Navy continued its outstanding play this season with a 42-32 victory over Florida Atlantic University (FAU) of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in front of 32,175 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The Mids’ strong offensive effort was punctuated by a 21-point fourth quarter that sealed their seventh straight win, the program’s best start to a season since 1978.
Army and Air Force were on a bye week, as both teams prepared for their Week 10 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy showdown in Colorado Springs. The stakes are high for both programs. The Falcons, Mountain West Conference (MW), are fighting to salvage their season after multiple close losses, while Army, AAC, looks to regain momentum and stay alive in the conference race with bowl eligibility still within reach. This rivalry game will kick off with Navy already holding a lead in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy standings.
Navy Downs the Owls
The Navy Midshipmen are 7-0 for the first time since 1978, when head coach George Welsh won seven straight games before falling to Notre Dame. That season was particularly memorable in the program’s history because the Mids finished 9-3 overall, defeated archrival Army, and earned a Holiday Bowl bid against BYU. Navy won the bowl game 23-16.
Related: How the Navy-Air Force Rivalry is just as vicious as Army-Navy
This weekend, Navy’s offense was powered by a strong performance by quarterback Blake Horvath. The senior signal caller had yet another outstanding game, rushing for a season-high 174 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. His running attack was so effective against FAU’s defense that he was limited through the air, completing eight of 12 passes for 83 yards. Slotback Brandon Chatman complemented Horvath’s efforts on the ground, rushing for a career-best 141 yards on 10 carries. Senior running back Alex Tecza also had another strong performance for the Mids, racking up 55 rushing yards and a touchdown. Navy rushed for 397 of their 503 total yards.
On defense, the Mids’ linebacker Coleman Cauley forced two important turnovers in the second half, which led to two scoring drives. The Owls’ redshirt junior quarterback Caden Veltkamp led the high-tempo passing offense against Navy. He was 25-for-41 passing for 299 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Jayshon Platt and Jabari Smith Jr. also got in on the action. Platt, a redshirt junior, caught five balls for 121 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder added on another 81 yards on four kick returns. Smith Jr. had 33 yards on four catches, with his main contributions coming by way of two late-game touchdown receptions.
FAU drew first blood on their opening drive when Veltkamp connected with Platt for a 43-yard touchdown pass. It didn’t take long for Navy to strike back, as the Mids put together an eight-play scoring drive to even up the game on Horvath’s seven-yard rushing touchdown at 7:38.
With the game tied 7-7, Navy linebacker Adam Klenk sacked Veltkamp on 3rd & 7 at the Owls’ 28-yard line, forcing the quarterback to fumble. Midshipmen linebacker MarcAnthony Parker recovered the ball. Navy took advantage of the big defensive play, scoring on junior backup quarterback Braxton Woodson’s 16-yard touchdown run at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter.
On the following possession, FAU scored on Garrison Smith’s 30-yard field goal. The score was 14-10 at 2:35 in the first. Horvath put the Mids up 21-10 on his second rushing touchdown of the game, a seven-yard run at 11:45 in the second.
Smith’s second field goal attempt of the game was good at 7:37 of the second quarter. The Owls still trailed 21-13. FAU forced a fumble on Navy’s next possession, with defensive lineman Gavench Marcelin recovering the ball. Despite the break, the Owls could do nothing as their offense went three-and-out, punting at 5:31 of the second quarter.
Navy’s 13-play possession, ending on downs, took the ballgame into the half with the score standing at 21-13. Neither team scored in the third quarter, thanks in part to both teams’ solid defensive play. The Midshipmen had possession first in the second half, turning the ball over on downs after the FAU defense made a stop at their own 42-yard line.
After two good kicks on the day, Smith missed his third attempt, 49 yards out at the 6:31 mark of the third quarter. The score remained 21-13 in favor of Navy. With 10 seconds remaining in the third, Horvath’s incomplete pass led to the Mids turning the ball over on downs. The Owls got the ball back with seconds remaining in the third quarter. Veltkamp’s pass to wide receiver Dominique Henry was caught for a 22-yard gain, but linebacker Cauley forced a fumble that he also recovered for the Midshipmen.
This key defensive play helped to set up Navy for its first scoring drive of the final quarter. Slotback Chatman’s 36-yard run led to Tecza’s one-yard rushing touchdown that put the Mids up 28-13. This was the first of six total touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Cauley came up big again defensively for Navy on FAU’s next possession. The junior linebacker picked off Veltkamp near the Owls’ 41-yard line. The Midshipmen again marched down the field, this time using a four-play scoring drive that culminated in Horvath’s 19-yard rushing touchdown. Navy led 35-13 at the 9:40 mark of the fourth quarter. Veltkamp’s five-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Shields-Dutton narrowed Navy’s lead to 35-19. Horvath and the Mids offense answered with a monster 31-yard touchdown run that put the team up 42-19 with 5:29 left to play.
Quarterback Zach Gibson took command of FAU’s offense on the next two possessions. The graduate student playcaller led a 13-play drive that resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass to Smith Jr. A former Akron, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State quarterback, this was Gibson’s first touchdown pass as a member of FAU. The Owls failed to convert the two-point conversion. The score was 42-25 with two minutes to play.
The Owls recovered an onside kick that led to another Gibson-led scoring drive. He connected with Smith Jr. for a nine-yard touchdown pass at the 1:10 mark of the fourth quarter. FAU still trailed by ten points. The Owls attempted another onside kick, but Navy recovered this try. The Mids used three plays to run out the clock and claim their seventh victory by a score of 42-32. This win helped Navy maintain its first-place standing in the AAC.
The Midshipmen (7-0 overall, 5-0 AAC) return to action on Saturday, November 1st, when they travel to Denton, Texas, for a 12:00 PM ET showdown with North Texas. One of the top four teams in the AAC, the Mean Green are 7-1 overall, 3-1 in conference play.
This weekend’s matchup against North Texas will be a significant challenge for Navy to maintain its undefeated record. Close to breaking into the Associated Press Top 25, a Midshipmen victory this weekend could be the missing piece to achieve a national ranking. Horvath and company will need to apply constant pressure to the Mean Green run defense to offset the points North Texas will undoubtedly score on the Mids. North Texas employs a balanced, versatile scoring attack that relies on a potent passing and rushing game. The Mean Green offense is one of the best in college football, leading the AAC in scoring with an average of 46.1 points per game. They have scored at least 33 points in every contest this season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker leads the North Texas offense. The Austin, Texas native is a highly effective passer who is 195-for-286 through the air with 2,468 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season. The 6-foot-4, 211-pound playcaller absolutely shredded AAC opponent Charlotte this weekend, throwing for 608 yards and four touchdowns on the way to a 54-20 victory.
Mestemaker’s efforts on offense have been supported by running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young. The freshman Hawkins has 547 yards and seven touchdowns on 88 carries this season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder is also a receiving threat; he has 21 receptions for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Young is one of Mestemaker’s favorite targets, racking up 586 yards on 35 catches for seven touchdowns. The native Texan also has one touchdown on an 11-yard carry in their only loss to South Florida.
Army vs. Air Force
On Saturday, Nov. 1st, the Army Black Knights will travel to Colorado Springs for their 60th all-time matchup against Air Force. Dating back to the inaugural meeting on October 31, 1959, the Falcons lead the overall series with a record of 38-20-1. The rivalry is part of the annual Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy competition, and Army has won the last two meetings, including a decisive 20-3 victory in 2024 at Michie Stadium. The noon ET showdown can be streamed on Fubo and YouTube TV.
Army enters this weekend’s matchup against Air Force with a record of 3-4 (2-3 AAC), having fallen to Tulane 24-17 on October 18th. Its western foe, Air Force, stands at 2-5 (1-4 MW), having won its second game of the season on Oct. 18th against Wyoming, 24-21. The Falcons are already 0-1 in the Commander-in-Chief series, having fallen to Navy on Oct. 4th in a hard-fought 34-31 defeat.
Army will once again lean on quarterback Cale Hellums, who has rushed for over 100 yards in back-to-back games and remains the engine of the Black Knights’ methodical ground attack. Time of possession, an Army strength all season, will be critical in keeping Air Force’s explosive offense off the field. Defensively, the Black Knights must replicate last week’s strong first-half performance and avoid late breakdowns against a Falcons’ unit that has proven on several occasions this season to fight until the last seconds of play.
Air Force counters with one of the nation’s most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks in Liam Szarka, who has rushed for 100-plus yards in five straight games and can flip field position in a single play. The Falcons’ defense, however, has struggled all season to stop power-rushing offenses, a vulnerability Army will look to exploit.
The Road Ahead
Navy now turns its attention to a high-stakes road trip to Denton next weekend, where the undefeated Midshipmen will face a potent North Texas squad in a key AAC clash with conference title implications. Army and Air Force, meanwhile, enter one of the most anticipated games of the season, a Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy showdown in Colorado Springs that could redefine momentum for both programs as they enter the back half of the 2025 campaign. With bowl eligibility still in reach for both teams, the stakes could not be higher.
