Unbeaten UCF wins shootout over Memphis
ORLANDO, Fla. — 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 15th-ranked 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.
The wild game was 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 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. This place has given me more than I have given this place.”
Athletic director Danny White said that there is a possibility that Frost would coach the Knights in their bowl. 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 — a record for an FBS conference championship game — and 1,479 yards. It was tied at 48 at the end of regulation.
UCF had the ball first in the second overtime and scored on a 1-yard run by Otis Anderson. Memphis (10-2) got as far as the UCF 9, but Riley Ferguson’s pass on second-and-goal was intercepted by Tre Neal as the Knights (12-0) secured a likely spot in a New Year’s Six bowl.
UCF’s McKenzie Milton threw for 494 yards (28 of 40) and five TDs as he was named the game’s most outstanding player.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 41 NORTH TEXAS 17
Coach Lane Kiffin’s first season with the Owls brought the school its first Conference USA championship after a victory over the Mean Green at Boca Raton, Fla.
Devin Singletary had 26 carries for 164 yards and three touchdowns for Florida Atlantic (103), which extended its unbeaten streak to nine games. Jason Driskel completed 15 of 27 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown for the Owls, and Kalib Woods had a school-record 208 receiving yards.
Florida Atlantic (10-3) had 633 yards of offense. Mason Fine completed 28 of 44 passes for 367 yards for North Texas (9-4).
FLORIDA ST. 42 LOUISIANA-MONROE 10
Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick each ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns as the Seminoles won their third consecutive game to secure a bowl bid with an easy victory at Tallahassee, Fla.
It’s the first time this season Florida State had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game and helped overcome the distractions of the week after coach Jimbo Fisher bolted for Texas A&M and Odell Haggins was named interim coach.
Patrick ran for 155 yards, and Akers added 117 as the Seminoles (6-6) accumulated 305 rushing yards.
BOISE ST. 17, FRESNO ST. 14
Ryan Wolpin’s two-yard touchdown run with 4:47 to play lifted the Broncos past the No. 25 Bulldogs in the Mountain West Championship at Boise, Idaho.
Boise State’s Brett Rypien was named the game’s MVP. Rypien’s 59-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson set up the winning score. Wilson caught eight passes for 148 yards for the Broncos (10-3).
TOLEDO 45, AKRON 28
Logan Woodside threw four TD passes, and Terry Swanson rushed for 180 yards and two scores as the Rockets defeated the Zips in the Mid-American Conference championship at Ford Field in Detroit.
Receivers Diontae Johnson (118 yards) and Jon’Vea Johnson (103) combined for 221 yards and three TDs for Toledo (11-2)
From wire reports