Owls fall to Tigers in Montgomery Bowl

MONTGOMERY, ALA. — Brady White already held several Memphis career records, but he left another mark in his finale.

White passed for 284 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a 25-10 victory over Florida Atlantic on Wednesday night in the Montgomery Bowl, snapping a five-game bowl losing streak.

The Tigers (8-3) built a big halftime lead, withstood a third-quarter rally and ended coach Ryan Silverfield’s first season with a second straight win.

“They’ll go down in history for their fight and everything they did this season,” Silverfield said, adding that his team ended up playing with 53 scholarship players.

Meanwhile, Willie Taggart’s debut season with Florida Atlantic ended at 5-4 after the offense sputtered much of the way.

The game was created to replace the canceled Fenway Bowl. Cramton Bowl will also host the Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day. This one ended in a driving rain.

White, who was named game MVP, completed 22 of 34 passes with three short touchdowns while also throwing an interception, having a big game even with a quiet night from star receiver Calvin Austin III.

“Another piece of history was made tonight for myself and for this team,” White said. He cited “this whole weird year” that included two canceled games in September because of COVID19 issues.

More importantly, he said: “We finished it off right.”

Redshirt freshman receivers Tahj Washington and Javon Ivory both had big games against a defense that came in ranked 11th nationally in passing defense.

Washington caught eight passes for 105 yards while Ivory gained 126 yards on seven catches with a TD. Austin had 28 yards on three catches, with a TD.

Auburn transfer Asa Martin ran for 96 yards on 15 carries for Memphis.

Nick Tronti completed 16 of 32 passes for 146 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Florida Atlantic. Charles James ran for 82 yards.

“I felt like we didn’t’ take advantage of opportunities that we got in this football game,” Taggart, whose team ended with a three-game losing streak, said. “The defense did a great job getting three takeaways, and only getting three points off those takeaways is not good enough against a team like Memphis.”

Memphis capped the first half with a big man touchdown and a sizable lead — that would shrink in the third quarter.

The Tigers took an 18-0 lead with 22 seconds left in the first half on White’s 2-yard pass to moonlighting defensive lineman Joseph Dorceus. It was the 277-pounder’s first touchdown catch and was followed by a two-point conversion.

“When Coach called the play, my eyes already lit up,” Dorceus said.