Tulane beats Memphis: How result impacts College Football Playoff race

After the first College Football Playoff rankings reveal this week, a huge Group of 6 game was waiting Friday night. Memphis took on Tulane in a crucial American Conference showdown, and there was plenty at take.

The Group of 6 did not have a team appear in the CFP Top 25, meaning the selection committee kept going. That’s when Memphis jumped into the projected 12-team bracket as the projected American Conference champion and, therefore, the G6 representative. But Friday’s game loomed large for the Tigers, taking on a Tulane team that also had just one loss in conference play.

It lived up to the billing. And with Tulane’s victory, there is now a path toward not only the American title game, but also the College Football Playoff. For Memphis, its odds of making the CFP took a major hit.

All told, six teams entered Week 11 with one loss in American action, including Memphis and Tulane. The Tigers fell to UAB last month while the Green Wave’s lone loss came to UTSA in blowout fashion a week ago. Based on the initial College Football Playoff rankings, either team would have to make – and win – the American Championship to make the bracket as the G6 representative.

That’s why Friday’s game was so important, and it lived up to the billing early. It was a 14-14 ballgame entering the second quarter. From there, it appeared Tulane took over. Memphis then made things interesting late, but the Green Wave ultimately held on for the victory.

With the loss, Memphis falls to 8-2 – including 4-2 in league play – and has an uphill battle to reach the conference title game and, therefore, the CFP. Tulane, meanwhile, is now 4-1 while staying in the middle of the American race.

How it happened: Tulane fights off Memphis

Jake Retzlaff took a 33-yard rush to the house to make it a 21-14 Green Wave lead, and he connected with Anthony Brown-Stephens for a 54-yard touchdown to go up 28-14. Retzlaff’s first two touchdown passes went more than 50 yards, and he completed his first eight passes for 210 yards.

The Green Wave then added on just before halftime when Retzlaff threw his third touchdown of the game. He found Shazz Preston for the second time in Saturday’s game for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 35-17 at the break.

After Tulane added on a field goal, Memphis mounted a charge. The Tigers got a 1-yard touchdown from Frank Peasant to start the fourth quarter, and the ensuing two-point conversion made it 38-25. Then, with 7:49 to go, Brendon Lewis found Brady Kluse in the corner of the end zone on a free play to cut the deficit to 38-32.

But Lewis later threw a costly interception and got hit as he threw. When Memphis got the ball back with less than five minutes to go, it was Arrington Maiden at quarterback. Lewis was unable to put pressure on the lower part of his body, ESPN’s Paul Carcaterra said on the broadcast. That meant it was up to Maiden, who entered Saturday without a completed pass at the college level, but ran in a touchdown earlier in the game.

Facing fourth down out of the two-minute timeout, the Tigers opted to go for it. After a false start, Maiden’s pass fell incomplete. That allowed Tulane to run out the clock after Retzlaff ran for a first down on an RPO, sealing the victory.