No. 25 Temple beats UConn 27-3
PHILADELPHIA — Jahad Thomas ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns and P.J. Walker threw for 160 yards and a score to help No. 25 Temple beat UConn 27-3 on Saturday night and secure a spot in the American Athletic Conference’s inaugural championship game.
Romond Deloatch caught a touchdown for the Owls, who will play at No. 21 Houston for the American conference title on Saturday with a New Year’s Six bowl bid possibly at stake for the winner.
Temple (10-2, 7-1, No. 25 CFP) reached 10 wins for just the second time in program history, capping a three-year turnaround under coach Matt Rhule that now includes winning the American East Division. The Owls were 10-2 in 1979.
UConn (6-6, 4-4), playing without starting quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, struggled offensively. The Huskies had just 138 yards of offense, including only nine rushing yards. It was the fourth time this season the Owls held an opponent under 200 total yards.
UConn’s backup QB combination of Tim Boyle and Garrett Anderson finished 13 for 21. Shirreffs suffered a head injury in the first quarter of UConn’s 20-17 upset victory over previously unbeaten Houston last week.
Thomas, a junior, eclipsed 100 yards for the fifth time in his career with a 60-yard sprint to the end zone with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game that gave Temple a 27-0 lead.
He got the Owls on the scoreboard just over seven minutes into the contest with a 9-yard TD scamper around the right side that capped a four-play, 49-yard drive. Earlier on the drive, Thomas had a highlight-reel, 16-yard run that featured a nifty spin move.
The Owls extended their lead to 10-0 on the first of two Austin Jones field goals, this one a 20-yarder with 6:23 left in the first half that capped an 11-play, 56-yard drive lasting 5:42.
Jones later connected from 37 yards with 6:21 left in the third quarter to make it 13-0.
A defensive holding penalty nullified Andrew Adams’ interception late in the third quarter that would’ve given UConn the ball at the Owls’ 30-yard line. And Temple took advantage.
Deloatch caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Walker with 41 seconds left in the quarter and the Owls went up 20-0. One play earlier, Deloatch hauled in an apparent touchdown on the opposite side of the field, only to have the play overturned after an officials review determined he didn’t complete the catch before going out of bounds.
UConn scored its lone points on Bobby Puyol’s 45-yard field goal with 5:51 remaining in the game.
Temple limited UConn to just 61 total yards of offense and three first downs in a dominating defensive first half.
The Huskies, who are bowl eligible for the first time since 2010, dropped to 3-24 against ranked teams since joining the FBS in 2000. Houston 52, No. 15 Navy 31: Greg Ward, Jr. threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns to lead Houston to a 52-31 win over No. 15 Navy on Friday to earn a spot in the first American Athletic Conference championship game.
Houston (11-1, 7-1 American) clinched the West Division title and will host either Temple or South Florida in the championship game Dec. 5.
Ward was 26-of-35 passing and ran for 83 yards and another score as Houston opened up a 38-17 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Keenan Reynolds rushed for 84 yards on 19 carries and a fourth quarter touchdown and was 14 of 17 for 312 yards passing and a touchdown for Navy (9-2, 7-1). The Heisman Trophy contender scored his 83rd career touchdown to match the FBS record set by Wisconsin’s Montee Ball.
Tulsa 45, Tulane 34: Zack Langelar, Craig Suits and Kolton Schindelar ignited a late rally to lead Tulsa past Tulane 45-34 Friday night.
The season-finale win makes the Golden Hurricane (6-6, 3-5 American Athletic Conference) bowl eligible, though they had to play catch-up most of the game.
That changed in a hurry as the Hurricane scored 21 points the final 6:45. Langelar started with a 1-yard TD run that capped a 75-yard drive in 55 seconds.
After the ensuing kickoff, Suits picked off Tulane’s Jordy Joseph and went 28 yards to give Tulsa the lead, 38-34. After scoring 14 points in 14 seconds, the Hurricane struck once more — Schindelar, a converted tight end, leaping to intercept Joseph near the 10, and racing 89 yards up the left sideline to score.
Joseph threw for 343 yards with four TDs for Tulane (3-9, 1-7).
Dane Evans threw for 367 yards and three scores for Tulsa, which is bowl-eligible for the ninth time since 2003.
Memphis 63, SMU 0: Paxton Lynch tied the FBS record with seven touchdown passes in a half, and Memphis set single-season records for yards and points in a 63-0 win over SMU on Saturday.
Lynch hit seven different receivers on his scoring passes and finished 9 of 14 for 222 yards — all in the first half — as the Tigers raced to a 56-0 lead. His seven passing TDs set an American Conference single-game record, and his 28 passing TDs on the season are best in school history. Lynch’s previous singlegame high for TD passes was four.
Memphis (9-3, 5-3) had lost three in a row after an 8-0 start. The Tigers gained 6,125 yards and scored 512 points for the season.
SMU (2-10, 1-7) struggled to muster any offense, totaling 97 yards and committing five turnovers. The Mustangs lost four fumbles, including two returned by the Tigers for touchdowns. Cincinnati 19, East Carolina 16: Andrew Gantz kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired, sending Cincinnati to a 19-16 win over East Carolina on Saturday.
Gantz missed a 44-yard attempt on the Bearcats’ previous possession, but Cincinnati’s defense forced a three-and-out.
Gunner Kiel drove Cincinnati (7-5, 4-4 American) to the Pirates’ 25-yard line. Gantz split the uprights for his second game-winning field goal against East Carolina in as many years. Kiel finished 30 of 47 for 270 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Cincinnati took the lead on its opening drive of the second half when Mike Boone capped off a 16-play drive with a 1-yard plunge, giving the Bearcats a 16-10 lead.
After Gantz hit a 50-yarder, East Carolina (5-7, 3-5) tied it at 16-all when James Summers found Bryce Williams for a 2-yard touchdown. But Summers was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play — a 15-yard penalty — and Davis Plowman missed the longer extra point try.
South Florida 44, Central Florida
3: Quinton Flowers passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more as South Florida routed Central Florida 44-3 Saturday night.
USF (8-4, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) won for the seventh time in its last eight games and still has a chance to play in the conference championship game if UConn beats Temple Saturday night. UCF (0-12, 0-8) finished the season winless for the second time in 11 years.
Flowers completed 14 of 21 passes for 176 yards and had 87 yards rushing on 18 carries. He had scoring passes of 26 and 1 yard to Sean Price and a 4-yarder to Chris Barr. He scored on runs of 3 and 5 yards.
Marlon Mack picked up 102 yards on 18 carries for USF, his fourth-straight game over 100 yards.
UCF scored on its first possession, a 28-yard field goal by Matthew Wright, but didn’t threaten again.