2016 Birmingham Bowl: USF Tops South Carolina In OT

BIRMINGHAM, AL. – If people who follow college football didn’t know who Quinten Flowers was before today, they’re likely to remember his name after his performance in the 2016 Birmingham Bowl.

USF’s junior quarterback scored five touchdowns, threw for more than 200 yards and finished with more than 100 yards rushing to lead the Bulls (11-2) to a 46-39 victory over the SEC Eastern Conference Champions South Carolina (6-7). Flowers’ last touchdown, a 25-yard pass to Elkanah Dillion, secured the victory for USF on the first play in overtime.

The victory secured USF’s first-ever 11-win season and the first win at USF for interim Head Coach T.J. Weist. Weist took over the helm for the Bulls after Willie Taggart left to take the same job at the University of Oregon. The newly appointed USF Head Coach Charlie Strong was on the sideline during the game.

However, Flowers’ impressive game, which included three rushing touchdowns, was nearly overshadowed by a South Carolina comeback. The Gamecocks freshman quarterback Jake Bentley finished 32-for-43 passing for 390 yards and three touchdowns en route to tying the game late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

“The bottom line is that we finished this game up strong,” Weist said. “We finished it right. We came through in the end. I’m really our team, really proud of our players, really proud of our staff to really just finish it strong, set a record and have 11 wins.”

The Bulls looked as if they were prepped to cruise to victory, going up 15-0 on consecutive touchdown drives in the first quarter ending in Flowers touchdown runs. The first touchdown came after a Devon Abraham interception to give the Bulls the ball back.

The Gamecocks answered with a touchdown of their own to start off the second quarter, USF recovered USC’s attempted onside kick, giving the Bulls excellent field position. On the ensuing drive, a couple of big plays – including a 22-yard gain on fourth-and-five from the USC 42 – helped the Bulls go up 22-7 on Flowers’ third straight rushing touchdown with 10:40 left in the half.

The game started turning in South Carolina’s favor at the same time the injury bug started hitting the Bulls. Two of the Bulls’ biggest offensive threats, wide receiver Rodney Adams and running back Marlon Mack, sat out most of the second quarter. Even Flowers cut his hand at one point during the game.

South Carolina managed to score on a 3-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Deebo Samuel to get within one score. However, USF answered right before the half when the offensive line provided plenty of time for D’Earnest Johnson to get open for a 37-yard touchdown reception from Flowers to take a 29-14 halftime lead.

Samuel scored on South Carolina’s first drive of the second half to get to within one score, but the Bulls once again took charge. Following a Brandon Behr field goal, Tajee Fullwood intercepted Bentley for a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown, giving the Bulls a 39-21 lead.

The Gamecocks continued their comeback throughout the second half, culminating with a 38-yard put return and a followed with a 3-yard touchdown run by A.J. Turner followed by a two-point conversion to Hayden Hurst with just over a minute remaining.

Despite the comeback, USF made quick work of the Gamecocks in overtime. USF converted on its first play, the 25-yard touchdown to Dillion. USC could not answer on their possession, ending the game on a fumble.

“For us, it was just a great team win because we had guys who were banged up … all those guys really came right back in and just kept going and kept fighting through,” Weist said. “Rodney could have stayed out – he’s got an NFL career coming up – but he just getting banged up and kept coming back in. And that really tells about the character of this team.”

Strong had some good words to say about his future team to an ESPN sideline reporter during the first half.

“It’s fun to watch and they’re playing really well,” Strong “You have a lot of starters returning and it’s so nice to have something to really build on.”

Image and video via the USFBlogDotCom YouTube channel