UCF stays unbeaten, captures AAC title in 2 OTs
ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida needed another shootout to keep its unbeaten season alive. And when it was over the Knights found out their coach won’t be around much longer.
It has been quite a couple of weeks for UCF, but all things considered, the Knights probably could not have gone much better.
In one of the wildest FBS conference championship games ever, the 12th- ranked Knights captured the American Athletic Conference title with a 62- 55 victory over No. 16 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 in Orlando.
The crazy game was quite possibly the last at UCF for coach Scott Frost. Less than two hours after it was over, the second- year coach and former Nebraska quarterback was announced as the Cornhuskers’ next coach.
Frost inherited a team that was 0-12 in 2015.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 41, NORTH TEXAS 17: Devin Singletary ran for 164 yards and three touchdowns and Florida Atlantic beat North Texas to win its first Conference USA championship in coach Lane Kiffin’s fi rst season. The Owls (10-3) extended their unbeaten streak to nine games and were undefeated against C-USA opponents this season. Jason Driskel completed 15 of 27 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown, and Kalib Woods had a school-record 208 yards receiving yards. FAU had 633 yards of offense. The Owls, who beat North Texas (9-4) 69-31 in the regular season, took a 34-0 lead in the fi rst 33 minutes. FAU had gains of 47, 49, 22, 44, 21 and 34 yards in the first quarter alone.
BOISE STATE 17, NO. 25 FRESNO STATE 14: Brett Rypien threw for 246 yards and led a fourthquarter comeback to help Boise State beat No. 25 Fresno State in the Mountain West championship game.
Boise State ( 10- 3), which lost 28-17 to the Bulldogs a week ago in Fresno in the regularseason fi nale, won its second conference title in four years. Fresno State (9-4), which hasn’t won in Boise since 1984, still completed one of the best turnarounds in college history under fi rst- year coach Jeff Tedford after going 1-11 a year ago.
MOUNT UNION 70, FROSTBURG STATE 37: Luke Poorman accounted for seven touchdowns — six in the fi rst half — and host Mount Union (13-0) advanced to the Division III national semifi nals for the 23rd straight season by defeating Frostburg State ( 11- 2). Poorman passed for 355 yards on only 12 completions with six going for touchdowns. He also ran for a score. Justin Hill of Circleville had three TD catches and fi nished with 196 yards on six receptions. Poorman had two TD passes and a 25-yard run as the Purple Raiders bolted to a 21-0 lead in the fi rst quarter. They scored 28 more points in the second quarter – while giving up 24 – and led 49- 24 at halftime. Mount Union advances to face WisconsinOshkosh at time and location to be announced Sunday.