Sink or Be Sunk: USF football will face blitz, the option, and its old boss at Navy

With the opening of USF’s football season less than two months away, Green, Gold, and Bold will examine each opponent the Bulls will face in the 2025 season.

Here’s the tenth in the series.

Team: Navy Midshipmen

When: Saturday, November 15, 12 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Head coach: Brian Newberry. He is entering his seventh year with the Navy staff and third as head coach.

Last year’s record: 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference. This was just the sixth 10-win season in program history. After starting 6-0, Navy lost three of four – the one win was a 28-7 thumping of USF on the Bulls’ Homecoming Day.

The Midshipmen rebounded to close with three straight wins, including a 31-13 shellacking of Army and a 21-20 Armed Forces Bowl win over Oklahoma.

Name to know: Blake Horvath. The starting quarterback from last season returns. Yes, we know the Navy loves to run the triple option, and Horvath is definitely a threat there. Against USF, he ran 19 times for 69 yards and a touchdown. For the season, he ran for 1,246 yards and 17 TDs. He had a 95-yard touchdown run against Oklahoma.

However, don’t get so obsessed with stopping the run that you go to sleep on the passing game. He threw for 13 touchdowns a year ago. Horvath is the most dangerous dual-threat USF will face this season.

The biggest potential weakness: Honestly, there aren’t a lot of them, but if you want to quibble, focus on the secondary. Safety Rayuan Lane – drafted by Jacksonville in the NFL – and top-flight corner Dashaun Peele have moved on.

It’s also worth remembering that Navy can’t fill those holes by going into the transfer portal.

The biggest question mark: It’s pretty simple, really. Can Navy sustain the 2024 success?

Prior to last season, the Midshipmen had four consecutive losing seasons and had lost to Army four of the last six years.

The 31-13 wipeout of Army to close the regular season, followed by the bowl win over Oklahoma, gives the Midshipmen tons of momentum heading into this season.

Additionally, their schedule is top-heavy with cream puffs. They should cruise through the first part of their AAC schedule, which puts them against UAB, Tulsa, FAU, Temple, and Rice. They could be undefeated when they play Notre Dame.

Interesting things to know: The Navy allowed only 11 quarterback sacks last season, which was tied for the sixth-lowest in the country.

Then again, the Midshipmen threw only 179 passes all season.

And, of course, we can’t let this game pass without noting that USF Athletic Director Michael Kelly recently left the Bulls to take over Navy’s athletic department.