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Navy's new millennial Wing-T offense ran up 437 yards of total offense, including 173 yards through the air, as Navy won its season opener for the first time since 2019 with a 49-21 rout of Bucknell in front of 28,763 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
"It is great to get the win," said Navy head coach Brian Newberry. "One of our goals was to win the opener, we hadn't done that since 2019. We got that done today and we are always going to celebrate wins; they are not easy to come by."
"It was great having the opportunity to play at Navy," said Bucknell head coach Dave Cecchini. It was different from playing at the FCS level. Compared to 99-percent of the stadiums and gameday atmospheres at our level, it was a step up. I think our players were very excited to play in this stadium and to play Navy and I don't think for a second it affected our focus or our composure. I'm proud of our guys for how they didn't let a big stage and a national TV broadcast make them nervous or awestruck or things like that. They enjoyed themselves today and they made some great memories. We didn't come away with the win, but they fought hard and competed."
Bucknell stunned the Mids early as Oklahoma transfer quarterback Ralph Rucker IV hit Western Michigan transfer wide receiver Nate Anderson with a 47-yard touchdown pass on its opening drive to give the Bison a 7-0 lead.
"We didn't have any expectations for how the game was going to go, but it couldn't have started worse," said Newberry. "Defensively we had three major busts on the first drive, we had some jitters, and then a three and out on offense."
Senior fullback Daba Fofana got the Mids on the board on its second drive of the game as he took a handoff and ran 49 yards for a touchdown, however sophomore kicker Nathan Kirkwood missed the extra point and the Mids still trailed by 1 at 7-6.
After the first drive of the game, the Navy defense dominated the rest of the half allowing Bucknell to gain just 73 yards on its final seven possessions of the stanza.
Navy took its first lead of the game when Alex Tecza scored on a three-year touchdown run with 14:56 left in the second quarter. The touchdown was set up by junior raider Luke Pirris, who punched the ball out of the hands of Bucknell running back Paul Neel and recovered it at the Bison 23.
Navy made it 20-7 with 5:29 left in the half when junior quarterback Blake Horvath threw a beautiful nine-yard touchdown pass to junior snipe Eli Heidenreich, who reached high in the air to bring the ball down for a touchdown.
Heidenreich set up Navy's final touchdown of the half with a 23-yard punt return down to the Bucknell 42 with 27 seconds left and then on the first play Horvath threw a screw pass to junior snipe Brandon Chatman, who broke multiple tackles to go 42 yards for a touchdown. Horvath hit Heidenreich again for the two-point conversion and the Mids led 28-7 at the half.
"I was really pleased with how we played after the first drives of the game," said Newberry. "One thing we talk about is a 1-0 mindset and playing the next play. Each play has a life of its own and I thought our guys did that the rest of the half with the way they finished."
Heidenreich made the score 35-7 with 11:12 left in the third quarter on a 20-yard catch and run off a pass from sophomore quarterback Braxton Woodson and the Mids would not be threatened the rest of the way.
"He (Heidenreich) is a guy we have to get the ball to," said Newberry. "We have to figure out a way to do it. When the ball gets in his hands, good things happen. 24 (Brandon Chatman) too. Those guys are playmakers."
The Navy offense ran for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns, while throwing for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns. Fofana led the rushing attack with 82 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries.
"What I love about Drew (Cronic) is that he is an excellent play caller," said Newberry. "He sees things well and adjusts. They had a plan defensively differently than what we practiced the last two weeks so we were scrambling there a bit. He is an excellent play caller and has answers."
Horvath completed 7 of his 12 pass attempts for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Heidenreich had 4 catches for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns.
"There was a lot to be pleased with," said Newberry. "Blake Horvath did a nice job throwing the ball. There are some plays he would like to have back and we had two drops on the same drive that would have been first downs. It was good to get Braxton Woodson in there as well. I feel good about both of those guys."
Junior striker Jaxson Campbell, who entered the day with 1 career tackle, and senior linebacker Colin Ramos led the Mids with 10 tackles on defense, while Pirris had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
Navy will look to go 2-0 next Saturday when the Mids host Temple (0-1) at 3:30 PM at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Temple cost the Mids a bowl bid last year with a 32-18 whipping in Philadelphia.
"In the third quarter I thought there was a point where we were playing like the game was over," said Newberry. "I was a little disappointed in that. We put a lot of good things on film and a lot of things that need to get cleaned up. I thought we were sloppy at times. We didn't play to our standard on defense. We did a lot of good things out there, a lot to build off of, I really love this football team, but we have a ways to go."
