Sports
Navy, Army aim to build on last year’s successful seasons; Air Force aims for an upswing
From staff and wire reports
August 28, 2025
Blake Horvath of Navy, Dewayne Coleman of Army and Josh Johnson of Air Force. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes; Army West Point Football; Air Force Football)
The Navy Midshipmen closed out the 2025 season on a big high: A blowout victory against Army in the historic rivalry game, a narrow bowl win against SEC power Oklahoma and possession of the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, conferring bragging rights in the annual service academies showdown.
Now, the task is topping that.
“We want to be a highly competitive team, we want to be significant, we want to be relevant in the landscape of college football on a consistent basis,” head coach Brian Newberry said. “I think we’re getting to that point.”
Army, too, had a season that could be considered a breakthrough — 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference, 12 wins (12-2) for the first time in school history — except for that nagging 31-13 loss to the Midshipmen in the Army-Navy game.
“They’re very proud to have won the American championship a year ago ... this is a new team, it’s a new group of seniors,” head coach Jeff Monken said. “We’re very aware that we’re not the 2024 team.”
Last year, Air Force (5-7) was headed for a season to forget — seven consecutive losses, including blowouts to Navy and Army — before closing strong with consecutive wins against Fresno State, Oregon State, Nevada and San Diego State.
Last year was about growing pains.
“We developed some depth up front on both sides of the ball, with our front six on defense and with our offensive line,” head coach Troy Calhoun said. “Even in early October, you could see our linemen were getting better and they were going to be good college football players. They just needed more snaps, more time.”
The Midshipmen return standout quarterback Blake Horvath, whose 95-yard touchdown run was part of a second-half comeback against the Sooners. He became the third quarterback in team history to rush and pass for more than 1,200 yards in the same season. He’s been named to the watch list for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year award this year, and he’s made Navy more of a passing threat than usual.
He hopes for more of the same.
“Just be me. Don’t got to stress too much, do too much,” Horvath said. “Just be myself, and it’s good enough.”
Under offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, the Midshipmen last year averaged 31.3 points a game and had the No. 1 red zone touchdown percentage in the country at 81.0%.
Now the Midshipmen have the added advantage of familiarity.
“Second year in the offensive system,” Newberry said. “Blake’s played for three different offensive coordinators, so it’s nice to have some continuity there.”
Navy opens Saturday at home against VMI.
Monken likes the fact that he has experience in his favor to begin the season.
“A lot of veteran players, which is great,” he said. “I like seeing juniors and seniors up there at the top of the depth chart. There’s a lot of them.”
However, Army won’t have the experience of Bryson Daily at quarterback, who was the starter the previous two years.
Senior Dewayne Coleman and juniors Cael Hellums and Zach Mundell are slated as the top three QBs. Coleman has appeared in 10 career games, including seven last season. He started once last year, in place of Daily at Air Force, and led a 20-3 victory.
“We knew there would be a battle,” Monken said. “Coming out of spring, (Coleman) was at the top of the depth chart. He still is. He’s really done a great job earning that position.”
Army opens Friday at home against Tarleton State.
“It’s going to be a real challenge for us,” Monken said.
Junior Josh Johnson and sophomore Liam Szarka enter the opener as the co-starters at QB. Johnson played sparingly in six games last season, and Szarka has yet to see the field. The two split first-team reps throughout training camp, and Calhoun said both will get opportunities to take hold of the full-time job.
“We’ve had a bunch of good seasons where we’ve had two (QBs) who have been really impactful,” Calhoun told The Denver Post. “Can we realistically, in 12 games, play two different guys at least 30 snaps (each)? I don’t think that’s ideal, but we’ll just see. We don’t have an exact map for the path in the road yet. We just have to see what direction the buggy heads.”
The secondary will be a work in progress.
The only player on that unit who is experienced is senior cornerback Levi Brown. How quickly the secondary gets up to speed will be a critical factor in making the postseason for the Falcons, who won 29 games and three bowls from 2021-23.
“We are pushing like crazy to get to a bowl game this year, because I think it would be a heck of an accomplishment,” Calhoun said.
Air Force opens Saturday at home against Bucknell.
The trophy has switched hands each year for the past three: Air Force won it (for the 21st time) in 2022, Army (10) in 2023 and Navy (17) in 2024. This year’s schedule:
Oct. 4: Air Force at Navy.
Nov. 1: Army at Air Force.
Dec. 13: Army vs. Navy at Baltimore.
Air Force has announced a special uniform honoring the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter. (Air Force Academy Ath)
Air Force already has announced a special uniform, honoring the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter, for its clash against Navy.
The helmet replicates a fighter pilot’s helmet with the front bumper featuring a silhouette of the F-16, according to an Air Force Football news release. “The front of the helmet replicates the visor cover with the F-16 Fighting Falcon patch and the word “Psycho,” which is the call sign of Col. William Andrews, an F-16 hero shot down in Operation Desert Storm. The back bumper features the word “Viper,” a common nickname for the aircraft.
Army and Navy will introduce their special uniforms in the weeks before their annual rivalry game.
Army will begin selling alcoholic beverages at football games at Michie Stadium beginning with its game Friday against Tarleton State, athletic director Tom Theodorakis announced. Army was the last service academy to not sell alcohol at football games. Air Force began sales in 2017 and Navy in 2021.
Fans will be able to purchase beer and ready-to-drink cocktails with a limit of two drinks per transaction. A portion of the revenue from alcohol sales will help support Army’s other 29 sports.
Contributing: The Associated Press; Tribune News Service