SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 22, 2014
Memphis 31, South Florida 20: Paxton Lynch threw
for two touchdowns and ran for two others as the American Athletic
Conference-leading Tigers beat the visiting Bulls.
Lynch rushed for 44 yards and was 18-of-23 for 232
yards, tossing scoring passes to Mose Frazier and Brandon Hayes for Memphis
(8-3, 6-1 AAC), which won for the fifth straight time. The Tigers, who also
received 189 rushing yards on 21 carries from Hayes, can earn a share of the
conference title with a win over visiting Connecticut next Saturday.
Freshman Marlon Mack ran for 102 yards and a
touchdown, and Mike White was 21-of-35 for 244 yards before leaving with a
fourth-quarter leg injury for South Florida (4-7, 3-4) which saw its bowl hopes
end with its fifth loss in the last seven games. The Bulls also received a
late-game touchdown pass from No. 3 quarterback Steven Bench to Andre Davis and
a pair of first-half field goals from Marvin Kloss.
Following a short punt and 12-yard return, Memphis
took possession at the South Florida 27-yard line on its second drive of the
third quarter and scored 28 seconds later on an 11-yard pass from Lynch to
Hayes. The Bulls reached the Tigersกฏ 4-yard-line on the ensuing drive, but
Memphisกฏ Donald Pennington pounced on a botched handoff on a third-down
end-around play, leading to a 67-yard drive and a 35-yard Jake Elliott field
goal which capped the Tigersกฏ scoring.
South Florida grabbed the early lead with Kloss
kicking a 21-yard field goal on its first drive, but Memphis answered with
Lynch scoring runs on back-to-back possessions to give the hosts a 14-3 lead. After
the teams traded TDs จC a 75-yard Mack run and a 42-yard pass from Lynch to Frazier
จC on the ensuing two possessions, Kloss capped a 17-play, 76-yard Bullsกฏ march
with a 35-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the second quarter to cut the
Tigersกฏ lead to 21-13 at the half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Memphis has reached eight wins for
only the fifth time in the last 50 years. กญ Lynch has accounted for 24 TDs
this season (14 passing and 10 rushing). กญ Mack now has rushed for 1,009 yards this
year จC the fourth 1,000-yard rushing season in the programกฏs history.