Navy Midshipmen 2026 College Football Preview
Posted July 2, 2026
2025 Recap
Record – 11-2
ATS – 5-8
Navy torpedoed out of the chute and stood at 7-0 in the blink of an eye. They were close to unstoppable on offense and looked the part of a legit CFP contender before they lost in back-to-back weeks at North Texas and Notre Dame. The loss to the Mean Green ultimately cost them a shot at playing for an American Conference title, but the Middies played like champs the entire season and finished with wins over Army and Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. 11-2, and their second consecutive double-digit winning season!
Navy Midshipmen 2026 Outlook
OFFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (American):
- Scoring: 31.5 PPG (#6 American)
- Total Offense: 415.6 YPG (#6 American)
- Rushing: 285.6 YPG (#1 American)
- Passing: 130.0 YPG (#12 American)
- Sacks Allowed: 9 (#2 American)
It was an absolute treat to watch this offense roll behind star QB Blake Horvath, who had 1,200 yards and 16 scores on the ground to go along with a deadly season through the air (61%, 21-6 TD to INT, 9.3 YPA!). It stings to enter the 2026 season without the great Horvath at the controls, but Navy is not without hope, as senior QB Braxton Woodson is ready to take the reins. Woodson is a devastating runner (414 yards, 9.4 avg!, 6 TD) but doesn’t have anything close to the passing SKILLZ of Horvath. Still, we expect Navy to enjoy championship-caliber QB play this year, provided that Woodson can stay healthy for an entire season — and that won’t be easy given the beating that option quarterbacks take on a weekly basis.
The top-three rushing threats behind Horvath need to be replaced, including MEGALOCKS All-American SB Eli Heidenreich, who rushed for 499 yards and 3 scores and also caught 54 balls for 941 yards and 6 TDs. That was one of the best offensive seasons by a skill position player in Navy history, and Heidenreich ended his football career as the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards. We’re just gonna have to trust the Middies to keep their relentless ground game going despite having a group of virtual unknowns ready to take center stage. They’ve got good size and a few smaller, quicker doods that’ll be necessary to stretch things outside. We’ll have to see who emerges. As far as WR goes, Luke Hutchison is back, and while he doesn’t prefer to catch many passes, when he does, he prefers that they go for touchdowns (5 catches, 134 yards, 26.8 avg, 3 TD LY).
The offensive line will be a force once again as they bring back four starters and have loads of upperclassmen in the two-deep.
DEFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (American):
- Scoring: 25.0 PPG (#6 American)
- Total Defense: 371.3 YPG (#4 American)
- Rushing Defense: 141.3 YPG (#4 American)
- Passing Defense: 230.0 YPG (#7 American)
- Sacks: 27 (#4 American)
The defense was okay but had a few too many holes for a championship-level squad. Navy allowed 25 PPG for the first time since 2021 and yielded the most YPG since the 2020 PLANDEMIC season.
The stop unit has the top-three tacklers returning for battle but they’ll definitely miss star DL Landon Robinson, who had a fantastic 2025 campaign (6.5 sacks, #5 in tackles, 7 QBH) and is off to the NFL (!). Navy has been steady vs the run over the last five seasons, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and believe they can keep up that level of performance. They’ll just need to find another dangerous PENETRATOR or two.
The LB unit will be the strength of the defense given the return of leading tackler MarcAnthony Parker (6.5 TFL) and #3 tackler Coleman Cauley. The secondary was a problem area last year (#11 in American pass efficiency D, 21-7 TD to INT) but a lot of the same cast of characters is back this season and they should benefit from being thrown into the fire in 2025. They’ve got an upperclassmen starting duo at safety and a small handful of promising CBs, including Ira Oniha (7 PBU).
SPECIAL TEAMS
It’s a bit of a mixed bag. The Middies must move on from deadly PK Nathan Kirkwood (10/11 FG), but they bring back punter Jacob Carlson (39.5 net) and KR Isaiah Bryant (22.0).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The non-conference schedule is tough as they face Air Force, Notre Dame, and Army (non-conf game), but at least they get to destroy Towson in the opener. The list of American assignments tilts in their favor as they miss Army, USF, and Tulane, and they get to play all the projected TURDS other than Rice.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at UTSA (Oct 17)
This will be Navy’s third road test in four weeks, and winning in the Dome is one of the toughest challenges in the conference.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – July 2
Over 7.5 -180
Under 7.5 +140
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
Navy will be a tough out, but they’ll do well to finish 2-2 in non-conference play. We could only look at the over, but we’re taking a pass for now.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The Army–Navy rivalry includes the decades‑long tradition of stealing BILL THE GOAT, Navy’s live mascot. The first documented goat‑napping was in 1953, and Army cadets have swiped multiple Bills over the years — including one incident where the goat woke up in a barracks shower after being tranquilized. Bill the Goat is arguably the most frequently abducted mascot in college football history.
Navy’s campus has more history per square foot than most states — goats get kidnapped, domes shine like beacons, battles are carved into stadium walls, and George Washington himself dropped the mic in Annapolis.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
Navy was one of the most entertaining teams in the nation last year, and they came within a breath of playing for all the marbles in the American Conference. They’ve lost a pair of superstars on offense, and it’ll be up to the new crop to keep the destroyer sailing in the right direction. The defense should be fine, provided the front doesn’t take a big step back after losing their star. The schedule is a wee bit tougher than some of the other American contenders, and we’re not sure they’ll be as potent. We’ll call for 7–9 wins, but think they fall just short of playing for a title.
And as the Brigade likes to say — Anchors Aweigh!