No. 25 Tulane routs Navy 35-0 to clinch a spot in the AAC championship game

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Makhi Hughes ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 25 Tulane locked up its spot in the American Athletic Conference championship game by romping to a 35-0 victory over Navy on Saturday.

Darian Mensah threw for two TDs and ran for another as Tulane (9-2, 7-0, No. 25 CFP) guaranteed a championship meeting on Dec. 6 against No. 16 Army, which was idle Saturday. A victory there would bring a second league title in three years following a 23-year drought.

"It's unbelievable," first-year coach Jon Sumrall said. "It's such a testament to our administration, our fan base, our alumni. Everybody at Tulane has decided we want to be good at football. And we can be as good as we want to be. We can go as far as we want to go with this."

Sam Howard intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble for the Green Wave, who preserved their second shutout and held an opponent to single digits for the fourth time this season.

Tulane outgained Navy (7-3, 5-2) 358-113 on a gusty day and knocked starting Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath out of the game with a rib injury.

"With him, the package is just so expansive," Sumrall said of Horvath. "It's a lot of football to defend. When he goes out, I don't want to say it's simpler, but the other guy didn't quite do as much of the package."

The Midshipmen were shut out for the first time since a 15-0 loss to Army in 2020.

"Not that we were killing it when Blake was out there, but it certainly hurt to lose him," Navy coach Brian Newberry said. "He's a good player, but it's next-man-up mentality around here."

Hughes averaged only 3.7 yards on 22 carries — well below his 5.7 average entering Saturday — but had several important physical runs.

His longest, a 14-yard TD on a third-and-11 draw play, stretched it to 14-0 with four minutes left in the first half.

Then he carried it eight times on a 13-play, 65-yard TD drive to open the second half, burning 8 minutes, 45 seconds to put the contest out of reach. The last of that march was a 1-yard plunge to make it 21-0, coming on a second effort after he was met behind the line of scrimmage.

"I just had to use my full strength to get in that end zone," Hughes said.

Mensah completed 10 of 14 passes for 138 yards and ran for 57 more. Both touchdown throws came in the fourth quarter from short-yardage situations.

The takeaway

Tulane: This was a more impressive win than the offensive stats will indicate. After going three-and-out on their first two drives, the Green Wave scored on three of their next four possessions, each on drives of more than 60 yards.

Navy: The Midshipmen will wonder what might have been had Horvath not picked up an injury that began troubling him late in the first quarter and officially ruled him out in the third. He was his team's best rusher before his exit, gaining 25 yards on five carries.

Poll implications

A dominant road win against a good team with an unorthodox offense would appear likely to keep Tulane in the rankings for a second consecutive week.