2024 AAC Championship Game: Army vs. Tulane matchup set as Green Wave cruise to blowout win over Navy

No. 25 Tulane punched its ticket to the AAC Championship Game with a 35-0 win over Navy on Saturday. The Green Wave will face No. 24 Army in the conference championship game on Friday, Dec. 6 with a potential spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff field on the line.
Navy came into the weekend needing a win over the Green Wave to keep its hopes of reaching the AAC title game intact. Tulane jumped out to a 14-0 halftime advantage behind touchdown runs from running back Makhi Hughes and quarterback Darian Mensah. Tulane scored 21 points after intermission and held Navy to to 113 yards of total offense to eliminate the Midshipmen from conference title game contention.
Jon Sumrall, in his first year as Tulane coach, has the program back in the AAC title game for the third consecutive year. Tulane poached Sumrall away from Troy this past offseason after former coach Willie Fritz took the vacant job at Houston. The Green Wave have won their last seven games under Sumrall after starting the season 1-2 with losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma.
With the five highest-ranked conference champions receiving an automatic bid to the CFP, the conference title game could serve as a win-and-in scenario for both teams next month. No. 13 Boise State remained the highest-ranked Group-of-Five program in the College Football Playoff Rankings earlier this week and has the inside track of receiving an automatic bid by winning out. The winner of the AAC title game could be right behind the Broncos in the pecking order.
Here is what you need to know about Tulane and Army ahead of next month’s AAC title game.
What to know about Tulane
Tulane improved to 7-0 in AAC play with a blowout win over Navy. The Green Wave’s two losses came earlier this season in back-to-back weeks to Kansas State and Oklahoma. In the game against the Wildcats at home, Tulane led throughout before allowing 14 unanswered points in the final 11 minutes. The following week against the Sooners, Tulane allowed 10 unanswered points in the final 6 minutes after a defensive touchdown cut the deficit to 24-19 with 14:20 left.
Tulane had a quarterback battle before the start of the season between Mensah and Oregon transfer Ty Thompson. While Thompson was viewed as a potential shoo-in replacement for former star quarterback Micahel Pratt, Mensah ultimately won the job. He came into the weekend with 2,059 passing yards and 16 touchdowns to only four interceptions. Hughes entered the week with 1,209 rushing yards, which ranked fourth in the country behind Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, UCF’s RJ Harvey and Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson. Hughes’ 15 rushing touchdowns rank eighth among all FBS players. Tulane closes out the regular season against Memphis on Nov. 28.
What to know about Army
No. 24 Army has a marquee showdown against Notre Dame next Saturday, which could serve as a chance to add a top-10 win to its résumé. The Black Knights are a run-first and run-heavy team, and it all starts with quarterback Bryson Daily. The star quarterback has rushed for 1,062 yards and 21 touchdowns this season while throwing for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. Running back Kanye Udoh is Army’s second-leading rusher and has 856 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Black Knights have been dominant in AAC play in their first season as a conference member. All seven league wins have come by double-digits, which includes a 14-3 victory over North Texas earlier this month. Army defeated Air Force 20-3 without Daily in the lineup behind a big day on the ground by Udoh. Army will face Notre Dame and UTSA to close out the regular season before facing Tulane in the conference title game. The Black Knights also have their annual date with rival Navy on Dec. 14 following the AAC title game.