Opening kick

• #25 / RV Navy (5-0, 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference) and Charlotte (3-3, 2-0 in the AAC) meet on the court for the second time when the two face off ​​on Homecoming Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000). Saturday’s game, broadcast on CBS Sports Network, will be presented by Boeing. Navy is looking for its first 6-0 start to a season since 1979 and just the seventh in program history (1905, national championship years 1926, 1934, 1960, 1978 and 1979).
• Charlotte enters Saturday red hot, having won three of its last four games, including a 55-24 loss to East Carolina on Oct. 5. Both the Navy and Charlotte come to say goodbye.
• Navy and Charlotte are 2 of 5 teams still undefeated in the American Athletic Conference. Army, Tulane and North Texas are also undefeated. Navy is 1 of only 11 FBS teams that are undefeated overall.
• A win on Saturday would make Navy Bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019. The Mids have played in 24 bowl games in school history.
• Navy, picked 11th in the 14-team AAC preseason poll, currently sits in second place with a 3-0 record and is coming off a win over preseason favorite Memphis. The Mids will play three of the top four teams in the preseason poll.
• Navy is ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press college football poll. It’s the first time Navy has been ranked since the final poll of the 2019 season, when the Mids finished 20th after finishing 11-2, winning the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy and beating Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl. Saturday will mark the first time Navy plays at home as an AP Top 25 team since Oct. 22, 2016, when No. 24 Navy defeated Memphis 42-28.
• Navy’s 218 points through the first five games of the year are six more than last year in all 12 games (212).
• Navy has scored a touchdown on the first play of a drive an impressive five times this fall, which is the second most in the FBS.
• Navy is averaging 295.6 rushing yards per game this fall, the second-best average in the FBS and the program’s best since 2019, when it averaged a school-record 360.5 rushing yards per game.
• Navy is 18-18 in the red zone this year, with all 18 scores resulting in touchdowns. Last year, the Mids ranked tied for 130th in the nation in red zone offense, scoring just 14 touchdowns on 29 attempts. Navy is the only team in the FBS that is perfect in the red zone, with all scores resulting in a touchdown.
• Navy is coming off a 34-7 victory over Air Force, its first over the Falcons since 2019 and its first in Colorado Springs since 2012. The 34 points scored are the second-most points Navy has ever scored in Colorado Springs and the 7 points allowed are the fewest. The 27-point win was Navy’s largest win in the series since 1978, when the Mids won 37-8 in Colorado Springs, and the fourth-largest ever.
• Blake Horvath (Jr. / QB) has rushed for 565 yards and 10 TDs on just 65 carries (8.7 yds/carry) and has completed 39 of his 59 passes (.661 completion percentage) for 771 yards and 7 TDs this season.
• Horvath had touchdown passes of 77 yards to Nathan Kent (Jr./WR) and 74 yards to Eli Heidenreich (Jr./Snipe) vs. UAB. He is the first player in the FBS this year to have two touchdown passes of 70 yards or more and marks the first time in Navy history that a quarterback had multiple touchdown passes of more than 70 yards in the same game. He has also thrown for more than 100 yards in each of five Navy games this fall. He is the first Navy quarterback since Ricky Dobbs to have five consecutive 100-yard passing games.
• Heidenreich has five touchdowns this season and nine in his career. The school record for touchdown catches in a season is 6, while the career record is 13. Against Air Force, Heidenreich rushed for 100 yards on 6 carries and caught 5 passes for 101 yards in Navy’s 34-7 rout of the Falcons. He is the first Navy player to have 100 yards rushing and receiver in the same game in school history.
• Rayuan Avenue III (Sr./S) made his 35th consecutive start at safety for the Mids against Air Force, which is the longest active streak for a safety in the FBS and the second-longest by a player in the secondary. Lane III recorded a career-high 12 tackles and forced 2 fumbles against UAB. His 86-yard interception return for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the game against Memphis clinched the victory for the Mids. It was the second pick-6 of his career. Lane’s pair of pick-6s rank second in school history. Rashad Smith (1994-97) holds the Navy career record with 3.
• Horvath is the No. 1 rated quarterback and No. 4 overall runner, Heidenreich is the No. 2 rated receiver and No. 2 overall runner and Lane III is the No. 7 rated safety in the FBS according to Pro Voetbalfocus.

Game day timeline
• 1:15 p.m – The Navy football team arrives at the Blue Angel on the west (blue) side of the stadium. The team walks along the sidewalk and through NavyFest before heading to the tunnel. Fans are invited to stand on both sides of the sidewalk to cheer on the players.
• 3:10 PM – March-on of the Brigade of Midshipmen
• 3:21:30 PM – National anthem, followed by a flyover
• Saturday’s flyover will feature 2 F-35B Lightning IIs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 542 out of Cherry Point, NC and 2 F/A-18 Foxtrot Super Hornets from Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 32, the Fighting Swordsmen, from NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Leading the F-35 is Major Scott “Humpty” Aquino, who is celebrating his 10-year reunion as a member of the Naval Academy Class of 2014. In the second F-35, he flies in the “dash-2” position, will be Captain Matthew “Low-T” Hundt, Class of 2018. The F/A-18 will be piloted in the “Dash 3” position by Lt. Isabelle “T-PAIN” Babb, Class of 2018, with VFA-32 commander Cmdr. Jason “IAD…S” Hoch, in the backseat. Finally, in the F/A-18 in the “Dash 4” position, Lt. Brittany “Hot Wheels” Kramer, Class of 2018 and Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Robinson.
• 3:28:20 PM – Navy will take the field and Charlotte will follow.
• 3:32 PM – Kickoff / Please note: There is a chance that the timeline starting with the March-On may be delayed 5 minutes if the football game between Wake Forest and UConn on CBS Sports Network is long. That decision will be made before the 60-minute clock starts.
• Break 1st/2nd quarter – The Navy men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are honored. The women’s team won the Patriot League championship for the 12th consecutive year and increased the record for most titles won by any league team in any sport to 22 (in 32 years as a league member). The men’s team remained perfect throughout the league campaign as the Mids have won twenty titles in the twenty years they have been competing for the championship. That extends the league record for most consecutive titles won by any team in any competitive sport. The two teams also swept the army. The men have defeated the Army in 32 of the past 33 years, while the women have defeated the Army 35 years in a row.
• Rest – The Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps will perform.
• 3rd/4th quarter break – The pilots of the pregame flyover are recognized.
• Post game – Navy’s alma mater, Navy Blue & Gold, is played as the team stands at attention for the Brigade of Midshipmen. It’s one of the best traditions in all of sports.

Broadcast Coverage
• CBS Sports Network will carry Saturday’s game with Carter Blackburn (play-by-play), Adam Breneman (color) and Lacrosse Hall of Famer Sheehan Stanwick Burch (sideline) on the call.
• The Navy Football Pregame Show featuring Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein begins at 2:30 PM on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action starting at 3:30 PM with Medhurst , Miller and Mills on the phone.
• After the game, Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day’s events in a 30-minute postgame show.

And then there were eleven
• Heading into the week, Navy (5-0) is one of only 11 teams in the FBS that haven’t lost a game this year.
• The other teams are Army (6-0), BYU (6-0), Indiana (6-0), Iowa State (6-0), Miami (6-0), Oregon (6-0), Penn State (6-0), Pitt (6-0), Texas (6-0), Freedom (5-0).

Dominates in the red zone
• Navy leads the nation in red zone scoring (18-18), with all 18 scores resulting in touchdowns. Last year, Navy ranked tied for 130th in the nation in red zone offense, scoring just 14 touchdowns on 29 attempts.
• Navy is the only team in the FBS that is perfect in the red zone, with all scores resulting in touchdowns.
• Navy’s defense has given up just 9 scores in 15 red zone opportunities this fall (.600), only 6 of which resulted in touchdowns (all rushing).
• The Mids rank third nationally in red zone defense.
• Navy is 1 of only 3 teams (Texas and Memphis) not to abandon a red zone passing touchdown this year.

Stacking up the points
• Navy is averaging 43.6 points per game, which is the fifth-best scoring average in the nation.
• Navy has scored at least 34 points in every game this year.
• Navy’s 218 points through the first five games of the year are six more points than Navy scored in all 12 games last year (212).
• A big reason for Navy’s scoring drive is the play of the offensive line. Navy ranks 1st in the nation in tackles for loss allowed (1.8) and 7th in sacks allowed (0.60),
• Navy is averaging 465.4 yards per game, which ranks 17th nationally.