For the first time in 134 years of Army football, the Black Knights are conference champions.

Bryson Daily ran for 126 yards and four touchdowns as No. 24 Army beat Tulane 35-14 on Friday night to win the American Athletic Conference championship in its first season as a member of the league.

Army (11-1) is coming off just its second 11-win season in program history, both under coach Jeff Monken, and has two more games left.

The Cadets took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter when Kanye Udoh’s 72-yard run set up a 3-yard touchdown from Daily. Udoh ran for 158 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Army did not punt, commit a penalty or turn the ball over in the game.

Tulane’s first half was a series of mistakes, starting with a botched field goal attempt on the hold that ended the first drive. The Green Wave (9-4) also committed turnovers on consecutive possessions, the second of which led to Daily’s third rushing touchdown of the first half and a 21-0 lead.

Daily added another rushing TD in the second half and is tied for the national lead with 29 points with Boise State star Ashton Jeanty.

Tulane, the top-scoring team in the nation with 39 points per game, didn’t take the field until the final minute of the first half on a cold evening in West Point, NY

After winning eight straight to make the playoffs, the Green Wave lost at home to Memphis on Thanksgiving night, missing out on a chance to host the conference title game.

Tulane participated in the AAC Championship for the third consecutive year, but lost it for the second consecutive year.

Attention in New Orleans now turns to first-year coach Jon Sumrall, who could be a target for several Power 4 schools with openings, particularly North Carolina.

After being eliminated by Notre Dame two weeks ago after a 9-0 start to the season, Army’s College Football Playoff hopes faded.

However, the Cadets still have one more big game to play before the postseason.

Army faces Navy next Saturday in a still non-conference game, although the rivals are now both playing in the American game. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy goes to the winner for the first time since 2017 after both the Army and Navy defeated the Air Force in the regular season.

The Black Knights have won the last two against Navy and six of the last eight meetings.

Army football has spent most of its history as an independent, winning three national titles in the 1940s and having three Heisman Trophy winners (Glenn Davis, Doc Blanchard and Pete Dawkins).

Army’s only other foray into conference was a seven-year stint in Conference USA from 1998 to 2004. It was a disaster. The Black Knights have never won more than three total games or two conference games in a season.

The program left CUSA but remained in limbo for another 10 years until Monken, a former Navy assistant coach, took over in 2014. After winning just six games in the first two seasons under Monken, Army ripped off five seasons with at least eight wins in six seasons.

Army entered the American League after six straight seasons of tinkering with its traditional triple-option offense. The Black Knights went back to basics this season and overhauled their new conference rivals.

The Cadets entered the title game leading the nation with 312 yards per game and gained another 335 yards against Tulane. Daily threw just two passes, completing both for 17 yards.

Required reading

(Photo: Danny Wild / Imagn Images)