South Florida: 2017 Birmingham Bowl Champions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- 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 and we came out with the victory."

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 touchdown 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.

"Defensively, it was stop after stop that we had to go get," first-year South Florida coach Charlie Strong said.

"And even for our offense, they had two turnovers and then they had two big fourth-down stops and our offense just continued to play."

THE TAKEAWAY

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders couldn't translate a 249-130 edge in first-half yards into an advantage on the scoreboard. They converted 10 of 19 third downs.

South Florida: Flowers had a terrific second half after going 4-of-14 passing for 52 yards in the first. He concluded it on a 21-yard touchdown pass to McCants with 51 seconds left to tie it, 10-all. ... Defensive tackle Deadrin Senat had three first-half sacks for South Florida, matching his season total coming into the bowl.

FLOWERS RECORDS



Flowers became the American Athletic Conference's career leader in total offense with a 21-yard touchdown 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 touchdown passes and rushing yards, finishing with 34 school or conference marks.

PENALTIES GALORE: Both teams were penalized 10 times, with Texas Tech flagged for 107 yards and South Florida for 100.

UP NEXT

Texas Tech: Shimonek and leading rusher Stockton are seniors, while all but two defensive starters have eligibility remaining. Coutee is a junior who said he hasn't made a decision on whether to enter the NFL draft.

South Florida: The Bulls must replace Flowers, plus leading receiver Valdes-Scantling and tailback D'Ernest Johnson on offense and eight starters on defense. Leading tackler Auggie Sanchez leaves a big hole to fill.

South Florida: 2016 Birmingham Bowl Champions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- South Florida's Quinton Flowers says there were a lot of big-name college football programs that thought he could be a star player. As a running back. Or maybe as a safety.

But Flowers knew he could be a great quarterback. And on Thursday in the Birmingham Bowl against a team from the Southeastern Conference, he proved it once again.

Flowers ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more -- including what proved to be the winner in overtime -- to help No. 25 South Florida beat South Carolina 46-39.

"A lot of big schools didn't give me a chance," Flowers said. "A lot of big schools wanted me to play a different position. But South Florida was the place that loved me, cared about me and wanted me to be their quarterback."

Flowers said South Carolina coach Will Muschamp -- who was then at Florida -- was among the coaches who wanted him to switch positions. Muschamp got an up-close look at Flowers' quarterback skills on Thursday.

"He's an outstanding athlete," Muschamp said.

South Florida (11-2) squandered a 39-21 lead in the second half, but recovered for its school-record 11th victory. Flowers threw a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime, finding Elkanah Dillon in the end zone.

South Carolina's overtime drive ended after Jake Bentley was sacked by Mike Love on fourth down. Bentley fumbled and Khalid McGee recovered to end the game.

It was a sweet ending for a South Florida program that has had a lot of upheaval during December. Coach Willie Taggart left for Oregon after the regular season and former Texas coach Charlie Strong was hired a few days later.

But the Bulls, who played Thursday under interim coach T.J. Weist, pushed aside the distractions and finished their season with another win.

"The bottom line is we finished this game off strong. We finished it right," Weist said. "We came through in the end."

Flowers, who was selected the game's Most Valuable Player, completed 23 of 32 passes for 261 yards and ran for 105 yards on 21 carries.

The Bulls controlled the game for most of the afternoon, but the Gamecocks rallied to tie it at 39 with 1:11 remaining on A.J. Turner's 1-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion.

Bentley completed 32 of 43 passes for 390 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Deebo Samuel caught 14 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown.

Muschamp said he was pleased with the offense. It was the defense -- specifically the lack of an effective pass rush against Flowers -- that left him frustrated.

"When you score 39 points, you should win the game," Muschamp said.

South Carolina (6-7) was hurt by five turnovers, including a pick-six thrown by Bentley that Tajee Fullwood returned 47 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

South Florida: The Bulls felt they weren't getting much respect on a national level after their 10-win regular season. A win over an SEC opponent is more evidence that South Florida might have been a little underappreciated.


South Carolina: The Gamecocks had their chances, but too many crucial mistakes doomed the program to a 7-loss season. The good news is South Carolina has a promising young quarterback in Bentley.

UP NEXT

South Florida: The Bulls have a lot of changes in store as the Strong-era begins. South Florida looks well-positioned to be a factor in the AAC for years to come.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks took a small step forward during Muschamp's first season. Now he'll try to improve the talent on the roster during recruiting to get the program back among the SEC East's elite programs.

Albany: 2014-15 America East Men's Basketball Champions

ALBANY, N.Y. -- When the final buzzer sounded, Albany's Peter Hooley was mobbed on his home court, fans and teammates reacting in disbelief after his winning 3-pointer.

Just six weeks after his mother had died of colon cancer, the junior star from Australia hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1.6 seconds left, giving the Great Danes a stunning 51-50 victory over Stony Brook on Saturday and the America East tournament title for the third straight year.

"When you've got angels watching, you can do anything," said Hooley of the only 3 Albany made all game.

The Great Danes (24-8) improved to 5-0 in the title game, including a 69-60 win on the road last year over the Seawolves (23-11), who remained winless in four tries in the championship game.

"There are nine teams in our league. Eight are miserable, one is happy. Nobody feels sorry for you when you lose," Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said. "It comes down to the last five seconds -- that's how hard it is to get to an NCAA Tournament."

Hooley missed eight games in the middle of the regular season to return to his native Australia to be with his dying mother. The team has worn "SH" patches on their left shoulders in honor of Sue Hooley, who died at 52 in late January.

Trailing 50-48 after Stony Brook's Carson Puriefoy missed a free throw with 16.9 seconds left, Albany's Ray Sanders missed a layup with 4 seconds left. But as Stony Brook's Jameel Warneyand Albany's Sam Rowley fought for the rebound, the ball was tipped out from the baseline to Hooley, who was all alone and swished the winning shot.

"You couldn't write this stuff," said Sam Rowley, who led Albany with 14 points. "It's just beyond words. This was just a perfect moment."

Hooley, named the tournament's most outstanding player, returned to the lineup a month ago and was coming off a season-high 21-point performance against New Hampshire in the semifinals.

Hooley averaged 15.5 points in nearly 35 minutes before leaving the team in mid-January. The Great Danes responded by winning every game he missed, including an emotional victory over the Seawolves in the first game without their co-captain.

Albany trailed the entire second half before Hooley's incredible shot, the only 3 made in 10 attempts. Evan Singletary had 11 points before fouling out late and Hooley finished with 10.

Puriefoy paced Stony Brook with 23 points, and Warney had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Stony Brook leaned hard on Warney to get them going. He delivered 12 points with an assortment of hooks in the paint and along the baseline to give the Seawolves to a 20-16 halftime lead.

The Seawolves finished the half 8 of 25 (32 percent) to Albany's 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) performance as leading scorer Sam Rowley missed all seven shots he attempted and had just two points, and third-leading scorer Evan Singletary failed to score.

Guarded closely by 6-foot-11, 275-pound Richard Peters, Warney shrugged off some serious bumping early in the second half and hit two straight baskets as the Seawolves maintained a 28-22 lead. But he failed to hit another shot in the final 16 minutes, attempting only three in the period as Albany switched to a zone defense to deny him the ball.

The Great Danes rallied late when Puriefoy turned from hero to vanquished loser.

After Puriefoy's third 3-pointer in the closing minutes gave Stony Brook a 47-40 lead with 2:38 left, Singletary responded with a runner in the lane and Sam Rowley hit a pretty hook high off the glass against Warney to move the Great Danes within 49-46 with 61 seconds left.

Two free throws by Mike Rowley narrowed the gap to a single point with 21.7 seconds to go as Puriefoy committed costly turnovers, losing the ball out of bounds twice in the final minute. His final missed free throw proved the costliest mistake of all as the Seawolves missed 3 of their final 4 from the line.

"We played 39 great minutes and then the last minute we just lost," Puriefoy said. "It's definitely tough."

Albany, which started the season 2-6, finished America East play at 15-1 to earn the top seed, its only conference loss coming at home to Stony Brook. The Great Danes had won the previous two meetings between the teams in the postseason.

The teams split the season series and both won on the road, Albany 64-47 and Stony Brook 59-56 a month ago, which snapped Albany's 13-game winning streak, all but one coming conference play.

The Seawolves, the third seed, entered the game on an eight-game winning streak, and their chances of making it nine fell squarely on the shoulders of the 6-foot-8, 255-pound Warney. He leads the country with 23 double-doubles and is the only player in the nation to lead his conference in points (16.4), rebounds (11.6) and blocks (51).

TIP-INS

Stony Brook: Since losing 57-48 to the Vermont Catamounts in early February, Stony Brook had won eight straight, outscoring their opponents by 11.5 points per game. ... Warney is the third player in America East history to win player of the year and defensive player of the year in the same season.

Albany: The Great Danes held New Hampshire to 29 percent shooting in the second half of last Sunday's semifinals to escape with a 60-58 victory. ... In the previous five games, Hooley was shooting 54.5 percent (24 of 44) from the floor and 47.8 percent (11 of 23) from beyond the arc. ... Albany improved to 1-5 when scoring between 50 and 59 points.

UP NEXT

Stony Brook: Awaiting postseason selections.

Albany: NCAA Tournament.