Navy Star Quarterback Honored with Davey O'Brien Semifinalist Selection

The Davey O'Brien Award has announced its 16-man semifinalist selection. Navy's junior signal-caller is being honored with the inclusion.

Oct 5, 2024; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Navy Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath (11) runs the ball as Air Force Falcons defensive back Camby Goff (11) defends in the second quarter at Falcon Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

It's college football awards season and ballots have been sent out to trim each national honor down. The Davey O'Brien Award selection committee announced its 35-man class of 2024 earlier this month. On Tuesday, the committee pared back the field to 16 quarterbacks and Navy's junior star Blake Horvath made the cut.

Horvath has led his Midshipmen to a 7-2 record and 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference. Last year, Horvath made one start while appearing in three other games. This year, he's been the unquestioned starting quarterback in all nine games.

In the vaunted triple-option, Horvath has run the ball 128 times for 870 yards and 13 touchdowns. His 6.8 yards per carry leads the AAC and his 13 touchdowns are third (10th in FBS). Through the air, Horvath is completing 59 percent of his passes for 1,154 yards and 11 touchdowns. Even with four games to go (Army-Navy game and eventual bowl game), Horvath is tied for third-most passing touchdowns in a single season by a Navy quarterback. Ricky Dobbs' 2010 mark of 13 leads the way.

Horvath has scored at least once in each game and has rushed for at least 100 yards four times thus far. His most commanding performance to this point is his 403-yard, six-touchdown effort in the win over Memphis.

Horvath, with a win over Air Force already secured, has a chance to bring home the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy outright for the first time since 2019.

The rest of the field:

Drew Allar (Penn State)
Bryson Daily (Army West Point)
Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss)
Quinn Ewers (Texas)
Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)
Will Howard (Ohio State)
Kevin Jennings (SMU)
Cade Klubnik (Clemson)
John Mateer (Washington State)
Jalen Milroe (Alabama)
Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt)
Jake Retzlaff (BYU)
Kurtis Rourke (Indiana)
Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
Cam Ward (Miami)

The field will be voted upon by the committee and will be pared once again to three finalists. The three finalists will be revealed on November 26 and the official winner will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN on December 12.

No Navy quarterback - or any service academy quarterback at all - has won the Davey O'Brien award. Horvath is looking to be the first.