Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. threw for three touchdowns and ran for another score as the Cougars earned a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship with a 52-31 victory over No. 15 Navy on Friday in Houston, Texas.

Ward completed 26 of 35 passes for 308 yards. The Cougars (11-1, 7-1 AAC) will host the title game Dec. 5 and play either Temple or South Florida.

Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds had 84 yards on 19 carries and ran for a 4-yard score, tying Wisconsin's Montee Ball with 83 career overall touchdowns. Reynolds also completed 13 of 16 passes for a career-high 312 yards with a 26-yard touchdown to Jamir Tillman. Reynolds tied Bill Byrne for the program's all-time record with 29 career passing touchdowns.

The Midshipmen (9-2, 7-1), who were ranked second nationally with 348.4 yards on the ground, finished with 147 rushing yards. Navy also had been the best scoring defense in the AAC by allowing less than 19 points a game. Houston, however, had too much firepower, rolling up 554 yards of total offense.

A 5-yard run by Ward and 45-yard field goal by Ty Cummings as time expired boosted the Cougars' lead to 24-14 at break.

Houston continued to pull away in the third quarter. Trevon Stewart intercepted Reynolds at the Navy 46. This led to a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Linell Bonner.

Ward continued to dominate the Navy defense and a 62-yard pass to Demarcus Ayers boosted the lead to 38-14 with 2:26 left in third quarter. A 2-yard run by Swain got Midshipmen back to within a pair of scores.

Ward put the game out of reach with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Ayers with 11:27 left in the game.