The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics

Navy Pulls Away in Second Half; Defeats UAB 38-24
9/6/2025 8:28:00β―PM | Football
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The game was tied 24-24 at halftime, but three second half turnovers from the Blazers (1-1, 0-1 American) allowed Navy (2-0, 1-0 American) to pull away for the 14-point victory.
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Jalen Kitna tallied his third career 300-yard passing game, finishing the game 22-of-32 for 304 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions in the second half. UAB had 413 yards of total offense, but Navy put up 463 in the victory.
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Despite Navy's 463 yards, UAB's defense put up a valiant effort against the triple option. Senior safety Pierre Royster had a career-best 11 tackles, followed by linebacker Devin Hightower with 10. Overall, UAB had five TFLs, however, Navy quarterback Blake Horvath (three total touchdowns) led a Navy attack that had 295 rushing yards and 168 passing yards.
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Prior to the delay with 11:39 to go in the second quarter, the game featured five possessions and five touchdowns as Navy led 21-14 with UAB driving before play was suspended.
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Horvath opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run, but Kitna found Iverson Hooks on a 51-yard strike to tie the game with 9:41 left in the opening quarter. A 9-yard rush from Eli Heidenreich then put the Midshipmen ahead 14-7 with 3:06 left.
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Once again, UAB answered with a spectacular 25-yard catch from Corri Milliner on 4th-and-3 to tie the game at 14 with 14:14 left in the second. Milliner had a game-high six catches for 100 yards.
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A 63-yard pass from Horvath to Luke Hutchison gave Navy a 21-14 lead, and with UAB at the Navy 24-yard line, play was suspended early in the second.
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As the teams entered the locker room for the delay, Kitna was 7-of-7 for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Horvath was 3-of-4 for 148 with a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown.
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The delay lasted exactly one hour, and once play resumed, Jevon Jackson tied the game with a 12-yard rush which was just in time before more thunder and lightning entered the area as the two teams entered a second delay with 6:25 remaining in the half tied at 21.
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The second delayed lasted one hour and six minutes, and the two teams would trade field goals to go into a shortened halftime even at 24 apiece.
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Both defenses were stout to start the second half, and after UAB forced a punt, the Blazers fumbled in their own territory which gave Navy a short field and the Midshipmen capitalized with a 4-yard rush from Horvath for a 31-24 lead with 4:12 left in the third.
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The Midshipmen then picked off Kitna and scored on their next possession, capped by a 1-yard rush from Alex Tecza to gain their largest lead of the game at 38-24 with 14:57 left in the contest.
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With UAB driving late, Navy intercepted Kitna in the end zone to seal the game.
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The Blazers return to action next Saturday back at Protective Stadium in a non-conference contest against Akron. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+. Click here to purchase tickets. Β
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Team Stats

UAB 0, Nav 7
Nav - Horvath,Blake 1 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:24

UAB 7, Nav 7
UAB - Hooks,Iverson 51 yd pass from Kitna,Jalen (Delange,Jonah kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:55

UAB 7, Nav 14
Nav - Heidenreich,Eli 9 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:35

UAB 14, Nav 14
UAB - Milliner,Corri 25 yd pass from Kitna,Jalen (Delange,Jonah kick) 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 03:52

UAB 14, Nav 21
Nav - Hutchison,Luke 63 yd pass from Horvath,Blake (Kirkwood,Nathan kick) 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 01:51

UAB 21, Nav 21
UAB - Jackson,Jevon 12 yd run (Delange,Jonah kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:57

UAB 21, Nav 24
Nav - Kirkwood,Nathan 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 06:25

UAB 24, Nav 24
UAB - Delange,Jonah 40 yd field goal 11 plays, 70 yards, TOP 04:44

UAB 24, Nav 31
Nav - Horvath,Blake 4 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 6 plays, 29 yards, TOP 02:23

UAB 24, Nav 38
Nav - Tecza,Alex 1 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 5 plays, 82 yards, TOP 02:55
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