Navy quarterback Blake Horvath rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns in a big upset over Memphis in Week 3. That's not too surprising from a Navy quarterback. What may have been surprising was seeing a Navy quarterback pass for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
Horvath is drawing acclaim for doing what we don't see much at Navy. His QBR of 95.8 ranks first in the country. Navy is averaging its most points per game, 46, through four games since 1918 (nope, that's not a typo). They aren't empty calories, either. Horvath is making legitimately good throws.
However, at his heart, Horvath is still a Navy quarterback. He's averaging over nine yards a carry. His 90-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter extended Navy's lead over Memphis. His dual-threat capabilities will be on display against Air Force on Saturday (Noon ET, CBS) in the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief's trophy.
A native of Hilliard (Ohio), Horvath prepped at Darby High School where he was similarly prolific rushing and passing. He rushed for 1,722 yards and 28 touchdowns. As a junior, he rushed for 1,186 yards and 20 touchdowns. His senior season, he was the OCC-Cardinal Division Player of the Year and carried a 4.55 GPA. Yet, only Division II schools had offered until Navy came in.
"We're a triple-option high school that didn't throw a lot to be honest with you," Darby head coach John Santagata said. "That may have hurt him from a recruiting standpoint. His sophomore year, he ran the ball once for a touchdown and tweaked an ankle so he wasn't able to finish that year and his junior year was the COVID year so he only had eight games."
While the entire rest of the FBS did not offer Horvath, the right one did.
"I think he ended up right where he should be," Santagata said. "I think because of Covid, schools were not necessarily looking for quarterbacks and then you throw in the portal. He had interest from Division II schools to play quarterback, but when Navy came, it was a perfect fit because we run the exact same offense. You look at what they're doing now and it really fits us to a T."
It clearly was the right fit based on Horvath's success.
When asked this week about the game and it being between two service academies, Horvath stressed staying loose and having fun. Where some players with his story of under-recruitment may look back with spite on the recruiting process, Horvath simply said he was thankful to still be playing football.
He also said he thinks back to playing football as a kid and keeping that mentality. Santagata remembers watching him grow up.
"He's an amazing kid," Santagata said. "He was our ball boy for forever, then he came up through the system running the system from 7th grade all the way up. He has tremendous character and is a tremendous student. He's so humble with all the success he had in high school and the success he's having now. He's still Blake Horvath. He's kind, extremely intelligent, and is just truly a great all-around person who has developed great relationships with teammates, classmates, coaches and teachers."
MORE: How Navy, other service academies build rosters with 80-plus signees each class
