Coach Brian Newberry spent last week emphasizing that Navy football could still achieve all of its goals.

Offensive coordinator Drew Cronic talked about his unit rediscovering its mojo.

Defensive coordinator P.J. Volker discussed the difficulty of facing a South Florida offense that plays at an incredibly high tempo.

Looking to avoid a three-game losing streak, the Midshipmen checked all the boxes and left those three coaches smiling broadly with an impressive performance on a hot, humid day in Tampa.

Quarterback Blake Horvath directed an offense that dominated possession and rolled up 379 total yards as Navy defeated South Florida, 28-7, on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium. Linebackers Luke Pirris, Kenneth McShan and Kyle Jacob spearheaded an opportunistic defense that forced three turnovers and held the Bulls scoreless for almost 59 minutes.Horvath passed for 58 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 56 yards and another score as Navy finished with almost 40 minutes worth of possession. Snipe Eli Heidenreich rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown, while fullback Daba Fofana contributed 75 yards as the Mids amassed 321 yards on the ground.

Pirris led the defense with nine tackles and half a sack, while McShan — who was making his first career start — notched seven tackles and a quarterback hurry that caused an interception. Jacob added six tackles and an interception.

“Defensively, we were outstanding today and got off the field when we needed to. Our guys played extremely hard and I thought we executed for the most part,” Newberry said. “We did some good things offensively. I talked about getting off to a fast start, and we did that.”

It was 85 degrees with 57% humidity in Tampa and the Midshipmen wore down the host Bulls with time consuming drives. Navy had one touchdown drive that lasted almost seven minutes and another that exceeded seven minutes.

USF runs a no-huddle offense that snaps the ball, on average, every 12 seconds. That rapid tempo backfired on this day as the Bulls repeatedly failed to convert on third down. South Florida went three-and-out on five possessions and picked up just one first down on three other possessions.

South Florida had bludgeoned Florida Atlantic for 319 rushing yards the previous Saturday. The Bulls only managed 60 yards on the ground against the Midshipmen and found themselves in third-and-long quite often.

“We talked about being able to stop the run and being able to run the football. I think we dominated the rushing game [on both sides of the ball] today,” said Newberry, who praised Volker for putting together a “phenomenal” game plan.

“When they can run the football they stay in rhythm and on track. They go fast and wear you out. The priority was stopping the run and controlling the pace, not giving up explosive plays. When you’re able to stop them on first and second down you make them one-dimensional,” Newberry added.

It was a much-needed bounce-back win for Navy (7-2, 5-1 American Athletic Conference), which was coming off consecutive losses to Notre Dame and Rice. The Midshipmen still control their own destiny in terms of reaching the AAC championship game.

It sets up a huge showdown next Saturday when Navy hosts second place Tulane (7-2, 5-0) in Annapolis.

“This is what it’s all about. You want to be playing meaningful football in November,” Newberry said. “I’m really proud to get us to this point and I know we’re going to be ready to play next Saturday, there’s no doubt about that.”

Navy’s offense had struggled in the previous two games, committing four unforced turnovers in a 51-14 loss to Notre Dame and being held to season lows for points, rushing yards (140) and total yards (260) in last Saturday’s 24-10 upset at the hands of Rice.

So it was a welcome sight for the coaching staff to see the offense get off to a great start against USF, scoring touchdowns on two straight possessions to begin the game.

On the fourth play from scrimmage, Heidenreich took a pitch on a triple-option play, picked up a couple terrific perimeter blocks and raced 60 yards to pay dirt. Kicker Nathan Kirkwood booted the extra point and the Mids led 7-0 less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game.

South Florida drove deep into Navy territory on its opening possession, but quarterback Bryce Archie made a major mistake in the red zone. He locked on to his receiver and did not see Jacob in the middle of the field, and his ill-advised pass went directly into the chest of Jacob, who made the interception to thwart the scoring opportunity.

Navy capitalized on the turnover with an impressive 13-play, 79-yard drive that took almost seven minutes off the clock. The Mids scored off another triple-option play with snipe Brandon Chatman taking the pitch, turning the corner and racing 20 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown that made it 14-0 with 3:26 remaining in the opening period.

“You saw the results the last two weeks when we got off to horrible starts,” Newberry said. “It’s something we talked a lot about — start fast and finish strong and we did that today.”

However, the Navy offense sputtered thereafter, picking up just three first downs on the next five possessions. Horvath fumbled while attempting to pass to spoil one possession and that was followed by four straight punts.

Fortunately for Navy, the defense played lights-out throughout the first half, limiting South Florida to just 105 total yards. The Bulls picked up just seven first downs on seven possessions with Archie throwing two interceptions. Four possessions ended with punts while a fifth was a turnover on downs.

USF drove into Navy territory late in the first half and appeared on track to at least attempt a field goal. However, the Bulls decided to take a deep shot and it backfired. McShan got home on a blitz off the edge and hit Archie just as he was throwing.

That deep pass was way short as a result and easily intercepted by backup corner Ira Oniha, who has missed five of the past six games with injuries. Oniha had plenty of green grass along the left sideline and returned the pick 36 yards to just shy of midfield.

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