Xavier Arline and Tai Lavatai played the most snaps among Navy quarterbacks from 2021-2023, but those two graduated in the spring.
That left junior Blake Horvath and sophomore Braxton Woodson to battle it out in spring ball, with Horvath emerging as the starter heading into fall camp.
Navy moved on from offensive coordinator Grant Chesnut after one season last December and replaced him with former Mercer head coach Drew Cronic. The new offensive coordinator explained in his introductory news conference in January that he will run a hybrid Wing-T offense that will include elements of the triple option and spread offense.
Mids head coach Brian Newberry was pleased with how Horvath grasped the offense in the spring.
“I think he’s suited to do the things we’re doing. I think he’s done some things in the offseason to make himself better,” Newberry said. “Certainly he’s developed into a better passer. He’s changed his body a little bit. He’s healthy. He’s a cerebral young man, can read defenses, sees things well. I thought what he showed in the spring was his ability to improvise and extend plays and make plays. It’s not always going to look the way you want it to look — it may not be there — but he did some things, showed some savviness that got me real excited.”
It’s been largely a struggle on the offensive side of the ball in recent years. With quarterback Malcolm Perry leading the way in 2019, Navy scored 40.3 points and gained 468.5 yards per game, marks that ranked third and fifth in the AAC that season, respectively.
Since then, the Mids haven’t come close to those numbers during a four-year stretch that includes multiple head coaches, offensive coordinators and starting quarterbacks. (Note: The AAC grew from 11 to 14 teams in 2023.)
| YEAR | POINTS | AAC RANK | YARDS | AAC RANK |
| 2020 | 16.6 | 11th | 275.0 | 11th |
| 2021 | 20.1 | 10th | 282.3 | 11th |
| 2022 | 21.9 | t-10th | 331.2 | 11th |
| 2023 | 17.7 | 12th | 300.3 | 13th |
Cronic is tasked with turning the offense around. That starts with a good working relationship with his quarterback.
“He’s a great communicator. He does a really good job of telling us and showing us his vision of what the offense is supposed to look like,” Horvath said. “When you can see that on the field and know where he’s trying to affect the defense and what he sees out there, I think it’s great to feel that and be able to operate at a level where there’s gray space. You know exactly what you need to do and exactly where the ball needs to go.”
Horvath, a native of Hilliard, Ohio, and graduate of Hilliard Darby High School, got his first taste of competition at the college level in 2023. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback totaled 37 carries for 183 yards and six completions for 84 yards and two scores during four games (one start) before a thumb injury ended his season.
Horvath says he has grown since then, becoming less “robotic” and more willing to adjust on the fly.
“That just sort of evolves with knowing the offense and knowing where guys are going to be and just being able to adapt,” Horvath said. “I think maybe we want to hit a guy here, but it’s not open, so we hit a guy that may not even be in our looks of where we’re supposed to go but if he’s open, we hit him there. The biggest thing is confidence and being comfortable, I would say. Coach Cronic has done a great job of developing that in all of us.”
Senior defensive end Justin Reed has noticed Horvath’s progression in recent months, saying the quarterback looks more and more comfortable in Cronic’s system. Reed is confident Horvath can make the right decisions in the biggest moments.
“I love seeing how they handle being under pressure,” Reed said of what he looks for in quarterbacks. “In certain situations — like third-and-long or in the red zone — seeing how your quarterback can be able to keep himself composed and be able to make plays, it’s tremendous and I’m very glad to be able to see that. With Blake, I’ve been able to see him just feel more and more comfortable in those tight, under-pressure situations.”
Navy is also hopeful to loosen up defenses with the passing game more than in recent years. In 2023, Mids quarterbacks completed just 51.3 percent of their passes. The Mids averaged 105.7 yards per game through the air.
Navy will look for a touch more balance under Cronic.
“The concepts that Coach Cronic has in the passing game — whether it be the short, quick passing game or the play-action boot game — [are] really good,” Newberry said. “It’s given our defense a lot of problems going back to spring ball, just the spacing. The concepts are really good. He’s got answers for everything. If you’re going to crowd the box, you’re going to take away the run game, you’re going to have to deal with some pass concepts that are very problematic.”
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