After swapping leads with Houston throughout the first half, Navy pulled away in the last two quarters to come away with a huge upset by a score of 46-40.
The unranked Midshipmen capitalized on three turnovers by quarterback Greg Ward Jr., while offering none themselves. Though the no. 6 Cougars entered Saturday ranked first in the nation in rushing defense (giving up an average of 42 yards per game), they did little to stop Navy from running—with quarterback Will Worth putting up 115 rushing yards of his own as part of the team’s 306 total.
After giving up three Navy touchdowns in the third quarter, Houston entered the fourth trailing 41-27. Though the Cougars started moving towards a comeback, scoring on their first drive of the quarter, they weren’t able to keep it going, with Navy turning a bad snap into a safety and keeping it locked up from there.
The result was Navy’s first win over a top-10 team since 1984 and a serious blow to Houston’s playoff hopes.