White helps Memphis edge South Florida
Brady White threw a touchdown pass to Calvin Austin with 63 seconds left, and Riley Patterson’s extra point provided the winning margin as host Memphis rallied to defeat South Florida 34-33 in an American Athletic Conference game on Saturday afternoon.
White completed 30 of 50 passes for 437 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. Austin, a wide receiver, had five catches for 102 yards and two scores. Tight end Sean Dykes had seven catches for 147 yards and two scores.
Memphis (4-2, 3-2 AAC) trailed by 13 points with less than 3:30 left in the fourth quarter but managed to improve its home record this season to 4-0.
USF (1-6, 0-5) is the only winless team in AAC play this season. The Bulls have lost five straight road games, dating to last season.
Bulls quarterback Noah Johnson completed 20 of 29 passes for 217 yards, two TDs and no interceptions.
The Bulls also got four Spencer Shrader field goals — all of them longer than 40 yards.
In addition, South Florida’s defense came up with a pick-six by Daquan Evans and also turned Memphis over on downs three times, all in the first half.
But the Bulls’ defense could not come up with the stop they needed in the final seconds.
Evans intercepted a White pass in the second quarter and ran it 51 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bulls a 13-6 lead. The pass was a long out pattern, intended for Austin, but Evans stepped in front of it for the fourth pick of his career and his third this year.
White countered with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Austin, tying the score 13-13. White beat a blitz by lofting the ball over the top of South Florida’s defense.
South Florida closed its best first half of the season with a pair of Johnson TD throws — 75 yards to Kelley Joiner and 3 yards to Mitchell Brinkman. On his big play, Joiner was wide open in a gap in Memphis’ zone and raced the final 52 yards to the end zone.
Shrader’s third and fourth field goals of the game gave South Florida a 33-20 lead.
But Memphis cut its deficit to 33-27 on White’s 10-yard TD pass to Dykes with 3:19 left in the game.
The Tigers then forced a three-and-out punt and got the ball back on their own 24 with 2:23 left. White then led the winning, eight-play, 76-yard touchdown drive.
–Field Level Media
