The postseason has been good for Navy head coach Brian Newberry.

First, the former defensive coordinator captured the coveted Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with his team’s 31-13 win over Army in Week 16.

Now the second-year head coach can add Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl champion to his ever-growing resume as Navy defeated Oklahoma 21-20 in a thrilling comeback win in front of a sellout crowd on Friday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Mids started the game slowly, losing 14-0 in the first quarter. Then the “This isn’t going well” reports started pouring in. But when it comes to Navy football, you just have to believe. And fans watched as the Midshipmen slowly rallied, scored 21 unanswered points and took the lead with 4:34 to play. Oklahoma tried to make things interesting and managed to score a 10-yard touchdown from freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins to senior tight end Jake Roberts with six seconds left, but Hawkins was sacked on the 2-point conversion attempt, thanks to the Senior defensive ends Justin Reed.

“Being down 14-0 and fighting back, fighting and fighting, that’s what they’ve done all year – I just couldn’t be more proud of our players, especially our seniors who have been through a lot, they’re fighters” and I am proud that these are the young men who will lead our country and serve as warfighters,” said Coach Newberry.

The Navy’s refusal to give up, despite being two dozen behind, made midshipmen everywhere proud, because if you can’t run, you must walk, and if you can’t run, then crawl. Luckily, Navy quarterback Blake Horavth felt free and clear – the junior from Ohio finished the game with 155 rushing yards on 18 carries, including a 95-yard touchdown run that tied the game and tied the record for longest play -from-scrimmage broke in Navy history.

He had a little inspiration when it came to the record run.

“I was an Ohio State fan,” Horavth said after the game. “When Ezekial Elliot went 85 yards to the heart of the south, I thought 95 yards to the heart of the south sounded pretty good too.”

Horvath also went 7-12 through the air for 92 yards while targeting five receivers. Junior defensive lineman Alex Tecza finished the game with 15 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown, while junior running back Eli Heidenreich added four runs for 23 yards and two catches for 22 yards. Senior linebacker Colin Ramos led the defense with 12 total tackles, while Reed (1), Kyle Jacob (1) and Griffen Willis (2) contributed four sacks.

Oklahoma outscored Navy 433-318 on offense and converted on third down 11-19, compared to 4-13 for the Mids. The time of possession was almost evenly distributed. And the Sooners had 27 first downs while the Mids recorded just 11. But there’s something to be said for working smarter, not harder, and unfortunately for Oklahoma, a team like Navy does both. Like the 12-play drive with 7:32 points and 4:32 minutes left in the game.

“This is just Navy football,” Reed exclaimed.

And when Reed came in for Hawkins on that 2-point attempt, like the whistle of a long black train, it was clear that there was no more love in Oklahoma.

Navy finished the season 10-3, becoming just the sixth team in school history to win at least 10 games in a season (1905, 2004, 2009, 2015 and 2019). The Mids are now 2-0 against Oklahoma.

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