Tulane Takes Down North Texas for Second American Conference Title

Friday, December 5

New Orleans, LA

7 p.m.

Tulane University

11-2 , 7-1

University of North Texas

11-2 , 7-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Texas

Tulane

Tulane Takes Down North Texas for Second American Conference Title

Dec 6, 2025 | Football

Box Score

Photo Gallery

NEW ORLEANS – The No. 20 Tulane football team (11-2) achieved the program's second consecutive historic victory with a 34-21 win over No. 24 North Texas (11-2) on Friday night, Jan. 5, at Yulman Stadium, securing a spot in the 2025 American Conference Championship.

North Texas struck first, as Drew Mestemaker connected with Tre Williams on an 11-yard touchdown to cap a 15-play drive, putting the Mean Green ahead 7-0 with 8:32 remaining in the first quarter.

Tulane responded with a 16-play drive that concluded on a fourth-down conversion, as Jake Retzlaff ran it in from the two-yard line with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter, tying the game at 7.

The Green Wave's defense forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing possession. Tulane capitalized quickly, driving 37 yards over two plays, ending with Jamauri McClure's seven-yard rush at the 12:29 mark of the second quarter, giving Tulane a 14-7 lead.

Following another defensive stop, Tulane added a 30-yard field goal from Patrick Durkin, his 23rd of the season—tying the school single-season record—to push the lead to 17-7 with 5:46 remaining before halftime.

A muffed punt that hit off a North Texas player led to another short field for Tulane. The offense took advantage as Retzlaff scampered in on a one-yard touchdown run as the clock hit zero, extending the lead to 24-7 at halftime.

The Green Wave's defense scored next when Chris Rodgers intercepted a pass on fourth down and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, making it 31-7 at the 7:32 mark of the third quarter. It marked Tulane's first non-offensive touchdown of the season.

North Texas responded with a 59-yard touchdown pass from Mestemaker to Miles Colman, cutting the lead to 31-13 with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Mean Green kept fighting, scoring again on a nine-yard rush by Ashton Gray, who also converted the two-point attempt, bringing the score to 31-21 with 9:35 remaining.

Durkin then added his fifth field goal—his career-long 52-yarder—with 2:51 left, sealing the 34-21 victory after Jahiem Johnson's interception on North Texas's final drive. Durkin's 52-yard field goal was the longest in school history since Brad Palazzo's in 1997, and his five field goals tied the school record.

Following the game, safety Jack Tchienchou was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship Game.

Next, Tulane will learn its opponent when the first round of the playoff seedings are announced on Sunday, Dec. 7, starting at 11 a.m.

Offense
Jake Retzlaff finished 13-for-22 for 145 yards, with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. Jamauri McClure led the rushing attack with 121 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Javin Gordon added 26 rushing yards. Garrett Mmahat led the receivers with three catches for 39 yards, while Omari Hayes also caught three passes. Zycarl Lewis Jr. had two receptions for 30 yards.

Defense
Jack Tchienchou led the defense with nine tackles, including a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and an interception. Chris Rodgers recorded seven tackles and an interception returned for a touchdown. Jahiem Johnson added five tackles and an interception. Santana Hopper totaled two sacks, with Sam Howard, Harvey Dyson III, and Mo Westmoreland each recording a sack. LJ Green also contributed with a sack, and Isaiah Wadsworth added a fumble recovery.

Special Teams
Patrick Durkin successfully converted two of three field goal attempts, including a career-long 52-yarder, his 24th of the season—setting a school record. Alec Clark punted three times, averaging 52 yards with a long of 63, and placed two inside the 20.

Team
Tulane outgained North Texas 463-140, including a 175-20 advantage in rushing yards. The Green Wave's defense forced five sacks, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries. The team held North Texas to 25.8 points below their season average, with 104 yards fewer passing than average. The 21 points surrendered was the team's season low by 10 points.

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Notes
- Jack Tchienchou, who had a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a interception, is the first Tulane player in the same game with all three since Trent Mackey in 2010 against Rice. He is the first player to do so in an FBS Conference Championship to do all three since Wisconsin's Andrew van Ginkel in the 2017 BIG Championship Game.

- The game was the fourth straight season that Tulane has played for the American Conference Championship. The other schools who have had longer conference championship game streaks are

6 – Clemson - ACC (2010-15)
6 - Marshall – MAC (1997-02)
6 – Northern Illinois – MAC (2010-15)
5 – Florida – SEC (1992-96)
5 – Oklahoma – Big 12 (2010, 2017-20)*
4 – Tulane - American
The Big 12 did not hold a conference championship game from 2011-16.

- The victory was the second for Tulane in the American Conference Championship in the last four years to tie for the most all-time league championships in the history of the league since the start of conference championship games in 2015.

2- Tulane (2022, 2025)
2- Cincinnati (2020, 2021)
2 - UCF (2017, 2018)
1- Army (2024)
1 – SMU (2023)
1 – Memphis (2019)
1 – Temple (2016)
1- Houston (2015)

- The win improved Tulane to 7-0 at home this season. The 7-0 record is the best home mark for the team since 1948 when the team also went 7-0 in home contests. The seven home victories is the fifth time the program has ever won seven or more home games in a season (2025, 1948, 1939, 1931 and 1929). The seven home wins are tied for the second-most in a single season behind the eight from the 1931 squad. This season marked the 31st time in school history that program has played seven or more home games and the first time since 2023.

- The two field goals from Patrick Durkin are his 23rd and 24th of the season to move him past Brad Palazzo (1997) into first place all-time at the school. His 112 points this year are also the most points for a kicker in school history. His 112 points are the fifth-most in school history for any player.

Single Season Field Goal List
1. Patrick Durkin (2025, 24)
2. Brad Palazzo (1997, 23)
t-3. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 21)
t-3. Cairo Santos (2012, 21)
t-4. Seth Marler (2002, 20)

Single Season Points Kicking
1. Patrick Durkin (2025, 112)
2. Brad Palazzo (1997, 109)
3. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 105)

Single Season Total Points
1. Matt Forte (2007, 140)
t-2. Bill Banker (1928, 128)
t-2. Charles Flourney (1925, 128)
4. Tyjae Spears (2022, 126)
5. Patrick Durkin (2025, 112)
6. Brad Palazzo (1997, 109)
7. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 105)
8. Makhi Hughes (2024, 102)
9. Bill Banker (1929, 99)

- With two rushing touchdowns, Jake Retzlaff has now run for 16 scores this season. His 16 rushing touchdowns, besides being a school record for a Tulane quarterback, are the third-most in school history. Overall, Retzlaff is just the third different Tulane player to rush for 16 or more touchdowns in a season along with Matt Forte (2007 – 23) and Tyjae Spears (2022 – 19).

Tulane Single-Season Rushing Touchdown List
1. Matt Forte (2007, 23)
2. Tyjae Spears (2022, 19)
3. Jake Retzlaff (2025, 16)
4. Makhi Hughes (2024, 15)
5. Orleans Darkwa (2011, 13)
t-6. Justin McMillian (2019, 12)
t-6. Dontrell Hillard (2017, 12)
t-6. Orleans Darkwa (2012, 12)

- With 145 yards passing against North Texas, Jake Retzlaff has moved into sixth all-time at Tulane in a single season passing.

Tulane Single-Season Passing Touchdown List
1. Patrick Ramsey (1999, 3410)
2. Shaun King (1998, 3232)
3. JP Losman (2003, 3077)
4. Michael Pratt (2022, 3009)
5. Patrick Ramsey (2001, 2935)
6. Jake Retzlaff (2025, 2862)
7. Patrick Ramsey (2000, 2833)
8. Lester Ricard (2006, 2795)
9. Ryan Griffin (2012, 2771)
10. Darian Mensah (2024, 2723)

High Scoring Duo In Tulane History
1. 213 pts – Matt Forte (140) / Ross Thevenot (73) – 2007
2. 210 pts. – Patrick Durkin (112) / Jake Retzlaff (98) – 2025
3. 202 pts. – Tyjae Spears (126) / Valentino Ambrosio - 2022

- The win improved Tulane's all-time record to 4-0 all-time against North Texas since the start of the series in 2013.

- The win improved Tulane to 11-2 or better for the third time the last four years and the fourth time in school history (2025, 2023, 2022 and 1931). The 11 wins this year are the most since 2022's 12 victories, The 11 wins are tied for third-most in the program's history for a single season.

Tulane Victories In a Season
t-1. 2022              12
t-1. 1998              12
t-3. 2025              11
t-3. 2023              11
t-5. 1934              10
t-5. 1931              10

- The win over North Texas, who was ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll this week, improved Tulane to 24-128-2 all-time against ranked AP opponents. It was Tulane's second win over an AP-ranked opponent this season (vs. Memphis – 11/7).

- Tulane has now won 40 of its last 50 games for the first time since a 50-game span between 1930 to 1935.

- Since the start of the 2022 season, Tulane is now 43-12 (.781).

- Tulane is one of six schools to win 43+ games from 2022-25

1. Georgia – 50
2. Ohio State – 48
3. Oregon – 46
4. Michigan – 45
t-5. Tulane – 43
t-5. Notre Dame - 43

- Head Coach Jon Sumrall is now 30-4 (.882) over the course of his four-year head coaching career in games played in the months of October, November or December.

- Coach Sumrall saw his all-time record rise to 43-11 (.796) with the win over the Mean Green. His .796 career winning percentage ranks him fourth among current FBS coaches with 50 games coached only behind Ohio State's Ryan Day (82-10, .891), Oregon's Dan Lanning (46-7, .865), and Georgia's Kirby Smart (116-20, .853). He is just ahead of Indiana's Curt Cignetti (142-37, .793).

- Coach Sumrall improved his record to 3-1 in conference championship games (2-0 Troy, 1-1 Tulane).

- The win improved Coach Sumrall to 18-3 all-time against American Conference programs. He has also defeated all 13 current teams in the American. Additionally, he has defeated 29 different schools in his head coaching career between his time at Troy and Tulane.

- Coach Sumrall is 34-1 in his coaching career when his team (Troy and now Tulane) outrushes the opposition as Tulane held a 199-121 lead in rushing yards over the Mean Green. His teams are 22-0 when holding the opposition under 100 yards rushing.

- Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Tulane has only had three games where it has been forced to punt more than six times (8 vs. Tulsa on Sept. 27, 2025, 9 on Dec. 2, 2023 vs. SMU and 7 on Sept. 17, 2022 vs. Kansas State).

- With four forced turnovers against the Mean Green, Tulane has now won 36 of its last 43 games when forcing a turnover. The program also has won 15 consecutive games when committing fewer turnovers. Coach Sumrall is 32-2 in his head coaching career when winning or the turnover battle is tied (25-1 when winning and 7-1 when tied).

- The Green Wave have outrushed the opposition in 39 of its last 53 games (including 33 of its last 43). In those games, Tulane holds a 36-3 record (losses in 2022 to Southern Miss and 2023 to Ole Miss and 2025 to UTSA).

- The program also has won 36 consecutive games when leading at the end of the third quarter with the last defeat coming to Memphis in 2021.

- Since the beginning of the 2016 season, Tulane is 61-7 (.897) when leading at the half and 61-9 (.871) when leading at the end of the third quarter.