USF Wins Third Straight Against SMU 38-14
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Quinton Flowers rushed for a South Florida quarterback-record 201 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, helping the Bulls beat SMU 38-14 for their first three-game winning streak in four years.
USF (4-3, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) also matched its victory total for all of last season. SMU (1-6, 0-3) has lost five straight during a stretch in which the Mustangs have yielded 240 points.
With leading rusher Marlon Mack sitting out because of a hamstring injury, Flowers broke USF's single-game rushing record for a quarterback on his first carry of the second half. Matt Grothe ran 146 yards against Connecticut in 2007, and Flowers nearly matched that with 142 on 13 attempts while building a 17-7 halftime lead.
The sophomore carried 23 times in the second half to become the eighth player in USF history to top 200 yards rushing. He also completed 9 of 20 passes for 97 yards without an interception, building on the success he enjoyed in leading victories over Syracuse and UConn the previous two weeks.
USF, which is 10-20 under third-year coach Willie Taggart, has won three straight for the first time since the Bulls went 3-0 to begin the 2011 season.
Matt Davis threw for 106 yards, no touchdowns and one interception for SMU, which led 7-3 after Xavier Jones scored on a 1-yard run as time expired in the first quarter.
Backup Darrel Colbert, Jr., threw a 37-yard TD pass to Courtland Sutton for SMU, which actually outgained USF 365 yards to 352. Colbert entered the game in the fourth quarter and was 11 of 13 passing for 120 yards, while also rushing for 39 yards on eight attempts.
Mack led the AAC in rushing as a freshman last season and is on pace to break USF's single-season rushing mark, averaging 6.5 yards per carry and 114 yards per game.
Without the sophomore running back, the Bulls relied heavily on Flowers' legs, as well as some timely — if sporadic — passing. Mack's replacement, Darius Tice, scored on a 1-yard run after Flowers scooted 67 yards to the SMU 8 to set up his team's first touchdown. Completions of 15 yards to A.J. Legree and 10 yards to Sean Price, plus a 20-yard quarterback keeper moved the Bulls into position to extend their lead to 17-7 on Flowers' 8-yard TD run.
Flowers added a second TD, on a 5-yard run, early in the fourth quarter. He limped off the field after scoring on an 18-yard run with just over six minutes remaining.
The 210-pound quarterback scrambled up the right sideline, leaped from the 3-yard line for the end zone and was hit and spun around in midair as he crossed the goal line and landed awkwardly on his hip.
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