Navy Midshipmen superstar makes program history with touchdown run

Navy Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath scored one of the longest touchdown runs in the FBS this season in the third quarter of Friday’s Armed Forces Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners.

On the second play of Navy’s second drive of the third quarter, Horvath broke the line of scrimmage, broke a couple of tackles and finally broke the Oklahoma defense for a 95-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14.

A Sooners defender caught Hovarth at the 5-yard line, but jumped down to the goal line for the score. Horvath was originally knocked out by contact inside the 1-yard line. The piece was then reviewed.

He was helped by the fact that his body fell on top of the Sooners defender and his right arm was able to break the plane of the goal line with the football.

Hovarth had a 90-yard touchdown run earlier this season. But his 95-yard run was the longest in Navy history and one of the longest in FBS this season, according to ESPN. It was also the longest run ever in Armed Forces Bowl history.

After the run, Horvath had 135 yards rushing and 55 yards passing.

Entering the game, the junior quarterback had already tied the school record for touchdown passes in a season with 13, tying Ricky Dobbs, who set the record in 2010.

He is the first Navy player to throw for 1,000 yards in a season since Malcolm Perry in 2019 and the first Navy quarterback to throw for more than 1,000 yards since Perry in the same season. Horvath’s 1,261 passing yards were the most by a Navy player since Will Worth threw for 1,397 yards in 2016.

Oklahoma scored on its first possession of the game and set up the running game for Gavin Sawchuk’s 25-yard touchdown run, part of his 41 yards on the first drive. It was OU’s first touchdown on its opening drive in eight games.

Oklahoma extended the lead to 14-0 with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Hawkins to Zion Kearney.

Navy responded to Alex Tecza’s 11-yard touchdown run late in the first half to cut the lead to 14-7.

The game was played in front of a sellout crowd at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, as Navy was seeking a 10-win season and Oklahoma was playing with just over 50 scholarship players after a number of players transferred from the program and several defensive stars, including linebacker Danny Stutsman, have withdrawn from the game to prepare for the NFL draft.