Notre Dame

Next Game:

at Notre Dame

11/8/2025 | 7:30 p.m.


NBC


Navy Radio Network


Nov. 08 (Sat) / 7:30 p.m.


at Notre Dame

DENTON, Texas—Caleb Hawkins rushed for 197 yards and four touchdowns to lead North Texas (8-1, 4-1 in the American) to a 31-17 victory over Navy (7-1, 5-1) in front of 26,516 fans at DACU Stadium in Denton.  The loss was the first for Navy since losing to Tulane 35-0 on Nov. 16, 2024.  Navy’s 10-game winning streak tied for the longest in school history.
 
With the Navy loss, the American has six teams with one conference loss on the year (Navy, Memphis, North Texas, USF, Tulane and the winner of the East Carolina-Temple game).  Navy has two conference games remaining, while the rest have three or four games left.  The Mids own the tiebreaker over Temple and would lose a tiebreaker with North Texas. Navy still plays USF and Memphis and does not play Tulane or East Carolina.
 
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, while completing eight of his 14 pass attempts for 80 yards and two interceptions.  Snipe Brandon Chatman finished with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown on six carries.  Senior snipe Eli Heidenreich caught six passes for 68 yards.
 
North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker completed 19 of his 24 passes for 234 yards. 
 
Navy turned the ball over three times (two interceptions and a fumble), while North Texas did not turn the ball over. The Mids committed eight penalties to just four by North Texas.
 
North Texas jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game as Hawkins capped off an eight-play, 76-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown run.  Hawkins carried the ball five times for 35 yards on the drive, while Mestemaker completed all three of his pass attempts for 41 yards.
 
On Navy’s first drive, the Mids picked up two quick first downs, but a late holding call on freshman offensive tackle Malcolm Johnson wiped out a first down and the Mids were forced to punt after a couple of pass plays went nowhere.
 
The Mean Green would take advantage of the mistake, moving 86 yards on 10 plays with Hawkins again scoring the rushing touchdown, this time from three yards out to make it 14-0 North Texas with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
 
Hawkins had 80 yards rushing on nine carries and two touchdowns on the first two drives of the game.
 
The Mids were moving the ball again, helped by a big third-down pass from Horvath to Heidenreich for 12 yards on third-and-nine, but two plays later, Horvath fumbled the handoff to Chatman and Kollin Lewis of North Texas recovered the fumble at the UNT 25.
 
The defense, however, would rise to the occasion and force a punt thanks to a Marcus Bleazard sack on second down. It was Bleazard’s first sack of his career.
 
The Navy offense would take over at its own 37 and moved the ball to the North Texas 14, but Horvath was dropped for a loss of two yards on first down, ran for six yards on second down and on third-and-six from the UNT 10, Heidenreich would gain just one yard.  Nathan Kirkwood would come on to kick a 26-yard field goal to make the score 14-3 with 7:14 left in the second quarter.
 
The Mids would then try an onside kick to steal a possession and Giuseppe Sessi would recover it, but he was called for kick-catch interference, giving the ball to the Mean Green at the Navy 31.  Five plays later Hawkins scored from the 14 and Navy was down 21-3 with 5:46 left in the second quarter. 
 
Navy would bounce back with a touchdown they had to have as Chatman took an inside handoff and ran 31 yards to the house on third down and six to make the score 21-10 North Texas with 1:59 left in the first half.
 
Unfortunately for the Mids, 1:59 was 10 seconds too much as the Mean Green would drive inside the five before Navy forced a 21-yard field goal from Kalil Nguma with 10 seconds left in the quarter to make the score 24-10 at the half.
 
Navy would make it a one-score game at 24-17 on the opening drive of the second half with Horvath keeping it on fourth-and-three for a 13-yard touchdown run.  The Mids overcame a false start and a delay of game penalty on the drive. The touchdown run by Horvath marked the seventh-straight game that he has scored a rushing touchdown.
 
The Navy defense would force a punt on the ensuing drive thanks to a sack by Griffen Willis on second down and a great play by Coleman Cauley to drop Hawkins for a two-yard loss on a screen pass on third down.
 
North Texas would get the ball right back as Horvath had to force a throw while under duress on third down and 14 and it was picked off by Quinton Hammonds at the 50.
 
The Mean Green once again converted on the Navy turnover as Hawkins scored his fourth touchdown of the day, this time from six yards out to make the score 31-17 North Texas with 46 seconds left in the third quarter. 
 
The Mids had a chance to get off the field on a fourth-and-one play, but Mestemaker hit Miles Coleman on a two-yard out-route to pick up the first down at the Navy 25. 
 
Four plays later Hawkins was in the end zone and the Mids were once again down two scores at 31-17 with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
 
Navy would drive the ball down inside the North Texas 10 on its next possession, but on fourth down and two from the UNT 9, Horvath was tackled a yard short of the first down, giving the ball back to the Mean Green at the Navy eight with 10:22 left.
 
Navy had one more chance to make it a one-score game, but Horvath was picked off for a second time by Hammonds in the end zone to end the Navy threat and the Mids winning streak.
 
Coleman Cauley and Giuseppe Sessi led the Navy defense with 10 tackles, while MarcAnthony Parker and Phillip Hamilton had nine stops each. 
 
Ethan Welowski had 14 tackles for North Texas.
 
Navy returns to action next Saturday as the Mids travel to South Bend to take on No. 12 Notre Dame (5-2 entering today’s game against Boston College) at 7:30 PM on NBC and the Navy Radio Network.
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