No. 16 Memphis wins AAC title, coach heads to FSU

MEMPHIS, TENN. » Memphis coach Mike Norvell made his final home game at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium memorable.

Norvell and the Tigers captured the American Athletic Conference championship — after failing the previous two years — as Brady White’s 6-yard pass to Antonio Gibson for a touchdown with 1:14 left gave No. 16 Memphis a 29-24 victory over No. 21 Cincinnati on Saturday.

Florida State will introduce Norvell as its new coach Sunday, two people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement has not been made.

As for Norvell, he wasn’t tipping his hand regarding his future. Instead, the Memphis coach directed all of his postgame comments to his team.

“We knew this was going to be a game that was going to come down to responses,” Norvell said. “How we responded to adversity. How we responded to success at times. But that’s the character and the heart of these kids.”

On the game-winning scoring drive, Norvell leaned on Gibson, who capped the march corralling the TD pass. Gibson was the workhorse during the drive, carrying the ball five straight times for 23 yards, giving Memphis (121, No. 17 in CFP) third-and goal from the Bearcat 6.

On the play, Gibson split right instead of lining up in the backfield. He came in motion, caught the screen pass from quarterback

Brady White and with three blockers in front of him, skirted in for the winning touchdown.

Gibson ran for 130 yards, including a 65-yard TD dash.

Cincinnati (10-3, No. 20 CFP) had taken a 24-23 lead with 4:23 left on Sam Crosa’s 33-yard field goal. That gave Memphis the ball back with plenty of time.

They used most of it before Gibson’s score.