Bulls reach 10 wins in Birmingham Bowl
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Quinton Flowers did it again at the Birmingham Bowl, launching another winning touchdown throw with a game against a Power Five conference program on the line.
Flowers completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tyre McCants with 16 seconds left to give No. 23 South Florida a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday at Legion Field.
Flowers led the Bulls (10-2) to a second straight dramatic victory in the bowl game, throwing for a pair of touchdowns in the final 4:26 after struggling in the first half.
“I was telling myself I’ve got to hit my guys in the chest,” Flowers said. “I’ve got to put the ball in their chest and just give them a chance. I just went out there, and my coach called the play that I wanted, and thank God Tyre did what he was supposed to do and I did what I was supposed to do and we came out with the victory.”
The Bulls, who are 21-4 the past two seasons, won last year’s Birmingham Bowl on Flowers’ 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime against South Carolina.
This year, the Red Raiders (6-7) had taken the lead back with Nic Shimonek’s 25-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open T.J. Vasher in the end zone with 1:31 remaining. That left Flowers with plenty of time to work, it turns out.
He ran 13 and 21 yards for first downs, with the latter coming on a third-and-10 play, then found McCants on their second scoring connection.
The senior passed for 311 yards and four touchdowns, and he also ran 14 times for 106 yards and a fifth score. Marquez Valdes-Scantling gained 133 yards on three catches.
Shimonek took Texas Tech across midfield in the final seconds, but his desperation pass on the run was completed well short of the end zone. Shimonek completed 32 of 59 passes for 416 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice on deflected balls.
The Red Raiders’ Keke Coutee had 11 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown, while Justin Stockton ran for 103 yards.
› Army 42,
San Diego State 35
FORT WORTH, Texas — Darnell Woolfolk scored on a 1-yard run with 18 seconds left, Kell Walker converted a go-ahead 2-point run and Army added a last-play defensive touchdown to win the Armed Forces Bowl.
After Rashaad Penny’s fourth touchdown run of the game gave San Diego State (10-3) a 35-28 lead with 5:47 to play, Army (10-3) drove 72 yards for the tying score and winning conversion.
The Aztecs made multiple laterals on the game’s final play from their 40. The final lateral was grabbed by Army’s Elijah Riley, who returned it 29 yards for a touchdown as the Black Knights tied a school record for wins set by the 1996 team.
Penny rushed for 221 yards, his fifth straight game with at least 200, and his scores came on runs of 81 — on his first carry — 31, 49 and 4 yards. Juwan Washington added the Aztecs’ other touchdown on a 78-yard kickoff return.
Army dominated the time of possession with its option offense. The Black Knights ran 91 plays to the Aztecs’ 30 and held the ball for 46 minutes to San Diego State’s 13:53.
“That’s our brand of football,” Black Knights coach Jeff Monken said. “We don’t have anybody like they have — when you break through the line, it’s six points.”
The Aztecs went into the game ranked ninth among Football Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing defense, having allowed an average of 110.4 yards per game. Army ran for 120 in the first quarter and 440 overall.
Woolfolk ran for two touchdowns, and Ahmad Bradshaw and Andy Davidson ran for one each.
Monken said there was no doubt the Black Knights would go for two points if they pulled within one in the closing minutes with a touchdown.
“That No. 20, Rashaad Penny — if we went into overtime, he’s going to get the ball in his hands again,” Monken said. “There’s no way I wanted to watch that anymore.”
› Appalachian State 34, Toledo 0
MOBILE, Ala. — Jalin Moore rushed for 125 yards and a career-high three touchdowns as the Mountaineers rolled in the Dollar General Bowl.
Appalachian State (9-4) won its third straight bowl game since making the complete transition to FBS competition in 2015. Moore’s big night and the Mountaineers’ impressive defense were the biggest reasons the streak continues.
Appalachian State ran for 327 yards. Senior quarterback Taylor Lamb, a former Calhoun (Ga.) High School standout who was starting his 49th straight game, threw for 131 yards.
It was the second straight year the two programs met in the postseason. Last year, Appalachian State beat Toledo in a hard-fought 31-28 victory in the Camellia Bowl, just a few hours up the interstate in Montgomery.
The rematch in Mobile turned out to be a dud. Toledo’s offense was averaging nearly 40 points per game this season but looked lost against a swarming defense. The Rockets (11-3) were also hurt by four turnovers as they finished with just 146 yards of total offense.