Tulane makes case for Cotton
NEW ORLEANS — Michael Pratt accounted for 442 total yards and five touchdowns, Tyjae Spears highlighted his
199 yards rushing with a 60yard score and No. 18 Tulane beat No. 22 UCF 45-28 on Saturday night in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
The victory virtually assured Tulane (11-2) would play in the Cotton Bowl — its first major New Year’s Day bowl since the 1939 season — only one season after going 2-10. Jubilant fans stormed field as the game ended, capping a campaign that would have been hard to conceive of a year ago with an equally unthinkable celebratory scene.
Pratt passed for a careerhigh 394 yards, including touchdowns of 73 yards to Duece Watts, 60 and 10 yards to Shae Wyatt and 43 yards to Lawrence Keys. Pratt also ran for a pivotal 18-yard touchdown with 4:04 left.
Spears electrified the sellout crowd of 30,118 at Tulane’s cozy, on-campus Yulman Stadium with his long scoring run on which he broke two tackles near the line of scrimmage, made two other defenders miss and hurndled his own fallen teammate after cutting back inside.
The Green Wave, which earned the right to host the title game by ending Cincinnati’s 32-game home winning streak last weekend, avenged a 38-31 regular-season loss to UCF (9-4) on the same field three weeks ago.
But UCF was not quite the same team because of QB John Rhys Plumlee’s nagging hamstring injury, which appeared to rob him of the explosiveness he displayed by running for 176 yards at Tulane on Nov. 12.
Plumlee struggled so much early on that coach Gus Malzahn pulled him from the game in the second quarter favor of Thomas Castellanos. But with Tulane up 24-7 in the middle of the third quarter, Malzahn put Plumlee back in as primarily a passer — and he nearly led the Kights all the way back.
Plumlee led UCF quickly for a touchdown to make it 24-14, converting a fourth-and-10 pass along the way and capping the drive with a 17-yarder to Kobe Hudson.
Tulane responded when both UCF safeties froze on a play-fake to Spears and Pratt found Watts running free behind the defense.
UCF cut it to 31-21 when former Virginia QB RJ Harvey took a backward pass from Plumlee and launched a 49yard TD pass to Hudson.
And the Knights got the ball right back when Spears fumbled after catching a short pass on the Green Wave 30.
And Isaiah Bowser’s 10-yard run shortly after got UCF as close as 31-28 with 9:48 still to play.
But Pratt again found a way to lead the Wave down the field, connecting with Wyatt for the longer of his two touchdowns, and UCF didn’t threaten again.
NO. 2 MICHIGAN 43, PURDUE 22
In Indianapolis, Donovan Edwards ran for 185 yards and a score, J.J. McCarthy threw three touchdown passes and Michigan beat Purdue for its second straight Big Ten title and a likely No. 2 playoff seed.
College football’s winningest program has the first 13-win season in school history. Two more victories would give the Wolverines (13-0) their first national championship since 1997.
JACKSON STATE 43 SOUTHERN 24
In Jackson, Miss., Shedeur Sanders threw for four touchdowns, including two on three first-quarter turnovers, staking the Tigers to a big early lead in the Southwest Athletic Conference championship game that was Deion Sanders’ final game as Tigers coach.
Colorado named Sanders coach late Saturday.
JSU (12-0) quashed any questions about Sanders’ future being a distraction by completing the first unbeaten regular season in school history and claiming its second consecutive SWAC championship. The Tigers’ top-ranked defense set the tone by quickly pouncing on the Jaguars for three turnovers in eight plays in the first quarter.
NO. 9 CLEMSON 39
NO. 23 NORTH CAROLINA 10
In Charlotte, N.C., the Tar Heels (9-4) scored first, but the Tigers (11-2) rebounded to win their seventh Atlantic Coast Conference title in eight years. Freshman Cade Klubnik came in relief of D.J. Uiagaleilei and finished 20 of 24 for 279 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers forced freshman quarterback Drake Maye into two interceptions, including an nterception in the third quarter that was returned 98 yards for a touchdown by Nate Wiggins.
TROY 45, COASTAL CAROLINA 26
In Troy, Ala., Gunnar Watson passed for 318 yards and three long touchdowns to lead the Trojans to the Sun Belt Conference championship.
The Trojans (11-2) raced ahead 31-0 in the first half en route to their Sun Belt-record seventh league title and 10th consecutive win under firstyear coach Jon Sumrall. It was Troy’s first league title since 2017 and fans celebrated by storming the field and bringing down a goal post.
TOLEDO 17, OHIO 7
In Detroit, Dequan Finn passed for a touchdown and rushed for 86 yards on 18 carries as the Rockets captured their first Mid-American Conference championship since 2017.
Finn completed 16 of 25 passes for 154 yards. Jacquez Stuart rushed for 93 yards on nine carries, including a 29-yard touchdown. Micah Kelly added 53 rushing yards for the Rockets (8-5), who lost their last two conference games.
FRESNO STATE 28 BOISE STATE 16
In Boise, Idaho, Jake Haener threw for 184 yards and a touchdown, Nikko Remigio returned a punt 70 yards for a score, and the Bulldogs won the Mountain West championship.
Fresno State (9-4) overcame a 1-4 start to the season and a rash of injuries to win its final eight games, claiming the program’s third league crown.