No. 17 Tulane’s College Football Playoff hopes took a disastrous hit on Thanksgiving night as the Green Wave lost 34-24 to Memphis.
Even if Tulane had won out, its CFP chances rested on Boise State losing a game. The No. 11 Broncos host Oregon State on Friday and still have the Mountain West Championship Game to play. If Boise State and No. 22 UNLV (vs. Nevada) win this weekend, the MWC championship would be a de facto CFP play-in game.
The Green Wave led 10-7 after the first quarter, but Memphis scored the next 20 points. A field goal as the fourth quarter opened pushed the Tigers’ lead to 27-10. Tulane responded with a touchdown to make it 27-17, then completed a deep pass to set up first-and-goal with 9:58 left.
But referees and replay determined it was a Tulane fumble and Memphis ball, first announcing post-review that it was Tulane’s ball but then switching to Memphis’ ball in a confusing situation. A 47-yard touchdown run by Memphis running back Mario Anderson with 2:41 left put the game away.
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Tulane ran for more than 200 yards in each of its previous four games, but Memphis stuffed the run all night, holding Tulane to 57 yards.
Tulane quarterback Darian Mesah finished 21-for-33 passing for 317 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan went 22-for-29 passing for 218 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the AAC’s all-time leader in passing yards. Anderson ran for 177 yards, and Memphis finished the regular season at 10-2 with the win, marking consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time in program history.
Tulane already had clinched a spot in the AAC Championship Game but will play it at Army if the Black Knights beat UTSA this weekend. Army may have an outside CFP shot if it beats UTSA, beats Tulane and gets some Mountain West chaos. But any chance of the AAC and MWC finishing ahead of the Big 12 champion and locking out the Big 12 from the CFP also ended Thursday night.
(Photo of Greg Desrosiers Jr. (13): Matthew Hinton / Imagn Images)
