Navy Midshipmen Football 2026 Season Preview: Life After Blake Horvath Begins Now

The hardest thing in college football isn't building a program. It's sustaining one when the player who made it all work walks out the door.

Blake Horvath is gone. The Navy quarterback who ran for nearly 2,500 yards and 33 touchdowns over two seasons, who threw for another 3,000 yards and 25 scores, who won two Commander-In-Chief's Trophies and led the Midshipmen to back-to-back 10-win seasons, finished his senior season and graduated from the Naval Academy in May.

But here's what Brian Newberry has built at Navy, and why it matters: the Midshipmen return 11 starters and 46 letter winners off a team that won a school-record-tying 11 games, beat Army and Air Force to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy in back-to-back years, and beat Cincinnati in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The roster is experienced. The system doesn't change. Fall camp opens August 5 in Annapolis.

The New Quarterback

Braxton Woodson takes over. He started three games from 2023-25, including the Notre Dame matchup last November when Horvath went down with an injury. Woodson stepped in and rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries against VMI — the first FBS player to rush for 180 or more yards on seven or fewer carries since Clyde Edwards-Helaire did it for LSU in 2019. He also managed the Notre Dame game adequately, though the Mids fell 49-10 to the Irish. He's not Horvath but the triple option doesn't require a generational athlete at quarterback. It requires someone who understands the system, protects the ball, and makes the right read on the mesh point. Woodson has been in the building for three years. He knows the system.

The Navy defense has one job — hold on. The offense will keep the ball for long periods, the defense will be rested, and its job is to bend without breaking. And unlike the offensive side, the defense is loaded with veterans. That was true last year, and it's true again in 2026.

What the Triple Option Means for 2026

The service academy offense gets unfairly written off by casual fans and occasionally by analysts who should know better. Navy will never wing it all around the yard, but as long as the passing attack is serviceable, everything else clicks. The line is experienced, the fullback corps is deep, and the system itself is the advantage — opposing defenses get one week to prepare for something they see once a year at most. That doesn't change with a new quarterback.

The questions are about Woodson's passing. Horvath could make teams pay through the air just enough to keep defenses honest. If Woodson can do the same — even to a lesser degree — the offense will be fine.

The Schedule

Navy opens at home on Sept. 5 against Towson — a local matchup and the first meeting between the programs since 2008, when the Mids won 41-13. From there: at Florida Atlantic, home games against Temple, Memphis, and Notre Dame, with road games at UTSA, North Texas, and Charlotte rounding out the conference schedule.

Notre Dame on the home schedule is the marquee game. The Irish visit Annapolis for the first time in years, and for a Navy program that's been building toward national relevance, a win over Notre Dame at home would be a defining moment. Last season, when Navy played at South Bend, Woodson filled in for an injured Horvath and was competitive before losing 49-10. The rematch at home figures to be closer.

The American Conference Championship Game is the stated goal. Navy hasn't qualified for the American title game since 2016, missing out last year on a tiebreaker loss to North Texas. The Army-Navy Game follows on Dec. 12 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — Navy is 4-1 all-time in East Rutherford and has won two straight in the rivalry.

Predicted record: 9-3

A step back from last year's 11-2 is realistic given the quarterback transition, but Navy has enough returning veterans and enough schedule flexibility to get to nine wins comfortably. If Woodson surprises — and he may — double digits are possible again.

2026 Navy Midshipmen Football Schedule

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