I believed Navy could beat Army. I certainly did not think the Midshipmen could dominate the Black Knights the way they did Saturday afternoon at Northwest Stadium in Landover.

Quarterback Blake Horvath and nose guard Landon Robinson were the heroes as Navy outplayed Army in all three phases in posting a convincing 31-13 victory. Horvath accounted for 311 yards of offense and four touchdowns, while Robinson recorded a career-high 13 tackles and helped seal the win by running 29 yards off a fake punt.

We published staff predictions for the big game Friday afternoon, and I picked Navy to win, 24-21.

I was accurate in my reasoning but drastically underestimated how well the Midshipmen would outperform the Black Knights on both sides of the ball.

Before we go any further, let me state that I was among many viewers who were wowed watching Army dismantle Tulane, 35-14, in the American Athletic Conference championship game.

That would be the same Tulane team that routed Navy, 35-0, just a couple of weeks before. The Midshipmen could not run the ball against a Green Wave defensive front that controlled the line of scrimmage.

So it was somewhat stunning to see Army’s offensive line maul Tulane in paving the way for quarterback Bryson Daily, fullback Kanye Udoh and company to run for 335 yards. That unit, which earned the Joe Moore Award as the nation’s best, was resetting the line of scrimmage by 7 and 8 yards toward the end of the game.

That powerful performance in the AAC championship was the primary reason Army was favored to beat Navy by almost a touchdown despite only having a week to get ready for the biggest game of the season. In addition to having two weeks of preparation, the Midshipmen had another advantage with the service academy showdown being held in their home state.

Horvath and the offense set the tone early with a 12-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that took more than six minutes off the clock. Considering how hard it has been for Navy to score against Army since 2020, that opening possession was a strong statement that this time would be different and no doubt instilled confidence in the Mids.

Meanwhile, the Navy defense made its statement by forcing a punt and recording an interception on two Army possessions to start the game. The Midshipmen took a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, putting the Black Knights in catch-up mode for only the second time this season.

Coordinator P.J. Volker and the entire defensive staff should be applauded for the game plan they put together and the players deserve praise for executing at a high level. Robinson anchored an award-winning performance by the defensive line, which recorded 31 of the team’s 65 tackles.

That is unheard of and speaks volumes about how the Midshipmen dominated at the point of attack. It means the power running duo of Daily and Udoh, who were held to a combined 105 yards, were rarely reaching the second level. End Justin Reed notched 10 tackles, while tackle Griffen Willis contributed eight.

“That’s something I take pride in personally, making sure they can’t climb to the second level,” said Robinson, who credited the defensive line’s success to “maintaining our gap integrity and leverage.”

Inside linebackers Colin Ramos and Kyle Jacob added seven tackles apiece for Navy, which did a superb job of winning on the early downs to repeatedly put Army into third-and-long. Having to throw in obvious passing situations is not a strength for the Black Knights and Daily completed just 7 of 16 attempts with three interceptions.

“It’s hard to take away their running attack, but we certainly wanted to control it and we did that today,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said. “If you told me they were going to throw the ball 16 times, I would have thought that would have been a good day for us, for sure.”

Newberry was surprised when told during the postgame news conference that Navy’s three down linemen had combined to make 31 tackles. However, he was not surprised the unit played well considering Robinson was first-team All-AAC, Reed was a second-team selection and Willis has been outstanding since becoming the starter at tackle.

“Those guys have played well all year long. I couldn’t be more proud of the way they played and battled today. They stepped up to the challenge, no doubt about it,” Newberry said. “We knew we had to win this game in the trenches on both sides of the ball and we did that today.”

This brings us to the Navy offensive line, which also won the line of scrimmage Navy had 12 offensive plays that gained 10 yards or more. Horvath broke loose for runs of 37 and 48 yards, completed passes of 34 yards to fullback Alex Tecza and 52 yards to snipe Eli Heidenreich.

Army was still very much in the game, trailing 21-13, when it appeared Navy would have to punt out of its own territory after picking up only one first down on the possession that followed a Trey Gronotte field goal. The Black Knights were going to get the ball back with about 11 minutes left in the game, plenty of time to drive for a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie.

That is when Robinson authored perhaps the biggest play of the game, calling his own number on a fake punt and rumbling 29 yards for a first down deep in Army territory. It was the third time in the past two seasons the 280-pound nose guard has gained big yardage off a perfectly executed fake punt.

Newberry explained afterward that he called for the fake punt provided Navy got the look it needed. It is the job of Robinson, the up man on the punt unit, to determine if the defensive alignment makes the fake viable and call an audible if it does.

Robinson took a direct snap, burst through a huge hole on the left side and raced to Army’s 24-yard line. He fumbled while being tackled, but Ramos alertly dove on the ball.

“We preach effort, so once I made my block I was trailing after [Robinson] and was in a good spot,” Ramos said.

Navy snipe Brandon Chatman called Robinson’s big run “electric” while Horvath had a feeling the fake was in the offing. “I could sense it was coming. I made sure to stand on the sideline and watch that play,” he said.

Another key factor in the game involved red-zone opportunities. Army came into the contest ranked No. 1 nationally in red-zone defense, while Navy was No. 3. As Horvath pointed out, the Midshipmen had been beaten by the Black Knights in goal-line situations in recent meetings.

Navy flipped the script in that department in this game with Horvath scoring on a pair of 1-yard plunges. Meanwhile, Army had to settle for a pair of Gronotte field goals on two trips inside the red zone.

“Our kids kept battling. We knew if we could get some stops down in the red zone that would be huge,” Newberry said. “You want to force field goals and not give up touchdowns down there and we did a good job of that.”

When it was over, Tecza performed a back flip on the field and Horvath pumped his fist while holding tightly onto the game ball. Newberry got doused with Gatorade on the sideline then sent a message to Army counterpart Jeff Monken during an on-field interview with CBS Sports.

“I’ll tell you what, we still got a football team in Annapolis,” Newberry said in response to the first question from sideline reporter Jenny Dell.

That was a well-timed retort to a smug comment Monken made during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.” When asked about the possibility of playing Navy in the AAC championship game, Monken in October asked rhetorically: “Do they still have a football program at that school?”

Navy got the last laugh as its players and coaches were able to take pictures with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy inside the visiting locker room at Northwest Stadium.

Everyone involved with the Navy football program deserves tremendous credit for the impressive victory over their archrival. The Midshipmen were determined to bring the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy back to Annapolis and it was mission accomplished thanks to a highly successful organization-wide operation.

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