Navy quarterback Blake Horvath, center, runs with the ball on his way to a 95-yard touchdown run during the second half of the Armed Forces Bowl NCAA college football game against Oklahoma, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. Navy won 21-20. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath read the play perfectly and turned it into the longest in school history, a 95-yard touchdown run in the Armed Forces Bowl.
“By somebody that’s not really that fast,” Horvath said after the 21-20 win over Oklahoma on Friday.
The Midshipmen (10-3) fell behind by two touchdowns less than 10 minutes into the game, but Horvath's record run late in the third quarter tied the game at 14-all. He put them ahead on a 6-yard TD with 4:34 left before Navy’s defense stopped an Oklahoma 2-point conversion with six seconds left in the game.
“Probably over-pursued by them,” Horvath said of the 95-yarder. “Some tendencies they showed earlier, just thought I could get a pull.”
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After faking a handoff on the read-option play, Horvath ran straight up the middle into the open field. Brandon Chatman cut off a pursuing defender around the Sooners 20.
By the time another defender, cornerback Woodi Washington, was able to catch up and started to bring him down, Horvath stretched the ball over the goal line — though he was initially ruled short before a replay review resulted in the touchdown.
“Brandon Chatman actually busted his tail to get his butt down the field,” Horvath said. “I can see him out of the corner of my eye busting his butt. And honestly, it’s almost not even my touchdown without him and the offensive line blocking.”
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The previous longest play for the Midshipmen came during the Roger Staubach era when Johnny Sai had a 93-yard run against Duke in 1963.
Horvath also had a 90-yard TD run against Memphis, making him only the second Navy player with two 90-yard runs in the same season. The other was quarterback Malcolm Perry in 2017 when he had runs of 92 and 91 yards.
“That’s a play we know can hit big and it did, and definitely exciting to see,” fullback Alex Tecza said. “I was getting tired just chasing him. … It's great. He's been doing that all year.”
