The No. 25 AP / No. 25 CFP Tulane football team (9-2,7-0 AAC) shutout the first conference opponent since 1960 to earn an appearance in the 2024 American Athletic Conference Football Championship with a dominate 35-0 road victory over Navy (7-3, 5-2 AAC) on Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Darian Mensah had a strong all-around performance in going 10-for-14 for 138 yards and two touchdowns through the air and also running for a career-high 57 and a touchdown in the victory. Makhi Hughes ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Arnold Barnes III totaled 62 yards on the ground and also hauled in a touchdown pass. Mario Williams led the squad with his three catches and totaled 46 yards. Dontae Fleming was the receiving leader on the team with his two catches for 56 yards.

Tyler Grubbs led a strong team effort on defense with five tackles. Sam Howard recorded four tackles, a stop for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery. His fumble recovery was his fifth of the season. Gerrod Henderson picked up four tackles. Terrell Allen, Kevin Adams III, Caleb Ransaw all had stops for loss. Deshaun Batiste forced a fumble.

Tulane limited Navy to just 113 yards including only 13 passing yards in the game and 1-for-11 on third down. The Green Wave picked up 358 yards with 138 through the air and 220 on the ground. The team also went 6-for-13 on third down while holding onto the ball for 35:47 and forcing a pair of turnovers.

Tulane scored first after getting an interception for Sam Howard the offense marched down the field on a five play, 63-yard drive that was capped off on a Mensah 14-yard rush to put the score at 7-0 with 1:07 remaining in the opening quarter.

Following a fourth down stop, the Tulane offense kept things in gear as the program drove down the field and scored on a 14-yard rush from Makhi Hughes to put the score at 14-0 with 4:00 left in the second quarter.

The Green Wave got the ball to start the second half and went on a 13-play, 65 yard drive that drained 8:45 off the clock and was capped off on the one-yard rush from Hughes to put Tulane up 21-0 with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

Mensah connected on his first touchdown pass of the game as he hit Alex Bauman on a one-yard to put the Green Wave up 28-0 with 9:19 remaining in the game.

The Green Wave defense again gave the offense a short field as Deshaun Batiste forced a fumble that was recovered by Sam Howard. It was Howard's fifth fumble recovery of the season. The Tulane offense capitalized quickly as Mensah hit Barnes on a one-yard touchdown to increase the margin to 35-0 with 7:38 remaining in what would be the final score.

Next, the football team returns home to host Memphis on Nov. 28 for a Thanksgiving game starting at 6:30 p.m. that will also be shown on ESPN.