Mids return home to host Charlotte at Homecoming

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 gridiron for the second time when the two meet on Homecoming Saturday compete afternoon (3:30 p.m.) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000). Saturday's contest, televised on CBS Sports Network, will be hosted by Boeing. Navy is seeking its first 6-0 start to a season since 1979 and just its seventh in program history (1905, the national championship year of 1926, 1934, 1960, 1978 and 1979).
• Charlotte enters Saturday red hot after winning three of its last four games, including a 55-24 win over East Carolina on Oct. 5. Both Navy and Charlotte have byes.
• Navy and Charlotte are two of five teams still undefeated in the American Athletic Conference. Army, Tulane and North Texas are also undefeated. Navy is one of only 11 FBS teams to be undefeated overall.
• A win on Saturday would make Navy eligible to play for the first time since 2019. The Mids have appeared in 24 bowl games in school history.
• Navy, picked at No. 11 in the 14-team AAC preseason poll, is currently in second place with a 3-0 record and one 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 went 11-2, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and defeated Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl were in 20th place. On Saturday, Navy will play for the first time since Oct. 22, 2016, when No. 24 Navy defeated Memphis 42-28, at home as an AP Top 25 team.
• Navy's 218 points in its first five games of the year are six more than it scored in all 12 games last year (212).
• Navy has scored a touchdown on the first play of a drive an incredible five times this fall, 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 points resulting in touchdowns. Last year, the Mids ranked 130th nationally 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 points leading to a touchdown.
• Navy earned a 34-7 victory over Air Force, its first win 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 has, and the 7 The allowed points are the fewest. Navy's 27-point victory was the largest in the series since 1978, when the Mids won 37-8 in Colorado Springs, and the fourth-largest of all time.
• Blake Horvath (Jr. / QB) has rushed for 565 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 65 carries (8.7 yards/run) this season and has completed 39 of his 59 passes (.661 completion) for 771 yards and 7 touchdowns.
• Horvath had touchdown passes of 77 yards Nathan Kent (Jr. / WR) and 74 yards 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 it is the first time in Navy history that a quarterback has had multiple touchdown passes of 70 yards in the same game . He also threw for over 100 yards in each of Navy's five games this fall. He is the first Navy quarterback since Ricky Dobbs to have five consecutive 100-yard passing games.
• Heidenreich has 5 touchdown catches this season and 9 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 six carries and caught five passes for 101 yards in Navy's 34-7 win over the Falcons. He is the first Navy player in school history to record 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game.
• Rayuan Lane III (Sr./S) made his 35th consecutive safety start 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 secured the Mids victory. It was the second pick-6 of his career. Lane's pick-6 pair are the second-most in school history. Rashad Smith (1994-97) holds Navy's career record with 3.
• Horvath is the No. 1-rated quarterback and No. 4 overall prospect, Heidenreich is the No. 2-rated receiver and No. 2 overall prospect, and Lane III is the No. 7-rated safety according to Pro -Rating in FBS Football Focus.

Game day timeline
• 1:15 p.m – The Navy football team will arrive at the Blue Angel on the West (Blue) side of the stadium. The team will walk 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 p.m – Advance of the brigade of midshipmen
• 3:21:30 p.m – National anthem followed by a flyover
• Saturday's flyover will feature two F-35B Lightning IIs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 542 out of Cherry Point, North Carolina, and two F/A-18 Foxtrot Super Hornets from Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 32, the Fighting Swordsmen, out of NAS Oceana be in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Flying at the helm of the F-35 will be Maj. Scott “Humpty” Aquino, who is celebrating his 10th anniversary as a member of the Naval Academy Class of 2014. In the second F-35, he flies in the “Dash-2” position, Capt. Matthew “Low-T” Hundt, Class of 2018, will pilot the F/A-18. At the “Dash-3” position, Lt. Isabelle “T-PAIN” Babb, F/A-18 Pilot Class of 2018, with the commanding officer of VFA-32, Cmdr. Jason “IAD…S” High, in the back seat. Finally, in the F/A-18 at the “Dash 4” position, Lt. Brittany “Hot Wheels” Kramer, Class of 2018, and Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Robinson.
• 3:28:20 p.m – The Navy will take the field, followed by Charlotte.
• 3:32 p.m – Kickoff / Please note that if the Wake Forest-UConn football game on CBS Sports Network runs too long, the timeline starting with March-On may be delayed by 5 minutes. This decision will be made before the start of the 60-minute clock.
• Break in the 1st/2nd Quarter – The Navy men's and women's swimming and diving teams will be honored. The women's team won the Patriot League championship for the twelfth consecutive year, increasing its record for most titles won by a league team in any sport to 22 (in 32 years as a league member). The men's team remained perfect in league play as the Mids won 20 titles in the 20 years they competed for the championship. This extends the league record for most consecutive title wins by a team in a league sport. The two teams also defeated Army. The men have defeated Army in 32 of the last 33 years, while the women have defeated Army 35 years in a row.
• Halftime – The Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps will perform.
• Break in the 3rd/4th Quarter – The pilots of the pre-match flyover will be recognized.
• Aftermath – The Navy's alma mater, Navy Blue & Gold, is played as the team stands at attention in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen. It's one of the best traditions in all of sports.

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

And then there were 11
• Entering the week, Navy (5-0) is one of just 11 teams in the FBS that hasn't lost a game this year.
• Other teams include Army (6-0), BYU (6-0), Indiana (6-0), Iowa State (6-0), Miami (6-0), Oregon (6-0) and Penn State (6-0), Pitt (6-0), Texas (6-0), Liberty (5-0).

Dominates in the red zone
• Navy leads the country in red zone offense (18-18), with all 18 points resulting in touchdowns. Last year, Navy ranked 130th nationally in red zone offense, scoring just 14 touchdowns on 29 attempts.
• Navy is the only team in the FBS to be perfect in the red zone and all of its points result in touchdowns.
• Navy's defense has given up just 9 points on 15 opportunities in the red zone this fall (.600), with just 6 resulting in touchdowns (all rush).
• The Mids rank third nationally in red zone defense.
• Navy is one of only three teams (Texas and Memphis) that haven't given up a touchdown in the red zone this year.

Collect points
• Navy is averaging 43.6 points per game, the fifth-best scoring average in the country.
• Navy has scored at least 34 points in every game this year.
• Navy's 218 points in 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 success is the play of the offensive line. Navy ranks first nationally in tackles for loss allowed (1.8) and seventh in sacks allowed (0.60).
• Navy is averaging 465.4 yards per game, ranking 17th nationally.