A previous great complimented a Navy Midshipmen quarterback on his record-setting touchdown run. The 2024 college football season was a success for the Navy Midshipmen and quarterback Blake Horvath.
The team won ten games for the sixth time in program history. It ended their four-year streak of finishing under.500 and featured some amazing performances.
They won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy by defeating the Army Black Knights 31-13. Their season culminated in a stunning 21-20 triumph over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Horvath’s 95-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-14 was one of the most memorable plays in that victory over Oklahoma.
It was the first of two touchdowns for the gifted quarterback, who rushed for another with 4:36 left to give the Midshipmen their first lead of the game, 21-20.
He finished the game with 18 rushing attempts for 155 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 92 passing yards. It was enough to earn him the MVP award while also cementing his place in the team’s history.
That 95-yard rush is the longest touchdown run in Navy history, surpassing the previous record set by running back John Sai against Duke.
Blue Devils, November 16, 1963 After seeing his record beaten, the Midshipmen legend contacted Bill Wagner of the Capital Gazette to properly congratulate Horvath.
“I’ve been waiting 61 years for this moment and am glad to finally pass the record on to such a great young man,” Sai said in an email, prompting Wagner to organize up a Zoom meeting between the two football heroes.
They had a nice talk, and Sai was pleased to be alive to see the record broken, congratulating Horvath straight away.
Both players emphasized that their record-breaking runs could not have been accomplished alone. It was a complete team effort, with all of their colleagues providing perfect blocking to set them up for the long touchdowns.
“Blake, I heard you say that it couldn’t have happened without your teammates, which was absolutely the case for me. “I had a hole you could have driven a truck through,” Sai explained.
The running back, a former sprinter, ran the 100-yard dash in 9.7 seconds, setting a Navy record. He needed all of his speed to accomplish his 93-yard run, as one of Duke’s defensive backs was a South Carolina state champion in the same event.
On that day, Sai was just quick enough to outlast him and escape getting tripped at the 5-yard line. Horvath does not have sprint pace, but he did reach 21 MPH during his run, which impressed Sai.
“I tell you what, you don’t look very fast out there on the field, but you must be fast because no one could catch you man,” Sai said to Horvath.
“It’s a sneaky pace. “It catches up with some people,” the star quarterback said.
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