Tulane was every bit as good as advertised on both sides of the ball and Navy was nowhere near its best, especially on offense.

That combination spelled disaster for the Midshipmen on senior day in Annapolis as the Green Wave rolled to an impressive victory.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah and redshirt sophomore tailback Makhi Hughes led an offense that hogged the ball, while the defense dominated from start to finish as No. 25 Tulane shut out Navy, 35-0.

A record crowd of 38,914 crammed into Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for what was one of the Midshipmen’s most important games in years, but the stands were nearly empty early in the fourth quarter. It’s the first time Navy has been shut out since a 15-0 loss to Army in 2020 and the first time at home since a 12-0 defeat to San Jose State in 2012.

“We got our butts kicked. Sometimes that happens when you play good teams. I thought they outplayed and out-physicaled us,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said. “We knew we’d have to be at our very best to have a chance and we weren’t. In fact, we were the opposite. I thought this was the worst we’ve played all season offensively. We put our defense in some bad situations.”

Hughes rushed for 82 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries as Tulane effectively controlled the clock. Mensah was very efficient throwing the ball, completing 10 of 14 passes for 138 yards. Wide receivers Dontae Fleming and Mario Williams combined for 102 receiving yards as the Green Wave hit several long passes downfield.

Linebacker Tyler Grubbs and safety Jack Tchienchou recorded five tackles apiece to spearhead a Tulane defense that imposed its will from the outset, limiting Navy to 113 total yards.

Tulane (9-2, 7-0) clinched a berth in the American Athletic Conference championship game against No. 24 Army (9-0, 7-0) on Dec. 6.

Navy lost starting quarterback Blake Horvath to a rib injury late in the first quarter and that was not good news for an offense that was already struggling. Horvath returned to the game late in the second quarter and immediately got hit hard and Newberry decided not to risk further injury.

Newberry said Horvath has been dealing with a rib injury and has back spams as a result. He aggravated the injury Saturday.

“We tried to do everything we could to get him comfortable and get him back out there,” Newberry said. “I just didn’t feel good about putting him back out there. I didn’t feel like he could go.”

Backup Braxton Woodson took over the rest of the way and was unable to spark an offense that could not run or throw the ball effectively. Navy only picked up eight first downs and finished with season-lows for points, total yards, rushing yards (100) and passing yards (13).

Woodson only completed 3 of 10 passes for 13 yards and was limited to 24 rushing yards on 13 carries. The sophomore got stripped off the ball while running toward the perimeter on an option play midway through the fourth quarter and that set up Tulane’s last touchdown.

That fumble happened on the first play of a possession with defensive end Deshaun Batiste recovering the ball at the Navy 21-yard line.

“Not that we were killing it when Blake was out there, but it certainly hurts to lose him,” Newberry said. “It’s the next-man-up mentality around here. Braxton is a talented young man with a lot of ability, but he’s got to be able to take charge of the offense. I expect more out of Braxton.”

Fullback Alex Tecza led the Midshipmen with a mere 31 rushing yards, while Horvath had 25 before getting hurt. Snipe Eli Heidenreich, perhaps Navy’s most dangerous weapon, only touched the ball two times in the entire game.

“We were inept offensively all-around today and Tulane had a lot to do with it. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively today, couldn’t sustain drives. We shot ourselves in the foot a bunch, a lot of self-inflicted wounds as far as penalties and turnovers,” Newberry said.

“We can’t get in second- and third-and-long. We can’t get behind the sticks. That was the case for the majority of the day it felt like. If it wasn’t a tackle for loss or 1- or 2-yard gain, we jump offside. We’re not good enough to overcome those things.”

Punter Riley Riethman was the only Navy player to post notable statistics, averaging 44.7 yards on six boots.

Inside linebacker Kyle Jacob recorded 10 tackles to lead the defense, which spent way too much time on the field and eventually wore down. Tulane finished with nearly 36 minutes worth of possession time, giving Navy a taste of its own medicine. The Green Wave had three touchdown drives that took a combined 19:19 off the clock.

Overall, it was not the type of performance Navy needed in order to send its 23 seniors out the right way.

“That’s a really good football team we played, but we certainly didn’t help ourselves. Just not good enough all around,” Newberry said. “We have to find a way to bounce back during the bye week and finish the season the right way.”

Tulane took a 14-0 lead into halftime largely because of a dominant defensive effort. Navy was limited to just 90 total yards of offense and picked up just six first downs. The Midshipmen had three punts and two turnovers on downs on five possessions.

Horvath got hurt on the team’s third possession after gaining 9 yards on a keeper. It was reported as a rib injury and that Horvath would likely return, but he wound up sitting out for two possessions.

After going into the medical tent, Horvath was seen riding an exercise bike for a while then finally started throwing.

Navy’s defense was just as stingy early on, forcing Tulane into three-and-outs on two straight possessions to start the game. The Green Wave finally got rolling on their third possession thanks to a 44-yard pass from Mensah to Fleming.

Fleming was wide-open on a deep crossing route and Mensah hit him stride to put Tulane in the red zone. Three plays later, Mensah scrambled on a pass play and scored from 14 yards out to give the Green Wave a 7-0 lead with 1:07 remaining in the first quarter.

It appeared Navy might answer as Woodson directed a 12-play drive that reached the Tulane 35-yard line. Tecza had an 11-yard run to jump-start the possession then converted a fourth-and-one situation.

Navy faced fourth-and-3 on the next series and appeared to convert again as Woodson threw a pass into the arms of snipe Brandon Chatman. However, Chatman failed to control the ball going to the ground and it was ruled an incompletion on replay review.

Tulane took over and proceeded to march 65 yards in 11 plays for another touchdown. Mensah got the possession off to a good start with a 21-yard pass to wide receiver Mario Williams.

Hughes capped the impressive possession with a 14-yard scoring scamper that saw him make a great cut to the outside then race along the sideline into the end zone. The Green Wave took more than six minutes off the clock with the methodical drive, which featured eight running plays.

Horvath returned to the game to start Navy’s next offensive possession and was immediately drilled by bandit linebacker Matthew Fobbs-White for a sack and 9-yard loss. Fobbs-White had come unblocked off the edge on a blitz and hammered Horvath just as he turned around to look downfield.

Tulane got the ball to start the second half and promptly tacked on another touchdown. Actually, it wasn’t so prompt as the Green Wave took almost nine minutes off the clock on a plodding 13-play, 65-yard campaign.

Navy got a steady dose of Hughes, who ran the ball eight times for 28 yards on the drive. The talented tailback scored from 1-yard out thanks to a great second effort, keeping the legs moving then diving into the end zone after being hit behind the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Griffen Willis.

Patrick Durkin booted his third extra point of the game and the Green Wave led 21-0 almost midway through the third period.

“I thought the dagger for us defensively was getting them into third-and-long and not being able to get off the field,” Newberry said. “They were able to have some success running the football and we got worn down defensively in the second half.”

As Navy took the field for its opening possession of the second half it was announced that Horvath would not return for the rest of the game. The Midshipmen picked up one first down, but Woodson was dropped for a 4-yard loss on second down of the next series and had an attempted middle screen pass blocked on third down and Navy had to punt for the fourth time.

“I’m disappointed for our fans. We had a great crowd out there today and didn’t give them much to cheer for,” Newberry said.

This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.