UCF captures AAC title over Memphis
Frost to become next Nebraska coach after Knights’ 2OT win
Central Florida needed another shootout in order to keep its unbeaten season alive. And when it was over, the Knights found out their coach won’t be around much longer.
In one of the wildest FBS conference championship games, the No. 14 Knights captured the American Athletic Conference title with a 62-55 victory over No. 20 Memphis in double overtime.
It is the UCF’s third AAC crown in the past five years and comes eight days after it won the East Division with a 49-42 win over South Florida.
It was a wild game and quite possibly the last at UCF for coach Scott Frost. Less than two hours after the game, the second-year coach and Nebraska native was announced as the Cornhuskers’ next coach. Frost agreed to a seven-year, $35 million contract.
Frost said during the postgame news conference that he would discuss it with his team first.
“The hard thing about all of this is they should give you time after the season to make decisions and they don’t. These things happen at the wrong time,” Frost said. “The one thing I wasn’t going to do was sacrifice my commitment to this team. I’ve been game planning, coaching and doing the best that I can for these guys and these decisions land on you.”
Athletic director Danny White said that there is a possibility that Frost would coach the Knights in their bowl game. Offensive coordinator Troy Walters has been named the interim coach to handle day-to-day matters.
If this was the end for Frost it was quite a sendoff. The top two scoring teams in the country combined for 117 points — which is a record for an FBS conference championship game — and 1,479 yards. It was tied at 48 at the end of regulation.
McKenzie Milton threw for 494 yards (28 of 40) and five touchdowns as he was named the game’s most outstanding player.
Memphis’ Riley Ferguson was 30 of 42 for 471 yards and four touchdowns.
NO. 3 OKLAHOMA 41, NO. 11 TCU 17: Heisman Trophy front-runner Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns and the Sooners staked their playoff spot with a victory over the Horned Frogs in the return of the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas.
With their record 11th Big 12 title, the Sooners (12-1) are a lock to be in the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons. They are the only Big 12 team to make the four-team playoff format that started in 2014.
Oklahoma jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead, including Caleb Kelly’s 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown after running back Kyle Hicks’ turnover on the first offensive play by TCU (10-3).
Kenny Hill threw two touchdown passes to get the Horned Frogs within 24-17 at halftime, but Oklahoma scored twice on its first three offensive plays after the break.
NO. 6 GEORGIA 28, NO. 2 AUBURN 7: Shaking off a blowout loss to the Tigers just three weeks ago, Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes and the Bulldogs made its bid for a spot in the College Football Playoff with a victory in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Auburn (10-3) was the hottest team in the country, rolling into Atlanta after wins over Georgia and then-No. 1 Alabama in its past three games. But the Tigers were stymied by two crucial turnovers, a blocked field goal and a Georgia team eager to make up for its embarrassing 40-17 defeat.
Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and freshman D’Andre Swift provided a much more effective running game for Georgia than the first meeting, which opened up things for the freshman quarterback. Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 183 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown to Isaac Nauta in the second quarter and a 6-yarder to Terry Godwin with just over 13 minutes remaining that essentially sealed Georgia’s victory.
Auburn managed only 259 yards after piling up 488 in the Nov. 11 rout.
TOLEDO 45, AKRON 28: Logan Woodside threw four touchdown passes and Terry Swanson rushed for 180 yards and two scores as the Rockets defeated the Zips in the Mid-American Conference championship game Saturday in Detroit
Receivers Diontae Johnson (118 yards) and Jon’Vea Johnson (103) combined for 221 yards and three touchdowns for Toledo (11-2), which won its third conference championship game and first since 2004.
Akron (7-6) forced five turnovers but couldn’t overcome a lopsided first half in their second loss to the Rockets this season.
GRAMBLING 40, ALCORN STATE 32: Devante Kincade threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, and Tigers held off the Braves en route to their second straight Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.
It was the third consecutive meeting between the teams in the title game. Alcorn State (7-5) won it in 2015, and Grambling (11-1) rallied for a 27-20 victory in the 2016 championship.
Lenorris Footman was 20-of-34 passing for 307 yards with a touchdown pass and run in the fourth quarter for Alcorn State, which was making its fourth straight SWAC title game appearance.