Bulls win again in Birmingham
Senior Flowers’ two TD tosses in the final 4:26 provide bowl win.
Quinton Flowers did it again at the Birmingham Bowl, launching another winning touchdown throw with a game against a Power 5 team on the line.
Flowers threw 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 in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday.
Flowers led the Bulls (10-2) to a second straight dramatic victory in the bowl game at Legion Field, 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.”
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.
The Red Raiders (6-7) had taken the lead back with Nic Shimonek’s 25-yard TD 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, the latter coming on a third-and-10 play. Then he found McCants on their second scoring connection.
The senior passed for 311 yards and four touchdowns. 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, who had led a fourth-quarter comeback in the regular-season finale against Texas, completed 32 of 59 passes for 416 yards. This time the Red Raiders couldn’t seal the deal.
“That’s really exactly what was going through my mind,” Shimonek said. “It was almost the same exact type scenario (as Texas).”
He threw for three touchdowns and was intercepted twice on deflected balls.
Keke Coutee had 11 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown while Justin Stockton ran for 103 yards.
The Red Raiders set up two touchdowns in the third quarter off fumble recoveries, taking a 24-17 lead. The defense helped preserve the lead with a pair of fourth down stops, including a goal line stand. Quentin Yontz stuffed Darius Tice from inside the 1 early in the fourth, but Flowers wound up getting the ball back across midfield. He cashed in this time with a 5-yard touchdown run to tie it with 9:30 left.
Flowers became the American Athletic Conference’s career leader in total offense with a 21-yard TD pass late in the first half. He broke the mark of 11,431 yards held by Temple’s Phillip Walker. Flowers also set school records for career TD passes and rushing yards, finishing with 34 school or conference marks.
Armed Forces Bowl
Army 42, San Diego State 35: Darnell Woolfolk scored on a 1-yard run with 18 seconds left, Kell Walker converted a go-ahead 2-point run and the Black Knights (10-3) added a last-play defensive touchdown to defeat the Aztecs (10-3) in Fort Worth, Texas.
After Rashaad Penny’s fourth touchdown run of the game gave San Diego State a 35-28 lead with 5:47 to play, Army 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.
The Black Knights tied a school record for wins, set in 1996.
Penny ran for 221 yards, his fifth straight game of at least 200 yards, for San Diego State. Penny’s 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.
Woolfolk ran for two touchdowns, and Ahmad Bradshaw and Andy Davidson ran for one each for Army.