2022_Conference_USA_Football_Championship_Game
2022 Conference USA Football Championship Game
College football game
The 2022 Conference USA Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 2, 2022, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. It was the 18th edition of the Conference USA Football Championship Game and determined the champion of Conference USA (C–USA) for the 2022 season. The game began at 7:00 pm and aired on CBS Sports Network. The contest saw the host UTSA Roadrunners defeat the North Texas Mean Green 48–27 to claim the conference title for the second straight season. Sponsored by tax services and consulting firm Ryan LLC, the game was officially known as the Ryan Conference USA Football Championship Game.
| 2022 Ryan Conference USA Football Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Conference Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
 The Alamodome during the 2022 Conference USA Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 2, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Alamodome | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | San Antonio, Texas[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Frank Harris, QB, UTSA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | UTSA by 8.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Rory Bernard | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 41,412 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBSSN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor and Sherree Burruss | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTSA y$ | 8 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas y | 6 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Kentucky | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Middle Tennessee | 4 | – | 4 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UAB | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Atlantic | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTEP | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIU | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charlotte | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana Tech | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: UTSA 48, North Texas 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was the final C-USA game for both teams, which joined the American Athletic Conference in July 2023.[2]
North Texas and UTSA previously met in the regular season, also hosted at the Alamodome, with the Roadrunners defeating the Mean Green 31–27.
North Texas
North Texas finished the regular season with an overall record of 7–5, going 6–2 in C-USA play to finish tied for second in the conference with Western Kentucky. The Mean Green were selected for the championship game over the Hilltoppers due to tiebreakers as North Texas defeated Western Kentucky 40–13 in the regular season. This was the Mean Green's second appearance in the C-USA championship game, losing 17–41 to Florida Atlantic in the 2017 championship game.
The Mean Green were led by seventh-year head coach Seth Littrell in what would be his last game as the program's head coach.[3]
UTSA
The Roadrunners finished the regular season with an overall record of 10–2, going 8–0 in C-USA play to finish first in the conference. UTSA's only losses of the regular season were against no. 24 Houston, 35–37 in triple overtime, and 20–41 against no. 21 Texas. This was the Roadrunners' second appearance in the C-USA Championship game, having defeated Western Kentucky 49–41 in the previous year's championship game.
The Roadrunners were led by third-year head coach Jeff Traylor.
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| North Texas | 7 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 23 UTSA | 7 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 48 |
| Game information |
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at Alamodome • San Antonio, Texas
- Date: December 2, 2021
- Game time: 6:30 p.m. CST
- Game weather: n/a (game played indoors)
- Game attendance: 41,412
- Referee: Rory Bernard
- TV announcers (CBSSN): Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (analyst), and Sherree Burruss (sidelines)
- Pregame line: UTSA –8.5
| Statistics | North Texas | UTSA |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 19 | 32 |
| plays–yards | 65–366 | 85–571 |
| Rushes/yards | 35–172 | 47–227 |
| Passing yards | 194 | 344 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 14–30–2 | 33–38–0 |
| Time of possession | 22:17 | 37:43 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Texas | Passing | Austin Aune | 14/29, 194 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs |
| Rushing | Ikaika Ragsdale | 17 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Kaylon Horton | 3 receptions, 58 yards | |
| UTSA | Passing | Frank Harris | 32/37, 341 yards, 4 TDs |
| Rushing | Kevorian Barnes | 28 carries, 175 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Zakhari Franklin | 10 receptions, 144 yards, 3 TDs |
- "UTSA crushes Rice 41-7, will host Conference USA title game for second straight season". ksat.com. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
- "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- Cruz, Alex (December 4, 2022). "North Texas fires football coach Seth Littrell after seven seasons". WFAA. Retrieved September 28, 2023.