ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Blake Horvath complemented two touchdown passes with 211 yards rushing and four scores and Rayuan Lane III had an 86-yard pick-6 in the closing seconds to help unbeaten Navy hold on for a 56-44 victory over Memphis, handing the Tigers their first loss in their American Athletic Conference opener on Saturday.
Memphis (3-1, 0-1) took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards in nine plays with Mario Anderson Jr. scoring on a 7-yard run for a 7-0 lead. Horvath capped a 10-play, 77-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to pull Navy (3-0, 2-0) even. Brandon Thomas raced 57 yards for a score with 1:21 left to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead after one quarter.
Horvath connected with Eli Heidenreich for a 39-yard touchdown six seconds into the second quarter and Brandon Chatman added a 12-yard touchdown run on the next possession to give the Midshipmen a 21-14 lead. Caden Costa’s 29-yard field goal cut the Tigers’ deficit to four, but Horvath scored on a 3-yard run with 11 second left to put Navy up 28-17 at halftime.
Horvath teamed up with Chatman for a 37-yard score on Navy’s first possession of the second half. Memphis answered with Seth Henigan’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Roc Taylor the first time the Tigers had the ball. Anderson scored on a 5-yard run with 1:11 remaining, but the Tigers’ two-point conversion failed and left them trailing 35-30.
Horvath scored on a 7-yard run four seconds into the final quarter and broke free for a 90-yard touchdown on a first-down run to put the Midshipmen up 49-30 with 8:22 left to play.
Horvath completed 9 of 12 passes for 192 yards and did his damage on the ground with just 12 carries.
Henigan totaled 371 yards on 32-for-546 passing, adding a 36-yard touchdown pass to Marcello Bussey in the fourth quarter. Koby Drake had nine catches for 102 yards and Taylor hauled in six passes for 100. Thomas rushed for 125 on 12 carries and Anderson finished with 117 yards on 17 carries, including a 1-yard scoring run on fourth-and-goal to get Memphis within five with 1:22 remaining.
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