Navy football fans got a glimpse of the potential of the Wing-T offense during Saturday’s season opener against Bucknell.

Quarterback Blake Horvath and fullback Daba Fofana led the way as the Midshipmen flashed an ability to break big plays and unveiled some innovative passing concepts.

Horvath completed 7 of 12 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with cramps, while Fofana rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries as Navy blew out Bucknell, 49-21.

Snipe Eli Heidenreich was the primary weapon in the passing game with four catches for a career-high 74 yards and two touchdowns. Heidenreich used his speed and elusiveness to pile up a bunch of yards after the catch.

Backup quarterback Braxton Woodson replaced Horvath and accounted for two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing, as the Midshipmen amassed 437 total yards. It marked the most yards for Navy since it piled up 510 against SMU in 2022.

“You saw the balance we’re seeking offensively. We did some good things running the football and Blake did some nice things throwing the ball as well,” Navy second-year coach Brian Newberry said. “To score 49 points and have that type of production in the first game … I’m really pleased. With that being said, there’s a lot of room for growth and improvement.”

Horvath and Woodson combined to complete 10 of 19 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. It marked the first time since November 2017 against Temple that the Mids had three passing touchdowns in a game.

Snipe Brandon Chatman contributed 47 rushing yards and scored on a spectacular 42-yard run off a screen pass for Navy, which won its season opener for the first time since 2019.

An announced crowd of 28,763 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium saw some of the diversity of the “hybrid” Wing-T attack installed by first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic. There were power concepts and triple-option elements in the running game, screens and throws down the seam in the passing game.

Sophomore tight end Jake Norris had two receptions for 25 yards, including an 18-yarder off a nice drag route to convert on third down. It marked the first time the Navy tight end has been targeted, much less caught a pass.

“It was a good variety of things today. Coming into the game we didn’t want to overwhelm [the players] with too large of a call sheet, but I thought it was a healthy menu,” Newberry said. “There’s still a lot out there and we’re going to have wrinkles every week. It’s an offense that keeps you off-balance and you guys saw that today. It’s a good variety of things.”

Newberry noted the offense could have done more had there not been four costly penalties and numerous dropped passes. A chop block penalty nullified a first down and brought an abrupt end to one promising drive into enemy territory. Wide receiver Nathan Kent had a perfectly thrown pass deflect off his hands into the arms of Bucknell linebacker Nick Hoying for an interception instead of a first down.

“We left some things out there and shot ourselves in the foot with some penalties and missed blocks here and there, but overall — 400 yards and 49 points — you can’t ask for much more,” Horvath said.

Outside linebacker Jaxson Campbell and inside linebacker Colin Ramos, a junior making his first career start, spearheaded a Navy defense that totally shut down Bucknell following a surprising touchdown drive to start the game.

Campbell, a junior making his first career start, recorded 10 tackles, including five solo and 1 1/2 for loss, and also had a pass breakup. Ramos, the senior defensive captain and returning first team All-American Athletic Conference selection, also notched 10 tackles and added a quarterback hurry.

Outside linebacker Luke Pirris also had a big game with eight tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Bucknell only managed 14 points and 262 yards against Navy’s front-line defense. The Bison used a 75-yard drive to score a meaningless touchdown in the final minute after the Midshipmen had cleared the bench.

However, Newberry was not happy with the defensive performance on the whole, especially three offsides penalties that extended Bucknell drives.

“I think we were a little sloppy at times and didn’t play to our standard. People have been telling us how good we’re going to be on defense and you can’t choke on that sugar,” Newberry said. “Jumping offsides three times on defense was disappointing. We can’t have those pre-snap penalties. Those are the type of things that, when we get into close games, are going to kill us.”

Bucknell, which was a 32-point underdog, stunned the Navy defense and silenced the partisan crowd by scoring a touchdown on the game’s opening possession. Cornerback Ira Oniha, a sophomore making his first career start, appeared to bite on a double move and that enabled wide receiver Nate Anderson to get wide-open down the field for a 47-yard touchdown catch.

Quarterback Ralph Rucker IV sold the double move with a nice pump fake as the Bison went 65 yards in just four plays and 1:23 to take an early 7-0 lead.

“We couldn’t have started off worse. I think it was just jitters and communication issues,” he said. “I love the way the defense responded. It’s a veteran group that has a lot of trust in each other and a lot of confidence. I love that they didn’t flinch or hang their heads.”

After going three-and-out on the first possession of the Wing-T era, the Midshipmen showed how the offense could produce explosive plays the second time they got the ball. Fofana found a huge hole on the left side and burst past the second level into the clear, outracing several chasing defenders to the end zone for a 49-yard scoring scamper.

Kicker Nathan Kirkwood missed wide right on the extra point attempt and the Mids still trailed, 7-6.

Navy’s defense buckled down for the remainder of the first half, limiting Bucknell to 97 yards on seven subsequent possessions. The Bison punted five times, turned the ball over on downs once and committed a turnover.

Campbell made a huge play on fourth-and-2 at the Navy 19-yard line by dropping running back Danny Meuser for no gain. Pirris also made a critical play by both forcing and recovering a fumble on Bucknell’s next possession.

Five plays later, Tecza plowed across the goal line from 3 yards out to give Navy the lead for good, 13-7, at the 14:56 mark of the second quarter.

Cronic got into a nice rhythm as a play-caller on Navy’s sixth possession with Horvath directing a nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive that increased the lead to 20-7. Chatman gained 14 yards on a jet sweep, while Horvath picked up 12 and 13 yards on consecutive designed quarterback carries to set up first-and-goal from the 9. Horvath then made a perfect throw to Heidenreich in the end zone for a 9-yard scoring strike.