Navy football fans had to be encouraged by the complete effort they saw during Saturday’s 38-11 home win over Temple.
Quarterback Blake Horvath led another impressive offensive performance while inside linebacker Colin Ramos spearheaded a dominant display by the defense. Even punter Riley Riethman sparked a solid outing by the special teams.
Horvath accounted for 234 yards of offense, making plays with both his arm and feet. The talented junior had career highs for rushing (122) and passing (112) yards.
Through two games, Horvath has shown a strong grasp of the new Wing-T offense and the ability to make all the plays asked of the quarterback. He’s always been a smooth runner with great instincts and looks comfortable taking off on option keepers.
Horvath, a triple-option quarterback at Hilliard Darby High in Ohio, showed he has the speed to go the distance during a 65-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He’s equally effective running inside or outside and has the quickness to make defenders miss.
Navy coaches challenged Horvath to improve as a passer during the offseason to effectively run first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic’s “millennial” Wing-T attack. So far, so good, as Horvath has completed 12 of 21 passes (57%) for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
It helps to have a big-time playmaker to target, and snipe Eli Heidenreich has quickly emerged as the primary guy in the passing game. He was a slot receiver at Mount Lebanon High in Pittsburgh and it shows with his route-running and pass-catching skills. Heidenreich has the speed and acceleration to get separation and extremely sure hands.
Heidenreich already has eight catches for 172 yards and three scores because Cronic has designed pass plays to get him in space. Another example came Saturday when Horvath connected with Heidenreich for a 31-yard touchdown strike.
It came off a play that looked like a triple-option with Horvath faking to the fullback then carrying the ball down the line of scrimmage with a trailing back. Temple’s linebackers and safeties rushed up in run support just as Horvath pulled up and set to throw. Heidenreich, who was wide-open downfield, caught the ball in stride and waltzed into the end zone.
Millennial, indeed.
“I think the biggest thing is the wrinkles you can add off the plays you run already. We want to make as many plays look as similar as possible,” Horvath said of the play. “We run option off that look and [Brandon Chatman] had a long run. We ran it to the left and I had a solid gain. They were really flying downhill. You reel them in a little bit and lull them to sleep.”
Cronic also used a simple play to get the ball into Heidenreich’s hands, having him run a short route into the right flat for an easy pitch and catch. It is the type of high-percentage short passing concept that is almost guaranteed to pick up a few yards and has the potential for a big gain because of Heidenreich’s speed, quickness and elusiveness.
Cronic still has plenty left to show from the Wing-T playbook. It’s going to be fun and exciting as the veteran play-caller unveils more of the diverse package.
Navy has piled up 87 points and 846 total yards through two games, which means the offensive line is getting the job done. Following Saturday’s game, Horvath made sure to give credit to the unit composed of left tackle Connor McMahon, left guard Ben Purvis, center Brent Self, right guard Cam Nichols and right tackle Javan Bouton.
Temple had a highly touted defensive line, but Navy dominated the line of scrimmage on the way to amassing 297 rushing yards. The Midshipmen currently rank 10th nationally in rushing offense with 280.5 yards per game on the ground. That’s more like it after some underwhelming offensive performances in recent seasons.
“[The Owls] give the toughest players single-digit numbers, so when you see a bunch of those guys on the defensive line you know they are going to try to make some plays,” Horvath said. “A big point of emphasis was winning the game up front, and I thought we did that.”
Temple quarterback E.J. Warner torched Navy last year to the tune of 402 yards and four touchdown passes in a stunning upset. Ramos, the defensive captain, said the Midshipmen were determined to make amends, and they did so convincingly. Ramos recorded 15 tackles as Navy shut down the running game and made Temple one-dimensional with quarterback Forrest Brock completing 30 of 46 passes for 277 yards. He missed a lot of throws, however, and routinely settled for short passes. The Mids had two interceptions and five pass breakups.
Cornerback Ira Oniha set the tone on the first play of the game, drilling a wideout for a 3-yard loss.
“We knew we basically had to punch them in the face,” Ramos said, “and Ira did that on the first play.”
That was a theme throughout the game as Navy was aggressive in coverage and refused to allow Temple receivers to turn short passes into big gains. The Mids tackled well in open space and had multiple defenders rally to the ball.
Give credit to defensive coordinator P.J. Volker, too, for creating a game plan that prevented the nickel-and-dime approach Temple implemented so successfully last season.
“I think they tried to make the screens an extension of their run game and we handled the perimeter pretty well. I thought we fit things up outside,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said.
When Newberry was hired as Navy defensive coordinator in 2019 he brought a “get six” mantra he believes is key to success. The Mids’ defense has met that challenge in a big way so far this season, totaling nine points against both Bucknell and Temple.
On Saturday, the defense recorded a trio of three-and-outs, a pair of turnovers on downs, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a safety.
Newberry was upset about how the special teams performed in the season opener as there was a kickoff out of bounds, a missed extra point, and too many yards allowed on returns.
Navy was much better with the specialty units against Temple with Riethman repeatedly pinning the visitors deep with three punts that were downed inside the 20-yard line. He boomed a 51-yard punt early in the first quarter that was downed at the 2-yard line. He followed with a high punt that was fair caught at the 9-yard line and led to the safety.
Temple’s average starting field position for the game was its 22-yard line, which was an important factor in the game.
“We played really well on special teams. Field position was really critical, especially in the first half, and we dominated that area,” Newberry said. “I just thought the overall effort and execution were much better. The attention to detail was much better.”
