When Navy (10-2) meets Cincinnati (7-5) during Friday’s Liberty Bowl in Memphis, the Midshipmen will have several players from Ohio on their roster.
In fact, there are 15 from Ohio, led by quarterback Blake Horvath and nose guard Landon Robinson, who are co-captains.
Both will be concluding outstanding Navy careers in the Liberty Bowl.
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Blake Horvath Profile
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Horvath, who’s from Hilliard, Ohio, was an All-American Conference third-team selection this season.
There are so many eye-popping statistics from Horvath, who was a two-year full-time starter. The best may be that Navy is 20-4 when Horvath starts at quarterback.
This season, he has appeared in 11 games, missing the 49-10 loss to Notre Dame due to injury.
At the beginning of the week, he stood 10th nationally in rushing yards per game (104.3), ranking first among quarterbacks.
This year, he has rushed for 1,147 yards and 15 touchdowns. Horvath has also completed 88 of 145 passes for 1,472 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions. His best game came in a wild 34-31 victory over Air Force when Horvath completed 20 of 26 throws for 339 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions while rushing for 130 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
With 469 total yards that game, Horvath set a school record, breaking the previous mark of 428 set by Will Worth in a loss at South Florida in 2016.
In 2025, Horvath has rushed for at least 100 yards in seven games, including 107 in Navy’s most recent game, a 17-16 victory over Army. He is the first quarterback in Navy history to have 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in back-to-back seasons.
His career .588 completion percentage is second only to former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Fame QB Roger Staubach on the Navy career list.
In addition, Horvath will be attempting to reach an impressive milestone. He is 91 yards shy of 3,000 career passing yards. His 25 career passing touchdowns are fourth all-time at Navy.
This is the second straight year that Horvath and Navy are facing a Power Four team in a bowl game. Last year, Horvath was named MVP of the Armed Forces Bowl for engineering a 21-20 win over Oklahoma.
In that game, Horvath set a Navy record with a 95-yard touchdown run. He also scored the go-ahead TD on a 6-yard run, giving Navy a 21-14 lead with 4:34 left.
For the game, Horvath completed 7 of 12 passes for 92 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He rushed for 155 yards and two scores on 18 carries.
Landon Robinson Profile
The 6-foot, 287-pound Robinson, who’s from Fairlawn, Ohio, was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today. Robinson was named a second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation and the Sporting News. He was also a HERO Sports G5 All-American.
He was named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year and has been a two-time first-team All-American Conference selection.
Robinson has earned an invitation to participate in the East-West Shrine All-Star Game, which will be played on Jan. 27 at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
This season, he has recorded 58 tackles and leads Navy in tackles for loss (8.5), sacks (6.5), and hurries (seven). Like Horvath, Robinson is a two-year full-time starter.
According to Navy, Robinson is the strongest player on the team, capable of squatting 665 pounds and benching 465 pounds. He has a 33-inch vertical and has been clocked at 20.13 mph.
One of his most memorable performances came during his junior season when Robinson recorded a career-high 13 tackles in a 31-13 win over Army.
This year, he had a season-high 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry in a 38-24 win over UAB.
This will be his 38th career game at Navy, and Robinson has recorded 147 tackles, including 18.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks.
Cincinnati Bearcats’ QB Situation
Cincinnati will have a new starting quarterback after Brendan Sorsby entered the transfer portal. Sorsby threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns (against five interceptions) this season.
Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield said redshirt senior Brady Lichtenberg and redshirt freshman Samaj Jones will both see action at quarterback against Navy.
Lichtenberg and Jones have combined to attempt just six passes this season for the Bearcats.
