No. 18 CFP Tulane Wins 2022 AAC Football Championship!!!!

Saturday, December 3

New Orleans, LA

3 p.m.

Tulane University

11-2 , 7-1

University of Central Florida

9-4 , 6-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UCF

Tulane

No. 18 CFP Tulane Wins 2022 AAC Football Championship!!!!

Dec 3, 2022 | Football

Box Score

Defeats No. 22 CFP UCF 45-28

FINAL STATS | POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE | GALLERY BY PARKER WATERS

NEW ORLEANS – The 18th-ranked Tulane football team (11-2) kept its magical season going with a thrilling 45-28 victory over No. 22 CFP UCF (9-4) on Saturday at Yulman Stadium in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Football Championship game. It was the first-ever AAC football title for the program and the first time the football team both played in and hosted the conference championship game.

Michael Pratt totaled five touchdowns in the contest (four passing and one rushing) to go along with a career-high 394 passing yards on his 20 completions. He was the first Tulane player to throw for more than 350 yards since Justin McMillan in 2018. Pratt also ran for 48 yards and the score. For his standout play, He was named the AAC Football Championship Game's Most Outstanding Player.

Tyjae Spears led a strong rushing attack with 199 yards and a touchdown on his 22 attempts.

Shae Wyatt led the team with his five catches. He recorded 110 receiving yards and a pair of scores. Wyatt was one of two Tulane receivers that went over 100 yards in the game with Duece Watts catching three passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. The two receivers with over 100 yards were a first for the program since 2017 when Darnell Mooney (168) and Terren Encalade (111) accomplished the feat.

It was the first time that Tulane has had a 100+ yard rusher, at least one 100+ receiver and a 300 + passer since the team accomplished the feat against Rice in 2010 (Orleans Darkwa – 113 rushing / Ryan Grant – 140 receiving / Ryan Griffin – 314 passing).

Dorian Williams led the defense with 10 tackles, two stops for loss and a sack. Larry Brooks totaled nine tackles. Nick Anderson had eight tackles including half a sack. Darius Hodges had seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Jesus Machado picked up seven tackles. Macon Clark totaled seven stops. Keith Cooper had five tackles and a sack and a half. Patrick Jenkins totaled four tackles and two sacks.

Tulane's offense ended the contest with 648 yards (254 rushing and 394 passing). The total yardage was the fourth-most in school history and the most since the 2017 campaign. The program's defense recorded six sacks and nine tackles for loss.

In game action, the Tulane offense scored first as Pratt connected with Wyatt from 10 yards out to give the Green Wave the 7-0 lead with 7:46 remaining in the opening quarter.

After a stop for the Tulane defense, the Green Wave offense marched down the field and picked up the 27-yard field goal from Valentino Ambrosio to put the score at 10-0 with 1:01 remaining in the opening quarter.

UCF capitalized on the momentum of a fourth down stop to score their first touchdown of the game as Xavier Townsend ran it in from the five to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 6:48 remaining in the second quarter.

The Green Wave's passing attack answered back on the next drive as Pratt and Lawrence Keys connected for a 43-yard pitch-and-catch touchdown to again go up two scores, 17-7, with 5:00 before the half. That score would hold heading into the break.

In the second half, Spears electrified the crowd with 60-yard touchdown run where he alluded six defenders before ending up in the end zone to put the score at 24-7 Tulane with 12:09 remaining in the quarter.

UCF would not go quietly as it drew to within two scores on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Plumlee to Kobe Hudson at the end of the third quarter.

Tulane would answer to start the fourth as Pratt and Watts connected on a 73-yard pitch-and-catch to increase its lead to three scores, 31-14, with 14:29 remaining in the contest. The 73-yard reception was the longest pass play in the history of the AAC Football Championship game.

UCF drew to within to two scores on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Hudson. After a defensive stop, the Knights kept coming and crept to within a field goal on the touchdown run from Isaiah Bowser to put the score at 31-28 with 9:48 remaining in the game.

Tulane added a huge touchdown and some much-needed breathing room as Pratt connected with Wyatt for a 60-yard touchdown to put the Green Wave up 38-28 with 8:18 remaining.

After another big defensive stand, the Tulane offense continued to roll with Pratt rushing it in from 18 yards out to put the Green Wave up 45-28 with 4:04 remaining in the game in what would be the final score.

Next the Tulane football team continues its season and will participate in the 87th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Jan. 2. The official bowl announcement will be made on Sunday. Tulane will be playing in its fourth bowl game in the last five years and the 15th bowl game all-time (1932 – Rose Bowl, 1935 – Sugar Bowl, 1940 – Sugar Bowl, 1970 – Liberty Bowl, 1973 – Blue Bonnet Bowl, 1979 _Liberty Bowl, 1980 – Hall of Fame Bowl, 1987 – Independence Bowl, 1998 – Liberty Bowl, 2002 – Hawai'i Bowl, 2013 – New Orleans Bowl, 2018 – Cure Bowl, 2020 – Armed Forces Bowl and 2020 – Idaho Potato Bowl).

Notes: The win makes Tulane 11-2 overall this season …The 11 wins this year are the most since 1998's 12 victories…The 11 wins are the second-most in the program's history for a single season…It is the only fourth time that the program has won 10 or more games in a season (2022 {11-2}, 1998 {12-0}, 1934 {10-1}, 1931{10-1}) …The nine-game improvement in wins from last year tied the FBS record…The win snapped UCF's five-game winning streak over Tulane and was the first for the program over the Knights since 2015.

- Spears' 199 yards rushing in the game was his eighth time this season and seventh straight game with over 100 yards on the ground…It was the 14th time he has topped the century mark on the ground in his career (2x in 2020, 4x in 2021 and 8x in 2022)…Pratt has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 33 of his 34 career games…Tulane has now run for 100 yards as a team in 85 of the last 89 games…

-The win over No. 22 UCF marked the second straight game that Tulane has defeated a fellow-ranked AP opponent after last week's 27-24 road win over Cincinnati...Last week's win was the first time that the program had defeated a ranked team since 1956 against Ole Miss (24,142 days prior to last week's victory)…The win makes Tulane 21-122-2 all-time against the Associated Press Top-25….The team improves to 16-47-2 in home games against the Top 25.

- The announced attendance for the game was a new stadium record of 30,118…The attendance bettered the previous mark of 30,100 against Memphis earlier this season.

- The game marked only the eighth time in school history and first time since 1946 that the program has hosted eight or more games in a single season {2022 (8), 1946 (8), 1945 (8), 1939 (9), 1938 (8), 1935 (9), 1931 (8), 1931 (8) and 1909 (8)}.

- Since the start of the 2016 season, Tulane is now 36-9 when leading at halftime.

TICKETS
Tickets for the 2022 season for men's and women's basketball and baseball can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Tulane football on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.