PHILADELPHIA — Coach Brian Newberry said this past week that Navy football “expects to win, believes it can win and finds a way to win.”
The Midshipmen showed on Saturday just how true those words are.
Blake Horvath scored on a 51-yard run on the Mids’ final possession with less than a minute to play, then tossed a 2-point conversion pass to fullback Alex Tecza as Navy pulled out an improbable 32-31 victory over Temple at Lincoln Financial Field.
Navy (6-0, 4-0 American) faced fourth-and-1 from its own 49-yard line, its unbeaten season and College Football Playoff changes dangling by a thread, when Horvath kept on a run-pass option play and found a huge hole up the middle. Horvath quickly accelerated past the second level and outraced several chasing defenders into the end zone to pull the Midshipmen within one, 31-30, with 39 seconds left in the game.
On the road on a day his defense got shredded, Newbery elected to go for two and the win rather than kick a tying extra point and head to overtime. Horvath delivered once again, rolling right and finding Tecza in the end zone to put the Mids ahead, 32-31.
It was Navy’s first lead since going up 7-0 in the first quarter. Navy trailed 17-7 at halftime and 24-14 in the third quarter.
Temple had 39 seconds to go 75 yards and actually did work its way into field goal range, but with no timeouts left, the Owls couldn’t set up a field goal attempt and had to settle for Evan Simon’s desperate deep pass that was broken up by safety Giuseppe Sessi, as the Navy sideline erupted in joyous celebration as players stormed the field.
Horvath rushed 19 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw for 141 yards and a score.
Navy rallied to tie the score at 24 with just over six minutes to play, but Temple marched for a go-ahead score.
The Owls moved inside Navy’s 30 as the clock ticked under two minutes to play, forcing Newberry to begin to use his timeouts. Instead of milking the clock and kicking a potential winning field goal at the final whistle, Simon completed a 22-yard pass to Kajiya Hollawayne to the Navy 1. Jay Ducker ran it in on the next play and Temple went up 31-24.
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