MEMPHIS, Tenn.—
Alex Tecza rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns,
Blake Horvath threw for 100 yards and ran for 54, while the Navy defense pitched a shutout in the second half as Navy (9-2, 7-1) defeated Memphis (8-4, 4-4) 28-17 in front of 27,082 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis.
With the win, Navy earned at least a share of the American regular season title and will now wait for the outcomes of the North Texas-Temple game on Friday and the Tulane-Charlotte game on Saturday night to see if they qualify for the American Championship.
Navy needs either North Texas or Tulane to lose to make the championship game and both to lose to host the championship game.
Memphis jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal by Gianni Spetic. The drive was kept alive when Navy was called for 12 men on the field on a play where the Mids had stopped the Tigers on fourth down.
The Mids would take a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter when on third-and-goal from the three-yard line, Horvath rolled right and pitched the ball forward to
Kendall Evans for a touchdown. It was Evans' first career catch.
The drive was set up by the Navy defense, which forced Memphis to go three-and-out deep in its own territory thanks to a sack by
Xavyer Arrington and
Griffen Willis at the Memphis eight.
The Tigers, however, would answer right back with a touchdown of their own when quarterback Brendon Lewis hit Matt Adcock with a one-yard touchdown pass to cap a 10-play, 75-yard drive. The big play of the drive was a 24-yard run by Lewis that took the ball down to the Navy four.
The Mids did not trail for long as
Eli Heidenreich made a sensational catch on third down and 10 from the Navy 26, catching a 46-yard pass from Horvath while being interfered with by the Memphis defender.
Horvath scrambled for 22 yards down to the Memphis four on the next play and then
Alex Tecza scored on a four-yard run to give the Mids a 14-10 lead.
Memphis would take a 17-14 lead on its next possession as Lewis would hit Cortez Braham Jr. with a 38-yard touchdown pass. Navy corner
Justin Ross deflected the ball into the air, but Braham Jr. maintained his concentration and caught the ball off the deflection.
The big play of the drive was Navy safety
Giuseppe Sessi picking up a late hit out of bounds on a play that would have had Memphis facing a third down and 14 on the Memphis 34.
Navy escaped without any more damage, despite two more penalties (one on offense and one on special teams) that set Memphis up at the 50, but Spetic missed a 31-yard field goal with one second left in the half and the Tigers took a 17-14 lead into the halftime locker room.
Navy started the second half with a classic Navy drive, going 69 yards on 18 plays and taking 10:03 off the clock, but on third-and-goal from the Memphis one Horvath and center
Cam Nichols did not connect on the snap and Joey Hunter of Memphis recovered the fumble at his own six.
The Navy defense would give the ball right back to the offense, forcing a three-and-out, which included a sack by
Landon Robinson on third down that nearly resulted in a safety.
The Navy offense would get the ball back at the Memphis 44 with 3:25 left in the third quarter and this time they would cash in as Tecza scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 1:05 left in the third quarter to give Navy the 21-17 lead.
The Mids would ice the game on its next possession, controlling the ball for another 8:19, running 13 plays and moving 73 yards with Horvath scoring from the two.
All told, Navy had the ball for 23:22 in the second half while the Tigers had it for just 6:38 as the Navy defense held Memphis to just 58 yards in the second half.
Navy recorded five sacks and six tackles for a loss on the night including a career-high two sacks by
Luke Pirris.
It also marked the first time in 52 games that Memphis was held under 20 points in a game.
