After leading the Navy Midshipmen to a 10-3 record and an Armed Forces Bowl win last fall, Blake Horvath enters his senior season under a weight of expectation not often felt by a quarterback in Annapolis. Yet, through his journey from Hilliard to Heisman Trophy contender, the talented dual-threat has helped establish this standard with hard work and humility.
Blake Horvath Opens Up on Expectations on Navy Football in 2025
Navy football opens up the 2025 college football season on Saturday as one of the leading contenders to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoff. It’s a position that not many considered the Midshipmen for entering the previous campaign. Yet, in the second season under Brian Newberry, the program set a new standard for how success is measured.
At the heart of a stellar 2024 campaign and heightened expectations for the upcoming season was quarterback Horvath, who etched his name across the Navy record books with his dazzling combination of speed, gutsy determination, and that rarity for Midshipmen quarterbacks versed in a traditional triple option system, a genuine ability to throw the ball downfield.
Horvath ended 2024 with 1,353 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, with a higher touchdown percentage than some of the top 2025 NFL Draft quarterback prospects. Meanwhile, he was the only player in the country to have two runs of over 90 yards, led the American with 7.1 yards per carry, and leads all returning college football quarterbacks with 1,254 rushing yards.
His return, alongside offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, and complementary pieces such as Alex Tecza and Eli Heidenreich, sees expectations around Navy football set, from an external viewpoint, higher than they’ve been for a while. As we sit down to discuss his journey from Hilliard to Annapolis for a PFSN exclusive interview, Horvath explains how 2024 sets the bar.
“I think the biggest difference between last year and this year, is last year was sort of a prove everybody wrong type of thing,” Horvath begins. “Prove that we belong, and doing it for our seniors who hadn’t had success in their time here. So, it was sort of, what can we do? How can we establish ourselves and sort of sneaking up on people a little bit?”
From Hilliard to Heisman Trophy contender, I sat down with Navy quarterback Blake Horvath to talk about his journey, his elite whistling genes, and expectations of Midshipmen football in 2025 🙌 pic.twitter.com/W49xKgQhk5
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@hodgkinsonsport) August 28, 2025
“This year, I think other teams have some expectations for us now, is what we believe is going to happen. So, being able to live up to those and play our style of football knowing how other teams are going to expect. But, at some point, no matter who we’re playing, it’s about execution and our standard. It’s just about us and what we do right, never about the other team.”
Horvath enters the 2025 college football season on a pedestal unlike at any other time in his Navy career. The senior Midshipman quarterback’s name is plastered on just about every preseason watchlist you can find. There are social media accounts dedicated to raising awareness of his candidacy for the ultimate individual accolade, the Heisman Trophy.
It’s a far cry from Horvath coming into the program as an under-recruited true freshman, or in 2023, when he battled Tai Lavatai for the starting quarterback role. The comparison to 2024, just one year ago, is just as distant from an external expectation perspective. It’s natural to question whether the Navy senior has had to adapt how he approached this past offseason.
“I think it’s really different because it’s the first time I’ve sort of had continuity. It’s weird to say, but first year under Coach Ken, a different offense, then next year under Coach Newberry and Coach Chestnut, and then last year under Coach Cronic. So, finally having some continuity, being able to build on something, really for the first time in my career, in our whole offense.”
“That goes for every single guy that’s in my class where we’re finally able to build on skills and details and different things of our offense and sort of see things in the bigger picture better than learning it all. It’s definitely been a faster-paced offseason campaign, especially for us trying to try new things and do different stuff.”
The prospect of “new things” and “different stuff” is tantalizing at a program already undergoing an offensive revolution under offensive coordinator Drew Cronic. A triple-option offense incorporating more traditional passing concepts has already set the college football world alight, and the prospect of additional defense-stretching wrinkles resulting in splash plays is exciting.
The combination of Horvath’s natural athleticism, football intelligence, and Cronic’s offense led to the Navy quarterback establishing new records and a new standard for the position. You could call him the standard-bearer for a new era of Midshipmen football. Always humble, the senior sensation seeks to deflect the ultimate attention away from himself.
“I’m 100% sure that there will be way more successful guys that come after me,” Horvath laughs. “But, it’s cool to sort of get this kicked off and sort of how we’re building this offense, but at our core, we’re the same team. The toughness, the standards, the discipline that you want to have.”
“But, I think the past was always the talk about, why does Navy play the triple option? It’s, you know, to level the playing field against more talented teams. But, you look at our roster now, and I don’t think that talent gap is as wide as it really used to be. We have a lot of really talented guys on our team, talented guys that could be playing in some big-time programs for sure.”
Among all the individual honors, the elevated statistics, and the expectations for the 2025 college football season, Horvath remains humble. Alongside teammate Landon Robinson, he was named a Navy captain for the upcoming campaign, and he takes leadership by example seriously, something you can’t do if your accountability, your standard, is tainted by the trappings of ego.
“I think it’s just who my parents have raised me to be and what they’ve always preached,” Horvath reflects when I ask him how he remains grounded amidst the increase in focused attention. “You see all these big-name athletes making it about themselves, especially in this era of NIL. It’s all about money. It’s all about individual accolades.”
“I don’t think that my entire life, my teams, and this current team is about, right? We don’t have egos. We don’t have guys searching for more money or thinking they deserve something. It’s all about what you earn. I think it’s cool to have individual accolades, but the coolest one is wins. You got to win games. And I think that’s what helps me stay grounded.”
From Hilliard to Heisman Trophy Contender
The latest chapter in Horvath’s journey takes place against VMI in Annapolis on the final Saturday in August. Yet, to understand the man who suits up as the Navy quarterback this season, you have to travel several years back in time and over six hours and 430-plus miles to the West. Every superhero has an origin story, and so does every football player who brightens fall Saturdays.
Hilliard, Ohio, is an old railroad suburb that blossomed from a 280-person village in the mid-1800s through a township to city status in the early 1960s. In 2020, it was listed as having a population of over 37,000, a hotbed of residential and commercial development rising from its agricultural origins. Despite its rise in status, it remained a close-knit community.
Among that community was the Horvath family.
On the outskirts of Columbus and deep in Ohio State Buckeyes territory, Alan and Laura Horvath surrounded their children with hometown values and a love of Buckeyes football. Those two forces proved highly influential on young Blake, who lists Braxton Miller and Ryan Shazier among his early footballing role models, and credits his upbringing for his current outlook.
“I think both my parents are super hardworking people, and they have been their entire lives,” Horvath explains. “I think that is definitely what shaped my sort of work ethic and how I go about things here, my leadership, and how I treat people. Something my parents always did well was let sports be something to enjoy. They were always just proud.”
There was an additional influence on a competitive nature that has helped build his success at Navy.
“Growing up with siblings, super competitive all the time.” Horvath laughs. “Me and my brother never want to lose. You can’t let them hold that over you head. So, I think that’s what has always driven me and my competitive drive, and those things come from the competitions we had as kids.”
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That drive wasn’t restricted to the sporting arena. One of the individual accolades that Horvath is earmarked for entering the 2025 college football season is the Academic Heisman, and his impressiveness in the arena of education can be traced back to his childhood, resulting in a high GPA and National Honor Society acknowledgement while at Hilliard Darby High School.
“My mum jokes that I got student athlete of the game at one point last year, and that was way cooler than anything else in that game. I think it just starts with the standard that my parents have always set. Academics come first, and that was preached to me at a very young age. And, my sister, she’s a genius, so I’ve always been chasing that.”
There’s that competitive nature again. Laura often had to lean on a “unique whistle” to separate the children when raised words weren’t enough, a genetic trait passed down from her father, and passed on to her son. Yes, Blake is the latest in line of elite Horvath whistlers.
Naturally, Horvath claims to be the most competitive out of the siblings, and he took that onto the football field at Hilliard Darby, one of three high schools representing the city in Ohio high school football. The Navy quarterback describes it as being “one of the more underrated brands of football,” where “people care about the quality of football.”
His own brand of football at Hilliard Darby was of the highest quality. Horvath paved the path to stardom at Navy by setting school records across the board. His 49 rushing touchdowns and 57 total touchdowns became the mark for all future players to aspire to, while he also holds the record for rushing touchdowns in a game and rushing yards in a season.
“I grew up a huge fan of our high school program and the legends before me,” Horvath begins. “So, I knew that I wanted to reach that level there. So, just being able to get to that level and play the best I could, I felt very proud that I could leave a legacy at that program like the guys before me that left legacies that I looked up to. I hoped I could be that for somebody.”
Having left a legacy at Hilliard, Horvath is now a source of pride.
“When I was a younger kid, and there was a kid from Hilliard who went to play college sports somewhere, I always enjoyed rooting for him. It’s a real blessing to be a sense of pride for them, as a kid from Hilliard, to be able to do big things. I appreciate it all.”
Horvath’s Journey From Navy’s Freshman Backup to Star Starting Quarterback
Despite his success at Hilliard, Horvath was lightly recruited. Navy didn’t even take much of a look during his junior season. Most of his offers came from DII programs. Despite this, when he arrived as a true freshman in 2022, there was still a sense that his record-setting high school career might lead to early playing time with the Midshipmen. It did not.
“I’m sure every single high school kid that comes and starts playing football thinks they’re going to play,” Horvath tells me as our conversation turns to his Navy career. “I think it was beneficial to just learn, see how the guys above me went about their business, and pay my dues. I think the biggest thing is that everyone has to do it.
“You look back now, and I’m happy that I did. I was able to go through that stuff with all the rest of the guys on my team. It sort of brings us together, having that shared experience. So, it was tough, but you learn to enjoy it. You learn to embrace your role and try to do the best to help the team out.”
Under a new coaching staff in 2023, Horvath was touted as a QB1b alongside teammate Lavatai for the season-opener with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Dublin. However, he ended the year with just 12 pass attempts in four games, with 267 total yards and two touchdown passes while battling injury and trying to adapt to a new system and new expectations.
“I was probably a little bit in over my head,” Horvath reflects on that 2023 campaign. “I thought I was a little more prepared than I really was, definitely not a finished product then, I’m not now. But definitely just needed to grow up a little bit, mature, and grow in my leadership.”
“It was just weird, being a sophomore with all those older guys above me and getting those opportunities. I look back now and I wish I would have told myself to calm down a bit, enjoy it a little bit more, but grateful for everything that year taught me.”
It’s easy to assume that quarterbacks are the most confident, cocky players on the team, but Horvath talks at length about the highs and lows, going from thinking “I’m feeling good” to “I suck” in the blink of an eye. In that year, he sought solace in family, friends, and faith, understanding that football doesn’t define who he is as a person. The result was the 2024 season.
“Definitely surreal,” Horvath replies when I ask him to describe a breakout year in his own words. “I think I didn’t have expectations for last year, truthfully. I didn’t know what my role would be. I didn’t know how we’d all fit together, what type of team we’d have.
“I know what we wanted to have, but looking back and seeing how it all fell together, the drive and determination of people to win, I think that was the biggest thing. Being able to rewrite the narrative of what service academy football can be like, what Navy football can be like. It’s great to look back and be like, ‘we got our name on the national stage and sort of brought some relevancy to our name and brand.”
Horvath’s journey so far has led him to the start of the 2025 college football season. The expectations on him and on the Navy football program are higher than ever before. As bitter rival Army and Group of Five mainstay Boise State fell to defeat before the Midshipmen ran the rock in anger, a College Football Playoff place is a realistic endgame for the team.
Don’t expect the outside expectation to influence the mission.
“I think it’s the same as it’s always been, right?” Horvath responds when I ask about the 2025 expectation. “Take it one week at a time. You can’t have complacency. Be a player-led team. That’s the biggest thing, expectation-wise, is to go one week, and one week. It’s really a cliche. We say it a lot, but it’s the truth.”
“When you get focused on things you can’t control at the end of the season, if you say the College Football Playoff or an AAC [American] Championship, you can’t achieve any of those things if you don’t win the first game. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. It’s staying in the moment, playing tough, physical football. That’s the expectation.”
