The Navy Midshipmen put together a magical 2025 college football season.
The 2026 campaign is looking like it’ll take a bit more work to reach big heights for the Mids.
They opened their season comfortably at home on Saturday, Sept. 5. They routed Towson that day, 42-15, in a game everyone expected to be a mismatch.
But then on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Florida Atlantic, things got trickier. Navy trailed big at the half before rallying for what looked like a more respectable loss, a 38-30 triumph for the Owls.
Navy made a run at an undefeated season in 2025.
In 2026, they’ve begun 1-1.
Blake Horvath, Eli Heidenreich and Alex Tecza — among others — are all gone. There was bound to be some growing pains, because those guys had been the core of this roster for years.
Braxton Woodson is an impressive new quarterback, but the Midshipmen still have to put all the pieces together.
And in the process of doing that, they’ll get some more time to put the work in. Their schedule came through with an assist after the loss to FAU.
Does Navy Play Today?
No, Navy does not play on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The Midshipmen have their first bye of the season in Week 3 of the college football season.
They won’t have another bye until Saturday, Nov. 14.
When Is Navy’s Next Game?
This is a key note: Navy’s next game is on a Friday.
They’ll return to action on Friday, Sept. 25 against UAB.
UAB and Navy are both part of the AAC for football, and UAB has begun the season 1-1, as well.
There is a game in Week 3 for UAB, though — they play at Louisiana at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
When Does Navy Play Army?
The big Navy-Army game is scheduled for December 12 at 3 p.m.
Army has also begun the season with a 1-1 record. The Black Knights routed Bryant 59-3 in their opener, but then they fell to South Florida 28-24.
The extra disappointment for both Navy and Army is that their Week 2 losses were conference games, so they both start 0-1 in AAC play.
Ironically, Army also has a bye on Saturday, Sept. 19.
Even more ironically, Air Force also has a bye on Sept. 19. Air Force has also begun the season 1-1 with a conference loss — for them, that’s in the Mountain West. Air Force plays Navy on Oct. 3.
Importance of Bye Week
For a Navy team incorporating a lot of new pieces, the bye comes at a nice time.
“I think a bye week now, to really home in on some things that you’ve learned about your football team, is really critical,” Navy offensive coordinator Drew Cronic told the Capital Gazette.
If Navy can get its unique offense dialed in, the Midshipmen can still be dangerous as the season goes along.
Does Navy Play Today? Midshipmen Schedule Shows What’s Next