2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
Conference Championship
Logo of the Championship Game
Temple Owls Navy Midshipmen (9–3) (9–2) 34 10 Head coach:  Matt Rhule Head coach:  Ken Niumatalolo AP Coaches CFP 20 20 19
1 2 3 4 Total Temple 14 10 0 10 34 Navy 0 3 7 0 10
Date	December 3, 2016
Season	2016
Stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Location	Annapolis, Maryland
MVP	P. J. Walker (QB, Temple)
Favorite	Navy by 2
Referee	Michael Roche
Attendance	22,815
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC/IMG
Announcers	Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge, and Holly Rowe (ABC) Tony Castricone and Tony Pike (IMG)

2016 American Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Temple xy$		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 19 South Florida x		7	–	1					11	–	2
UCF		4	–	4					6	–	7
Cincinnati		1	–	7					4	–	8
UConn		1	–	7					3	–	9
East Carolina		1	–	7					3	–	9
West Division
Navy xy		7	–	1					9	–	5
Tulsa		6	–	2					10	–	3
Memphis		5	–	3					8	–	5
Houston		5	–	3					9	–	4
SMU		3	–	5					5	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					4	–	8
Championship: Temple 34, Navy 10
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, held on Saturday, December 3, 2016, was the second football championship game for that conference. Houston defeated Temple, 24–13, in last year's game.

Teams

Navy

Main article: 2016 Navy Midshipmen football team

The Navy Midshipmen football team is a member of the American Athletic Conference in its West Division. They represented the West Division in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game.

Navy hosted the title game. Since Navy and Temple both finished 7–1 in American play and did not play during the regular season, the next tiebreaker used to determine the home team was College Football Playoff (CFP) ranking. Under American Conference rules, if one or both division champions enter the final week of conference play in the CFP rankings, the higher-ranked team will host, provided that it wins its game that week. Since Navy entered its conference finale against SMU at #25 in the CFP rankings, and won that game 75–31, the Midshipmen earned hosting rights. This was Navy's first ever conference championship appearance.

Temple

Main article: 2016 Temple Owls football team

The Temple Owls went 7–1 in American Athletic Conference play, finishing 1st in the East Division for the second straight year. Due to their win over South Florida, they represented the East Division in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. This was their second straight conference championship appearance. They were attempting to earn their first conference title since 1967, when the Owls were in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Temple Navy 1 9:43 12 75 5:17 Temple Jahad Thomas 15-yard touchdown run, Aaron Boumerhi kick good 7 0 1 3:01 6 59 3:17 Temple Ventell Bryant 22-yard touchdown reception from Phillip Walker, Aaron Boumerhi kick good 14 0 2 13:44 5 70 2:07 Temple Keith Kirkwood 56-yard touchdown reception from Phillip Walker, Aaron Boumerhi kick good 21 0 2 5:12 10 68 5:45 Navy 23-yard field goal by Bennett Moehring 21 3 2 0:22 5 20 0:29 Temple 48-yard field goal by Aaron Boumerhi 24 3 3 2:18 7 64 3:03 Navy Zach Abey 1-yard touchdown run, Bennett Moehring kick good 24 10 4 10:17 12 40 7:01 Temple 42-yard field goal by Aaron Boumerhi 27 10 4 3:04 2 34 0:48 Temple Ryquell Armstead 30-yard touchdown run, Aaron Boumerhi kick good 34 10 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 10

Source:

Statistics

Statistics	Temple	Navy
First Downs	18	13
Plays–yards	61–388	59–306
Rushes–yards	36–189	44–168
Passing yards	199	138
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	16–25–0	8–15–2
Time of possession	30:38	29:22