Makhi Hughes rushed for two touchdowns and No. 25 Tulane’s defense smothered Navy 35-0 in Annapolis, Md., in their American Athletic Conference showdown on Saturday.
Darian Mensah threw for 138 yards and two scores and also ran for a TD for Tulane (9-2, 7-0 AAC), which clinched a berth in next month’s conference title game against No. 24 Army.
The Midshipmen (7-3, 5-2) played most of the game without star quarterback Blake Horvath, who left with a rib injury after a 9-yard rush during Navy’s third possession.
Horvath, a threat running and throwing, returned briefly before halftime but absorbed a bruising 9-yard sack on the first play. That possession ended in a three-and-out, and Horvath was done for the day. His only pass was an incompletion, and he had 25 yards on five rushes.
Hughes, who began the day fourth in the FBS with 1,209 yards rushing, finished with 82 yards on 22 carries. He capped a 65-yard drive to open the third quarter with a 1-yard scoring run to extend Tulane’s lead to 21-0.
Mensah’s 1-yard touchdown throw to Alex Bauman made it 28-0 with 9:19 left in the game.
Braxton Woodson, who came on for Horvath, turned the ball over twice in a rough outing. He completed 3 of 10 passes for 13 yards with an interception and rushed 13 times for 24 yards while fumbling the ball away deep in Navy territory.
Mensah turned that giveaway into another 1-yard scoring pass, this one to Arnold Barnes III, with 7:38 left in the game.
After finishing with 90 yards in the first half, the Midshipmen had a mere 113 for the game. Tulane amassed 358 yards in winning its eighth straight game.
After going three-and-out on its first two possessions, Tulane capitalized on the only turnover of the first half.
Woodson was picked off by Sam Howard, giving the Green Wave the ball at their own 37. On the second play, Mensah hit Dontae Fleming for a 44-yard pass. Three plays later, Mensah scrambled up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Navy tried to answer, converting a fourth-and-1 at the Tulane 44 on its next possession. But on a fourth-and-3 at the 35, the Green Wave’s Caleb Ransaw broke up a 5-yard pass play that would have yielded a first down.
Tulane then marched 65 yards on 11 plays, chewing up more than six minutes, and capped by Hughes’ 14-yard touchdown run.
–Field Level Media
