TULSA, Okla.--Blake Horvath rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown, while throwing for 94 yards and a score, while Alex Tecza and Eli Heidenreich combined for 184 yards of total offense and three touchdowns to lead Navy (3-0, 2-0 in the American) to a 42-23 victory over Tulsa (1-2, 0-1) on Saturday night in front of 20,103 fans at H.A. Chatman Stadium in Tulsa. It's the second-straight year that Navy has started 3-0 and the Mids improved to 6-0 in Chapman Stadium.
 
The Navy defense held Tulsa to a combined 6-17 on third and fourth downs and accumulated their second-consecutive "Get 6" coming up with two turnovers, two fourth down stops and two three-and-outs. 
 
Sophomore linebacker MarcAnthony Parker finished with a career-high 11 tackles, while senior outside linebacker Luke Pirris came up with eight stops.
 
Tulsa jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter thanks to three Navy turnovers. 
 
Navy got the ball first, and on the third play of the game, Horvath threw his first interception of the year as Elijah Green picked off a ball that was tipped at the Navy 35. Five plays later, Dominic Richardson scored on a 14-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one and the Mids trailed for the first time all year.
 
It looked like Navy would answer right back as the Mids swiftly moved down the field, thanks in large part to a 39-yard run by Tecza.  After Horvath ran for 11 yards down to Tulsa's five, he fumbled on the next play and Tulsa's Devin Robinson recovered it at the seven.
 
After the Navy defense came up with a stop, Horvath turned it over for a third time as he was picked off by Green for the second time, this time at the Navy 46.
 
Four plays later Tulsa was in the end zone again as quarterback Baylor Hayes scored on a six-yard run to make the score 14-0 Tulsa.
 
Navy would finally answer on the ensuing drive, going 75 yards on five plays with Tecza scoring from the one to cut the Tulsa lead in half at 14-7.  Horvath had a 35-yard run on the drive, while Eli Heidenreich went for 16 and 18 yards on back-to-back plays to set up the Tecza touchdown.
 
The Mids steadied the ship in the second quarter, outscoring the Golden Hurricanes 14-3 to take a 21-17 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
Things did not start well in the second quarter as it looked like Tulsa would go up 21-7 on a Richardson 19-yard touchdown run, but Simon Wilson was called for a holding to nullify the touchdown.
 
On the very next play, sophomore defensive end Julien Moutome recorded his first career sack and first career caused fumble as he knocked the ball out of Hayes' hands and Pirris recovered the fumble at the Tulsa 49-yard line. It was the fifth career fumble recovery for Pirris.
 
The Mids took advantage of the turnover, moving 49 yards on six plays with Horvath scoring from two yards out to tie the game at 14.
 
Tulsa answered with a 12-play drive to take a 17-14 lead on a 34-yard field goal by Seth Morgan with 1:44 left in the first half.
 
The Navy offense answered with its most impressive drive of the year, going 75 yards on 10 plays to take a 21-17 lead at the half.  A pivotal play in the drive occurred when Horvath ran for 19 yards on third-and-18.  Three plays later Horvath hit Luke Hutchison with a two-yard pass to give the Mids a 21-17 lead at the half.
 
The Navy defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, and after a short Tulsa punt, the Mids moved 56 yards on five plays to take a 28-17 lead.  Heidenreich scored on a 10-yard touchdown run after Josh Guerin made a diving 35-yard catch. It was the first catch of Guerin's career.
 
Tulsa would take a big gamble on its next drive, and it did not pay off as the Golden Hurricanes went for it on fourth-and-six from its own 45 and Pirris stopped the quarterback Hayes for a gain of three.
 
The Navy offense took advantage again, driving methodically down the field on a 12-play, 48-yard drive with Tecza scoring from the one to make it 35-17 with 2:05 left in the third quarter.
 
After the Navy defense came up with another fourth-down stop (Landon Robinson and Jaxson Campbell dropped Hayes for no gain on fourth-and-one), Brandon Chatman scored from one yard out with 9:07 left to give Navy a 42-17 lead.  Tulsa would score a meaningless touchdown with 6:08 left for the final points of the game.
 
Navy will have a bye next week before playing host to Rice on Sept. 27 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (3:30 PM).