Blue and Gold Illustrated

BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 1, 2025 41 OPPONENT ON DECK: NAVY MIDSHIPMEN Date: Nov. 8, 2025 Site (Capacity): Notre Dame Stadium (77,622) Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. All-time series: Notre Dame leads 83-13-1 Last meeting: Notre Dame 51, Navy 14 (Oct. 26, 2024, at East Rutherford, N.J.) 2025 Record To Date: 6-0 (4-0 AAC) Navy head coach: Brian Newberry (21-10, 3rd season) Season summary: Navy is back, folks. After three seasons defined by the inability to get past the five-win plateau at the end of the Ken Niumatalolo era, understudy Brian Newberry won five in his first season in 2023 then doubled that to 10 in 2024. Now, in 2025, he's got the Midshipmen on pace to reach double digits yet again. And if they do, that'll be something his mentor never accom- plished — winning 10 or more games in back-to- back seasons. The resurgence is real and it's fueled by experi- ence from one season to the next. Senior quar- terback Blake Horvath terrorized opposing de- fenses in the option offense in 2024, and he's doing it again this year. Through six games, he had 980 passing yards, 640 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns. Senior backfield menace Eli Heidenreich is as unstoppable as ever, too, with 266 rushing yards on 7.6 yards per carry and 485 receiving yards on 21.1 yards per catch with 7 total touchdowns through six games. The Navy defense, though, is gettable. The Mid- shipmen allowed more than 400 yards of offense in three of their first six games. The Temple Owls even went over the 500-yard mark. They got 31 points on the board out of that, as did Air Force. Even UAB and Tulsa scored between 20 and 25 points in their games against Navy. Notre Dame will have by far the best offense the Midshipmen have seen this season. Last season, the Irish hung 51 points on Navy. This is an improved and far more balanced attack than the unit responsible for that score. Notre Dame-Navy games can get wacky and wild, but even in a year in which the Midship- men look to have a lot, the Irish always have more. On Deck 2025 NAVY SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET)/Result Aug. 30 VMI W, 52-7 Sept. 6 UAB W, 38-24 Sept. 13 at Tulsa W, 42-23 Sept. 27 Rice W, 21-13 Oct. 4 Air Force W, 34-31 Oct. 11 at Temple W, 32-31 Oct. 25 Florida Atlantic (CBSN) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at North Texas TBA Nov. 8 at Notre Dame (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 South Florida 12 p.m. Nov. 27 at Memphis (ESPN) 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 vs. Army* (CBS) 3 p.m. * at MT&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. X-WR 82 Nathan Kent 6-3 180 Sr. 86 Joshua Guerin 6-1 180 Jr. LT 73 Sean Crowley 6-4 293 So. 65 Connor Heater 6-3 275 So. LG 68 Ben Purvis 6-3 300 Sr. 69 Cam Nichols 6-1 288 Jr. C 69 Cam Nichols 6-1 288 Jr. 63 Toran Smith 6-2 277 So. RG 79 Hoke Smith II 6-3 317 Jr. 69 Cam Nichols 6-1 288 Jr. RT 66 Jaylin Acevedo 6-4 310 So. 65 Connor Heater 6-3 275 So. TE 83 Cody Howard 6-2 231 Sr. 85 Jake Norris 6-3 230 Jr. Snipe Z 22 Eli Heidenreich 6-0 206 Sr. 23 Charles Robinson 6-0 179 So. QB 11 Blake Horvath 6-2 195 Sr. 5 Braxton Woodson 6-3 215 Jr. Snipe A 24 Brandon Chatman 5-9 174 Sr. 26 Michael Barrow 5-7 190 So. RB 46 Alex Tecza 6-0 199 Sr. or 8 Jackson Gutierrez 6-0 207 So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 90 Julien Moutome 6-3 263 So. 91 Chreign LaFond 6-5 262 Sr. NG 96 Landon Robinson 6-0 287 Sr. 94 Xavyer Arrington 6-0 279 So. DT 95 Griffen Willis 6-1 273 Jr. 98 Kendall Whiteside 6-2 280 Sr. OLB 35 Luke Pirris 6-4 217 Sr. 49 Adam Klenk 6-2 215 Sr. OLB 14 Jaxson Campbell 6-0 202 Sr. 0 Kenneth McShan 6-1 207 Sr. LB 39 Job Grant 6-2 223 Jr. 58 Coleman Cauley 6-1 233 Jr. LB 56 MarcAnthony Parker 6-0 218 So. 52 Nolan McCamy 6-2 212 Jr. CB 18 Phillip Hamilton 5-10 175 So. 3 Ira Oniha 6-1 183 Jr. S 1 Seth English 6-3 199 Jr. or 13 Andrew Duhart 5-10 185 Sr. S 16 Giuseppe Sessi 5-11 204 Jr. 2 Maxwell Williams 6-0 205 So. CB 17 Justin Ross 6-2 185 So. 3 Ira Oniha 6-1 183 Jr. NAVY MIDSHIPMEN TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Senior quarterback Blake Horvath accounted for 15 touchdowns in the Midshipmen's first six games of the season. PHOTO COURTESY NAVY ATHLETICS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 17 Nathan Kirkwood 6-2 174 Sr. 95 Justin Welch 6-2 190 Fr. KO 99 Lance Gossett 6-1 200 Jr. 11 Jacob Carlson 5-10 190 So. P 11 Jacob Carlson 5-10 190 So. 99 Lance Gossett 6-1 200 Jr. LS 92 Rayne Fry 6-2 196 Jr. 98 Landon Purcell 5-11 205 Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 11 Jacob Carlson 5-10 190 So. 8 Jackson Gutierrez 6-0 207 So. PR 24 Brandon Chatman 5-9 174 Sr. 22 Eli Heidenreich 6-0 206 Sr. KR 25 Isaiah Bryant 5-9 165 Jr. 20 TK Hodges 5-9 190 Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS

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