The Sports Xchange
Oct 28, 2016
TAMPA, Fla. -- South Florida rushed for a school-record 412 yards while quarterback Quinton Flowers accounted for four touchdowns to lift the Bulls to a 52-45 win against the No. 22 Navy Midshipmen.
Flowers threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns and added another 176 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Marlon Mack added 125 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries for South Florida (6-2, 4-1) while D'Ernest Johnson rushed for a career-high 107 yards and two touchdowns.
Navy (5-2, 4-1) got 129 yards four rushing touchdowns from quarterback Will Worth but fell behind 28-0 in the first quarter and could not get closer than the final score which came when Worth threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Bonner as time expired. Worth also threw for 290 yards and a touchdown
The Midshipmen scored 24 points in the fourth quarter and Worth's two-yard run made the score 52-39 with 2:12 left in the game but South Florida recovered the onsides kick. The Bulls finished with a school record 629 total yards.
South Florida had 464 total yards and held a 42-14 lead at halftime after scoring on its first six possessions.
The Bulls took the opening drive of the game and scored on the fourth play with Flowers going 63 yards on a quarterback draw to take a 7-0 lead.
Navy tried to answer on their first drive, but the Midshipmen were stopped on a 4th-and-1 at their 49 when Worth was stopped for a two-yard loss.
South Florida made the score 14-0 on a 23-yard touchdown from Johnson with 7:25 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bulls scored two more times in the quarter on an 85-yard run by Mack and a 42-yard touchdown pass from Flowers to tight end Elkanah Dillon to take a 28-0 lead into the end of the quarter.
Navy got on the board early in the second after Worth connected with Toneo Gulley on a 42-yard pass to set up a 4-yard touchdown run on a keeper by Worth to make the score 28-7.
Flowers accounted for two more touchdowns in the second quarter, a 1-yard run and a 16-yard pass to Marques Valdes-Scantling.
Worth added one-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to make the score 35-14.
NOTES: Navy QB Will Worth was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 201 yards and three touchdowns in Navy's 42-28 win against Memphis. Worth also completed 3-of-4 passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns. ... South Florida players wore a No. 42 helmet sticker for in honor of Pat Tillman and the Tillman Foundation Scholars for its "Salute to Service" Game.