and Dexter Williams II (Kennesaw State).
The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week, selected from the Great 8 list, will be revealed Tuesday at 12 noon (ET).
The Davey O'Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award, the oldest and most prestigious college quarterback award, was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O'Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.
In 1938, O'Brien, who wore No. 8 as a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.
The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its Stars of the Week. College football fans can follow the Manning Award on social media (@ManningAward) to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. When voting closes on Wednesday at 10 am (ET) the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.
Vote Here: https://allstatesugarbowl.org/news/2025/10/13/stars.aspx
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes te candidates' bowl performances in its balloting.
The 8 Stars of the Week
Byrum Brown, USF (22-of-28, 327 total yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 72.6)
Brown, who passed for 245 yards and three touchdowns while running for 82 yards and two more scores, led the Bulls to a 63-36 road win over previously undefeated North Texas in a key American game.
Anthony Colandrea, UNLV (20-of-32, 423 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 75.1)
Colandrea, who passed for most yards by a UNLV quarterback since 2018 (361), broke free for a 19-yard touchdown run with 36 seconds to go to lift the Rebels to a 51-48 Mountain West win over Air Force.
Blake Horvath, Navy (6-of-16, 296 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 87.8)
Horvath, who passed for 141 yards and ran for 155 more, scored on a 51-yard burst down the sideline with 39 seconds to go to lift the Midshipmen to a 32-31 win over Temple in American action.
Tucker Kilcrease, Troy (30-of-39, 415 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 80.9)
Kilcrease connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:13 to go and then completed a two-point conversion pass to force overtime where he delivered the game-winning TD strike as the Trojans topped Texas State, 48-41, in a Sun Belt showdown.
Jake Retzlaff, Tulane (26-of-36, 367 total yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 79.8)
Retzlaff, who posted his Tulane best with 347 passing yards, capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds to go to lift the Green Wave to a 26-19 win over East Carolina in American action.
Ty Simpson, Alabama (23-of-31, 207 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 77.6)
Simpson converted a pair of fourth-down plays on the game-winning drive, including a one-yard delivery on fourth-and-one for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:16 to go, as the Crimson Tide topped No. 14 Missouri, 27-24, to snap the Tigers' 15-game home winning streak.
Demond Williams, Washington (21-of-27, 538 total yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 92.4)
Williams became just the 16th player in FBS history to pass for 400 yards (career-best 402) and run for 100 yards (career-best 102) as he set the school's total offense record and led the Huskies to a 38-19 win over Rutgers in Big Ten action.
Dexter Williams II, Kennesaw State (27-of-36, 295 total yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 80.6)
Williams, who passed for a career-best 290 yards and set the school record with 27 completions, led the Owls to 35 unanswered points as they cruised to a 35-7 win over 4-1 Louisiana Tech in a key CUSA showdown.
While the Manning Award selected 27 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Finalists will be selected in early December and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
In its first 21 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 15 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Cam Ward, Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) have each had five winners.
All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Manning's themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.
Horvath accounted for 296 yards of total offense and three touchdowns with no turnovers and came up with the winning plays in the fourth quarter of a 32-31 win.
Horvath rushed for a 51-yard touchdown on fourth down with 39 seconds left in regulation to bring the Midshipmen within one point and threw the ensuing two-point conversion pass to put Navy ahead. Horvath finished with 155 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries and added 141 yards through the air with one touchdown.
The Midshipmen are off this week before playing host to FAU (3-3, 2-1) on Homecoming next Saturday, Oct. 25 in a 3:30 PM contest. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online here: https://navysports.evenue.net/list/NAVY or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.
