2015 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

The 2015 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was held on December 5, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas. The first football championship game for The American, it was hosted by the Houston Cougars, West Division champion, and featured the Temple Owls, East Division champion. It was broadcast on ABC.

2015 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
Conference Championship
Logo of the Championship Game
Temple Owls Houston Cougars (10–2) (11–1) 13 24 Head coach:  Matt Rhule Head coach:  Tom Herman AP Coaches CFP 20 21 22 AP Coaches CFP 17 18 19
1 2 3 4 Total Temple 0 3 7 3 13 Houston 7 10 7 0 24
Date	December 5, 2015
Season	2015
Stadium	TDECU Stadium
Location	Houston, TX
MVP	Greg Ward Jr. (QB, Houston)
Favorite	Houston by 5.5
Referee	Michael Roche
Attendance	35,721
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC/IMG
Announcers	Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, and Todd McShay (ABC) Tony Castricone and Tony Pike (IMG)

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Temple x		7	–	1					10	–	4
South Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Cincinnati		4	–	4					7	–	6
UConn		4	–	4					6	–	7
East Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
UCF		0	–	8					0	–	12
West Division
No. 8 Houston xy$		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 18 Navy x		7	–	1					11	–	2
Memphis		5	–	3					9	–	4
Tulsa		3	–	5					6	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
SMU		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Houston 24, Temple 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 31, 2015 Rankings from AP Poll

Teams

Houston

Main article: 2015 Houston Cougars football team

The Houston Cougars football team is a member of the American Athletic Conference in its West Division. They finished the season 13–1, 7–1 in American Athletic play to win a share of the West Division title. Due to their head to head win over Navy, they represented the West Division in the inaugural American Athletic Championship Game. This was their first conference championship game since 2011, when they were Conference USA. They were aiming for their first conference championship since 2006.

Temple

Main article: 2015 Temple Owls football team

The Temple Owls were members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 10–4, 7–1 in American Athletic Conference play to finish as champions of the East Division. This was their first division title since 2009, when they tied with Ohio for the MAC West title. They represented the East Division in the American Athletic Championship Game. The Owls were aiming for their first conference title since winning the Middle Atlantic Conference in 1967 and their first major conference title in school history.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Temple Houston 1 10:05 10 36 2:55 Houston Javin Webb 1-yard run (Ty Cummings kick) 0 7 2 13:28 9 42 2:59 Houston Ty Cummings 24-yard field goal 0 10 2 5:32 5 71 1:59 Houston Greg Ward Jr. 47-yard run (Ty Cummings kick) 0 17 2 1:46 9 51 3:46 Temple Austin Jones 40-yard field goal 3 17 3 6:40 7 71 3:38 Houston Greg Ward Jr. 10-yard run (Ty Cummings kick) 3 24 3 2:26 10 75 4:14 Temple Robby Anderson 13-yard pass from P. J. Walker (Austin Jones kick) 10 24 4 11:29 10 29 4:47 Temple Austin Jones 39-yard field goal 13 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 13 24

Source:

Statistics

Statistics	Houston	Temple
First Downs	16	19
Total offense	339	385
Rushing yards–TD	233–3	98–0
Passing yards–TD	106–0	287–1
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	12–22–0	26–44–1
Fumbles: Number–Lost	0–0	1–1
Penalties: Number–Yards	5–40	2–15
Punts: Average Yardage	36.5	33
Kickoffs: Average Yardage	63	59
Sacks: Number–Yards	1–4	0–0
Field Goals: Good–Att	1–1	2–2
Points off turnovers	7	0
Time of Possession	26:01	32:58