Navy football is unbeaten no more.
The Midshipmen, looking to start a season 8-0 for the first time in 99 years, failed to get the one thing missing from their current resume, a signature win, as Caleb Hawkins rushed for 197 yards and four touchdowns to lead North Texas to a 31-17 victory over Navy in Denton on Saturday.
The Mids (7-1, 5-1) are now one of five one-loss teams in the American Conference and their search for a statement win will face a much more significant hurdle next Saturday night against No. 12 Notre Dame.
As for this game, Navy had no problem moving the ball into North Texas territory, but unlike their opponent, the Mids couldn’t finish drives.
It also didn’t help that Navy’s defense, which kept the Mean Green’s prolific passing attack mostly in check, couldn’t stop Hawkins even when they had multiple opportunities to tackle him. North Texas finished with 424 total yards, including 190 on the ground.
It didn’t take long for North Texas (8-1, 4-1) to find the end zone — two minutes and 59 seconds to be exact. The Mean Green marched right down the field on their opening drive and on their eighth play, Hawkins went pretty much untouched for a 13-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.
Navy’s first possession got off to a good start as the Mids were able to convert two first downs, but a holding penalty on Hoke Smith II and a negative play on a well-read screen pass from Blake Horvath to Alex Tecza led to a 53-yard punt by Jacob Carlson two plays later.
North Texas’ second possession looked a lot like their first one as Hawkins’ met little resistance as he walked into the end zone to cap a 10-play, 86-yard drive in just over three minutes to give the Mean Green a 14-point advantage.
The Mids faced a similar deficit on the road earlier in the season against Tulsa as they fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, but this time Navy couldn’t come all the way back.
Navy’s second drive got off to another promising start as Horvath, who finished with 112 rushing yards on 19 carries, broke two tackles on a 37-yard run on first down, and converted a third-and-9 on a 12-yard pass to Eli Heidenreich for a first down at the North Texas 28-yard line. However, two plays later, a bad exchange between Horvath and Brandon Chatman led to a fumble that was recovered by North Texas.
North Texas’ third drive featured increased pressure by Navy’s defense, including the first career sack by junior linebacker Marcus Bleazard and good coverage by the Mids’ secondary that led to a Mean Green punt.
Navy’s ensuing drive put the Mids in North Texas territory for the third consecutive time, as Horvath carried the ball six out of the 12 plays to help advance the ball into the red zone. However, they were unable to convert a third-and-6 and had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Nathan Kirkwood, which cut the lead to 14-3.
After the field goal, Newberry opted to attempt an onside kick, but a heads-up play by North Texas’ Baron Tipton, who called for a fair catch on Kirkwood’s boot, led to a penalty as Giuseppe Sessi crashed into him.
With the 10-yard penalty, the Mean Green got the ball at the 31-yard line and five plays later, it was Hawkins again finding the end zone, this time exposing some poor tackling by the Midshipmen to give North Texas a 21-3 advantage.
Navy found the end zone for the first time on its next drive as a good block by Tecza on third-and-6 helped launch Chatman 31 yards for his second rushing touchdown on the season.
Needing a stop before halftime, Navy’s defense bent but didn’t break. After back-to-back elusive runs by Hawkins, Drew Mestemaker’s 33-yard pass to Cameron Dorner gave North Texas a first down at the Mids’ 18-yard line. However, Mestemaker’s pass on third down from the 3-yard line fell short and the Mean Green settled for a 21-yard field goal.
Navy’s first possession in the second half featured three consecutive rushes by Heidenreich, doubling his running attempts at that point in the game, which put Navy into the red zone. And on fourth down, Horvath kept the ball on an option read for a 13-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game, 24-17.
On North Texas’ first drive of the second half, Mestemaker (19 of 24 for 234 yards) found a wide-open Dorner for a 39-yard completion all the way to the Navy 35. However, the defense held, aided by a sack by Griffen Lewis, which gave the Mids the ball back.
But once again, Navy’s offense was its own worst enemy. Two plays after a false start by Chatman, Horvath (8 of 14 for 80 yards) tried to force a pass to Jake Norris on third-and-long and North Texas linebacker Quinton Hammonds made a one-handed interception at midfield.
North Texas capitalized on the Navy miscue and once again it was Hawkins finishing off a drive with a touchdown to put the Mean Green ahead by two scores, 31-17.
Navy had two more chances to make it a one-score game, but its next two drives, sandwiched by a defensive stop in the fourth quarter, ended in a familiar place on this day — the red zone.
Horvath failed to convert a fourth-and-2 at the North Texas 9 on the first drive and threw an interception in the end zone on the next.
This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon.
