Ferguson, Taylor lead Memphis rally on road

HOUSTON — Down 17 points in the second half on the road, there was no panic in the 25th-ranked Memphis Tigersshowed no panic. They kept their focus and finished with a victory.

Riley Ferguson threw for 471 yards and had a 21-yard touchdown pass with 1:28 left, and Patrick Taylor rushed for a career-high four touchdowns as they rallied to beat Houston 42-38 late Thursday night.

“Offensively, to go from being shut out in the first half, not playing our best ball, a lot of mistakes — everything that could probably go wrong in the first half did,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. “But I came into the locker room and there was something about their eyes. No panic. They came out and absolutely responded.”

Ferguson finished 33-for-53 passing and found Sean Dykes to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive that took 1:49 to give Memphis (6-1, 3-1 American Athetic Conference) its only lead.

“We said we had to stay focused,” said Ferguson, who started his college career at Tennessee. “We knew we would be able to score as long as we didn’t hurt ourselves. We knew we had to regain our focus and stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Anthony Miller caught 10 passes for 178 yards, and Tony Pollard had nine catches for 91 yards. Memphis finished with 501 yards but only 30 on the ground, though Taylor was busy with trips to the end zone.

“It was taking advantage of every opportunity that they gave me when they gave me the ball,” he said.

Houston (4-3, 2-2) was driving when Kyle Postma fumbled at the Memphis 49, with T.J. Carter recovering with a minute remaining. After Memphis punted, Postma’s pass was intercepted by Carter with 24 seconds remaining to assure the Tigers of victory.

Dillon Birden finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, and Duke Catalon rushed for 65 yards and a career-high three touchdowns for Houston.