Horvath outduels Daily as Navy upsets Army
LANDOVER, Md. — Blake Horvath outplayed Bryson Daily at quarterback, accounting for 311 yards and four touchdowns to help Navy beat No. 19 Army 31-13 on Saturday.
Horvath threw for 107 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 204 yards and two TDs. Navy (9-3) snapped a two-game losing streak in the series. The teams entered this Army-Navy matchup with a combined 19 victories, the most in the 125-game history of this storied clash.
Daily, who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy vote this year, threw a touchdown pass of his own but he was intercepted three times. Army (11-2) fell behind 14-0 in the second quarter and never completely recovered. The Black Knights were coming off a victory over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference title game — the first league title in program history.
In front of a crowd that included President-elect Donald Trump at the Washington Commanders’ home stadium in Landover, Navy took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards, reaching the end zone on a 1-yard run by Horvath.
Daily, who had been intercepted only once all season, had a pass picked off in the second quarter by Dashaun Peele. The Midshipmen took advantage of a short field, going ahead 14-0 on an 18-yard pass from Horvath to Brandon Chatman. Daily answered with a TD pass of his own — 23 yards to Hayden Reed.
Both teams were run heavy as expected, but they did combine for 25 pass attempts — including what was probably the biggest play of the game in the third quarter. After a field goal made the score 14-10, Horvath connected with Eli Heidenreich, who broke free up the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown.
That was Horvath’s 13th touchdown pass of the season and Heidenreich’s sixth TD reception — both tying school records.
Daily missed an open Casey Reynolds in the end zone early in the fourth, and Army settled for a field goal.
Navy then faced fourth down near midfield, but Landon Robinson — normally a nose guard — ran 29 yards on a fake punt. Although Robinson fumbled at the end of the play, the Midshipmen were able to recover.
Horvath’s 1-yard scoring run made it 28-13, and Daily was intercepted twice more before the end of the game.
Navy, which won its first six games this season and also spent time in the Top 25, completed a sweep of Air Force and Army to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy for the first time since 2019.
This was the first of two straight Army-Navy games in Navy’s home state of Maryland. Next year’s edition is in Baltimore.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
