News and Notes
•    Navy (11-2) finished the 2025 season ranked 23rd in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. It is only the fourth time since 1963 that Navy has ended the season ranked in the AP poll and the first time since 2019. The Mids climbed two spots in the coaches poll. Navy was 1 of 3 teams in the American Conference that finished the year ranked in the top 25 (Tulane and North Texas), which is one more team than the ACC had.
•    Navy finished strong with a 35-13 win over Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. It was Navy's 4th-consecutive bowl win, all against Autonomy 4 teams (Virginia, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Cincinnati). Navy's last 5 bowl wins have come against Automony 4 teams (Pitt, Virginia, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Cincinnati). Navy is 7-1 in its last 8 bowl games.
• The Liberty Bowl was Navy's 26th bowl appearance (14-11-1 all-time) and the 3rd time it has appeared in the Liberty Bowl. 
•    Navy has produced back-to-back 10-win seasons for the 1st time in school history. The 11 wins this year tied the school record (Navy also won 11 games in 2015 and 2019).
•    Navy's 21 wins over the last 2 years are the most wins in school history over a 2-year span. 
•    Navy's 21-5 record (.808) over the last 2 years is the 8th-best winning percentage in the FBS and the best among the Non-Autonomy 4. 
•    Navy defeated Army 17-16 on Dec. 13 to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, which is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies (Navy, Air Force and Army) and is named in honor of the President of the United States. The Mids will visit the White House in the spring to officially accept the trophy.
•    Navy has won the CIC Trophy in back-to-back years and has won it 13 times in the last 23 years. Navy won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy in back-to-back years for the first time since 2012-13. The Mids are a combined 32-15 (.681) against Army and Air Force over the last 47 games. 
•    Navy was named the winner of the Lambert Trophy, which is awarded to the best team in the East. It is the 1st time since 2015 amd just the 2nd time since 1963 the Mids have won the Lambert Trophy.
•    Navy finished in a 3-way tie for the American Conference regular-season title with North Texas and Tulane, but did not play in the championship game due to Tulane being ranked in the CFP and North Texas beating Navy head-to-head. 
•    The Navy Football Strength of Record (ESPN metric) was 17th in the country. That was the best in the American Conference and ahead of such Autonomy 4 teams as Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, USC, LSU, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Washington, Arizona State, Houston, Virginia, Louisville, TCU, Iowa State, Pitt, SMU and NC State.
•    Navy defeated #24 USF on Senior Day in Annapolis 41-38. It was Navy's 3rd win over a ranked opponent in the last 2 years. Last year, Navy defeated #19 / #22 Army (31-13) and RV / #22 Memphis (56-44).
•    It is the first time Navy has beaten 3 ranked opponents over a 2-year span since 1957-58 when the Mids beat #5 / #5 Notre Dame (20-6) and #10 / #9 Army (14-0) in 1957 and #8 / #7 Rice (20-7) and #14 / #12 Michigan (20-14) in 1958.
•    Navy's 2 losses this season came against teams with a combined record of 22-4 (North Texas was 12-2, Notre Dame was 10-2). Blake Horvath (Sr. / QB) did not play in the Notre Dame game due to an injury. 
•    Navy held Memphis to 17 points on Thanksgiving night in a 28-17 road win. It was the 1st time Memphis had been held to fewer than 20 points in 52 games. 
•    Navy finished 6-0 at home this year. It is just the 6th time in school history Navy has gone undefeated at home in years it has played 5 or more home games. The Mids also went undefeated at home in 2019 (6-0), 2015 (7-0), 2013 (5-0), 2004 (6-0) and 1981 (5-0). Navy is now 13-3 (.813) at home under Brian Newberry.
•    Navy's Class of 2026 put together a 30-20 (.600) record, including a 21-11 (.656) mark in the American. The 21 conference wins are the most of any other Navy class (Joined the American in 2015).
•    The 30 wins are the most by a Navy senior class since the Class of 2020 posted a 30-23 (.566) mark, including a 20-12 (.625) record in the American. 
•    Navy has won 78-consecutive games at home when leading after 3 quarters, the nation's longest streak. The last time Navy lost at home when leading after 3 quarters was Oct. 23, 1999, when the Mids led Akron 29-13 and lost 35-29.
•    Navy started the year playing 4 of its first-5 games at home. The Mids finished the season with 5 of their final-6 games played away from Annapolis (including the bowl game). 
•    Navy owns a 759-605-57 (.554) record over 145 seasons. The 759 wins are the 22nd most in the FBS and the most of any team not in the Autonomy 4. 
•    Brian Newberry started his head coaching career at Navy with a 20-10 record, which is the best 30-game start by a Navy head coach since Wayne Hardin went 20-9-1 from 1959-61. Ken Niumatalolo, the winningest head coach in school history, started his first-30 games at Navy with a 19-11 record. Newberry is currently 26-12 (.684) as a head coach.
•    The Mids led the FBS in rushing, averaging 285.6 yards per game. 
•    Navy's 41 rushing touchdowns tied with Utah for the 2nd most in the FBS behind North Texas (49). 
•    Navy finished 2nd in the FBS in rushing yards per carry, averaging 5.76 yards per carry. Utah finished 1st at 6.02
•    Navy finished 2nd in the country in passing yards per completion, averaging 15.9 yards per catch. 
•    Navy finished 3rd in the nation with 10 offensive plays go for 60 yards or more. 
•    Navy gave up 3.1 tackles for loss per game, which was the fewest in the country. 
•    The Navy defense held its final 3 opponents under 300 yards of total offense (Memphis-288 yards, Army-202 yards, Cincinnati-239 yards). It is the first time Navy has held 3-straight opponents upder 300 yards since 2020. 
•    The Mids finished tied for 3rd in the country for fewest sacks allowed (9). Navy's offensive line was on the Midseason Watch List for the Joe Moore Award, which is given to the nation's best offensive line. 
•    Navy's 24 first-time starters this year were tied for the 2nd most in the country.
•    Navy was 21-4 over the last 3 years when Blake Horvath started at quarterback.
•    Horvath was informed on Nov. 21 by the Heisman Trophy Trust that he was a potential Heisman Trophy finalist.
•    Horvath was also named a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award and the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Year.
•    Horvath was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year.
•    Horvath was named a First-Team Academic All-American and the Div. I Football Team Member of the Year by the College Sports Communicators. He is the 13th Navy football player to be named a First-Team Academic All-American and the 1st Navy player to be named the overall football scholar-athlete of the year, an award that has been handed out since 1987.
•    Horvath was named the winner of the Maxwell Club's inaugural Military Service Academy Leadership Award, established to honor a player from one of the United States Military Service Academies who exemplifies exceptional leadership both on the football field and within their academy community.
•    Horvath was also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the Academic Heisman. The 16 finalists each received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. Horvath carries a 3.69 grade-point average and earned a perfect 4.0 in both semesters of his junior year. He is the 11th Navy player to be named a finalist and the 1st since Cameron Kinley in 2020. 
•    Horvath is the 1st Navy quarterback to have 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in back-to-back seasons. He is the 1st player to do it in the FBS since both Lamar Jackson (Louisville) and Quinton Flowers (USF) did it in 2016 and '17.
•    Horvath is the 1st quarterback in the FBS to rush for 1,200 yards and pass for 1,200 yards in consecutive seasons since Lamar Jackson did it at Louisville in 2015-16. Since 1956, Horvath is 1 of just 5 quarterbacks to go 1,200-1,200 in consecutive seasons (Horvath, Jackson, Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois, Pat White of West Virginia and Brad Smith of Missouri).
•    Horvath's 162.5 career pass efficiency rating is the highest of any quarterback in Service Academy history with 150 or more attempts. Dating back to 1956, he is 1 of just 45 quarterbacks in the FBS to have a career passing efficiency of 162.0 or better with 275 or more passing attempts. Horvath is tied for 41st on that list, just behind Jalen Hurts in 40th.
•    Horvath's average of 7.6 yards of total offense per play (5,646 yds on 747 plays) over his career is the 3rd-best mark in school history. Shun White holds the record at 8.9 (2005-08).
•    Horvath averaged 16.5 yards per completion in his career (183 comp / 3,017 yds), which is the 4th-best average in school history. The record is 18.8 set by Ricky Dobbs (2008-10).
•    Horvath's .588 career completion percentage is 2nd only to Roger Staubach (.631) on the Navy career list.
•    Horvath threw just 10 interceptions in 311-career attempts for an interception percentage of .032 per attempt. That is the 3rd-best mark in school history. The Navy record is .017 set by Keenan Reynolds, who threw just 8 interceptions in 462-career attempts.
•    Horvath's 27-career passing touchdowns are the 3rd most in school history.
•    Horvath's 5,646 yards of career total offense ranks 5th all-time at Navy.
•    Horvath was responsible for 360 points in his career, the 4th most in school history. Keenan Reynods is 1st with 528.
•    Horvath's 469 yards of total offense (130 yds rush, 339 yds pass) in Navy's win against Air Force broke the school record. The previous record was 428 yards set by Will Worth in a loss at USF in 2016. Horvath is the 1st quarterback in the FBS to throw for 330 yards or more with 3 or more touchdowns and rush for 130 or more yards with 1 or more touchdowns in a game since LSU's Jayden Daniels against Florida in 2023. It's only been done 17 times in the last 30 years.
•    Horvath and Malcolm Perry (2016-19) are the only players in school history to have multiple runs of 90 yards or more in a career. 
•    Horvath's 16 rushing touchdowns this fall tied for the 3rd most for a quarterback in the FBS.
•    Horvath averaged 100.0 rushing yards per game this year, which ranked 1st among quarterbacks and 13th overall in the FBS. He rushed for over 100 yards in six-straight games in 2025, which tied for the 5th-longest streak in school history.
•    Horvath averaged 16.3 yards per completion in 2025, the 4th-best average in school history. It would have led the FBS if he had enough attempts to qualify.
•    Horvath's 2,780 yards of total offense in 2025 are the 2nd most in school history. 
•    Horvath's .606 completion percentage in 2025 is the 4th-best mark in school history. 
•    Horvath's 1,580 passing yards this year are the 4th most in school history. 
•    Horvath averaged 9.9 yards per pass attempt this year, which tied for the 5th-best mark in school history.
•    Horvath's 12 touchdown passes this year are tied for the 3rd most in school history. He threw 13 in 2024, which is tied for the most in school history.
•    Dating back to 1956, Horvath is 1 of just 25 players in the FBS to rush for 1,200 or more yards and throw for 1,500 or more yards in a single season and the first to do it at Navy.
•    Eli Heidenreich (Sr. / Snipe) was invited to the East-West Shrine Game. He is the 35th Navy football player to be selected and the 1st since linebacker Diego Fagot in 2021, who earned defensive MVP honors. Heidenreich is Navy's 1st offensive player to be selected since Malcolm Perry in 2019 and the 1st non-quarterback since wide receiver Brandon Turner in 2012. Heidenreich was joined by Landon Robinson (Sr. / NG), giving Navy 2 players in the East-West Shrine Game for the 1st time since 1957. They were among the four game captains selected to represent the East.
•    Heidenreich earned an invite to the NFL Combine. 
•    Heidenreich is just the 2nd player in the FBS since 1956 to rush for 475 yards or more and have 925 yards receiving or more in the same season. The only other player to do that is Tavon Austin of West Virginia in 2012 (643 rush, 1,289 rec).
•    Heidenreich's 16-career receiving touchdowns are the most in school history. 
•    Heidenreich's 6 touchdown catches in each of the last 2 seasons tied the single-season school record. 
•    Heidenreich's 1,994-career receiving yards are the most in school history. 
•    Heidenreich's 941 receiving yards this year are the most in school history.
•    Heidenreich 51 catches this year are tied for the 5th-most catches in a single-season in school history.
•    Heidenreich's 109 career catches are the 2nd most in school history. 
•    Heidenreich had a career-high 8 catches for a school-record 243 yards and a school-record tying 3 touchdown catches in Navy's win over Air Force. He is the 1st Navy player in school history to surpass 200 yards receiving in a game. The previous record was 194 yards by Cory Schemm in the 1996 Aloha Bowl against Cal.  
•    Either Heidenreich or Alex Tecza (Sr. / RB), Navy's dynamic duo from Pittsburgh who grew up as childhood friends, have scored a touchdown for Navy in 28 of their 36-career games (they scored in the same game 9 times, including the season finale against Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl). Heidenreich recorded 23-career touchdowns (7 rush, 16 rec), while Tecza had 26 (23 rush, 3 rec). Remarkably, they each scored the same number of touchdowns as high school teammates (29).  Both made their 1st-career start at Memphis in 2023. 
•    Heidenreich is graded as the 2nd-best running back in the FBS with a grade of 92.9 by Pro Football Focus (PFF has Heidenreich listed as a fullback, which he is most definitely not) and his receiving grade of 94.5 is the best of any running back or wide receiver. Tecza is ranked as the 9th-best receiver in the backfield by PFF with a grade of 80.4. 
•    Robinson was named 1 of 7 semifinalists for the Outland Trophy. He was 1 of only 2 defensive linemen to be named.
•    Robinson was named a First-Team All-American by USA Today, Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America and by Phil Steele. He was named a Second-Team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation, ESPN and the Sporting News.
•    Robinson, who was also named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, recorded 64 tackles, a team-high 8.5 tackles for a loss, a team-high 6.5 sacks and a team-high 7 hurries for the Mids this season.
•    Pro Football Focus ranks Robinson the 8th-best pass-rushing interior defensive lineman by PFF with a grade of 84.7.
•    Malcolm Johnson (Fr. / OT) became the first freshman to start on the offensive line at Navy against FAU since Duncan Cave started at center against SMU in 1997. Johnson was named the ECAC Rookie of the Year.
•    Braxton Woodson's (Jr. / QB) 180 yards rushing on 7 carries against VMI are the most yards rushing on 7 carries or less in an FBS game since LSU's Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 188 yards on 6 carries against Arkansas on Nov. 23, 2019, in a 56-20 LSU win. Woodson came off the bench in the 3rd quarter against USF and led Navy on 2 scoring drives to seal the upset win. Woodson finished with 103 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries. He had touchdown runs of 20 and 64 yards.
•    Jackson Gutierrez (So. / QB-RB) was listed on the depth chart at 2 different positions. He was the only player in the FBS to be listed on the 3-deep depth chart at quarterback and another position. 
•    Ira Oniha (Jr. / CB) broke up 3 passes in Navy's win over Tulsa, which tied for the 2nd most at Navy in the last 20 years. He also had 3 PBUs against Temple. 
•    Nathan Kirkwood (Sr. / PK) made 119 career extra-points which are the 2nd most in school history. Bennett Moehring (2016-18) holds the record with 141.
•    Kirkwood's 53 extra-points this season puts him 5th in Navy history in single-season PATs.
•    Kirkwood's 59-consecutive extra-points made dating back to last year is the 2nd-longest streak in school history. 
•    Kirkwood is just the 8th kicker in school history to be perfect on PATs for the year (min. 25 attempts).
•    Jacob Carlson (So. / P) was impressive for Navy in his 1st year on the job. He averaged 44.5 yards per punt, which is the 4th-best punting average in school history and just off the record of 45.7 set by Riley Riethman set in 2024.

Robinson Named First-Team All-American
•     Landon Robinson (Sr. / NG) was named a First-Team All-American by USA Today, Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America and by Phil Steele. He was named a Second-Team All-American by Walter Camp, ESPN and The Sporting News.
•     Robinson is the 1st Navy player to be named a First-Team All-American in 40 years (Napoleon McCallum in 1985) and the 1st defensive player in 50 years (Chet Moeller in 1975).

Navy, James Madison Dominate All-East Team
•     Navy (11-2) and James Madison (12-2) dominated the All-East major awards it was announced by the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) with Navy quarterback Blake Horvath (Sr.) named the Offensive Player of the Year, nose guard Landon Robinson (Sr.) named the Defensive Player of the Year and offensive tackle Malcolm Johnson named the Offensive Rookie of the Year.  James Madison's Sahir White was named Defensive Rookie of the Year and Bob Chesney was named Coach of the Year.
•    Alex Tecza (Sr. / RB), Ben Purvis (Sr. / OG) and Nathan Kirkwood (Sr. / K) were also named First-Team All-East.

Robinson, Fry Headline Navy's All-American Conference Selections
•     Landon Robinson (Sr. / NG) was named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year, while Rayne Fry (Jr.) was named the Long Snapper of the Year by the league's head coaches. The all-conference teams are selected by the league's 14 head coaches.
•     Robinson is the 1st Navy player to be named defensive player of the year, while Fry is the 1st Navy player to earn a special teams honor. Robinson is also just the 2nd interior defensive lineman to be named defensive player of the year, joining Ed Oliver from Houston in 2017. Oliver is currently a member of the Buffalo Bills.
•     Fry has been spectacular all year for Navy, serving as the long snapper for field goals, PATs and punts.
•     Surprisingly, those were the only 2 Mids named First-Team All-American Conference despite Navy finishing with a 7-1 league mark, tying Tulane and North Texas for 1st place.  
•     North Texas had 4 first-team selections, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who was named offensive player of the year and running back Caleb Hawkins, the rookie of the year.  Head coach Eric Morris was named the Coach of the Year.
•     Tulane had 5 first-team selections including kicker Patrick Durkin, who was named the special teams player of the year.
•     Memphis (five), East Carolina (four) and Tulsa (three) also had more first team selections than Navy.
•     Ben Purvis (Sr. / OG), Eli Heidenreich (Sr. / Snipe) and Alex Tecza (Sr. / RB) were all named Second-Team All-American Conference.
•     Blake Horvath (Sr. / QB) and MarcAnthony Parker (So. / LB) were both named Third-Team All-American Conference.
•     All told, Navy's 7 all-conference selections were the 6th most in the league. North Texas (12) and Tulane (12) led the way, while USF (10), Memphis (9) and ECU (9) also had more than Navy.