South Florida Bulls vs Tulane Green Wave Box Score on Oct 21, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 21, 2017

NEW ORLEANS -- Quarterback Quinton Flowers accounted for 265 yards from scrimmage, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as No. 16 South Florida held off a 21-point Tulane second-half rally Saturday night for a 34-28 win.

USF (7-0, 4-0 AAC) is off to its best start in school history and extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 12 games.

The Bulls scored at least 30 points for an NCAA-record 24th consecutive game, surpassing the 23-game streak posted by Chip Kelly's Oregon teams in 2011-12.

Flowers threw for 127 yards, completing 10-of-24 passes, and ran for 138 yards on 13 carries. He threw scoring passes of 38 and 28 yards and ran for a 21-yard touchdown on USF's first possession. The Bulls led 20-7 at halftime and then scored touchdowns on the first two series of the second half to build a 34-7 lead.

Tulane didn't quit, scoring on a 36-yard run by Sherman Badie and a 24-yard pass from Jonathan Banks to Dontrell Hilliard with 7:40 left.

Then, after Tulane blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt by Emilio Nadelman, Tulane went 71 yards in five plays to make it 34-28 on Hilliard's 16-yard scoring run with 2:45 left.

But USF recovered the onside kick and ended the game inside the Tulane 10. Tulane (3-4, 1-2) lost for the first time in four home games this season.

Flowers was virtually unstoppable in the first half, engineering a 20-7 lead by using his feet and his arm. Flowers completed 6 of 12 passes for 78 yards and one score and ran 78 yards on six carries, including another TD.

Flowers put the Bulls on the board on their first possession with a shifty 21-yard run in which he stopped near the tackle box and then accelerated through a crack on the right side of the line for a 7-0 lead.

Tulane kept the USF offense bottled up inside the 5-yard line on successive series. But the USF defense came up with a big play to switch field position. Faced with a fourth-and-1 at the USF 43, Tulane coach Willie Fritz gambled, handing the ball to Darius Bradwell on the option, but linebacker Auggie Sanchez nailed Bradwell for no gain.

Flowers then picked up a third-and-10 with a 12-yard scramble around left end to the Tulane 45. On the next play, Darius Tice raced untouched through a big hole at left guard for a 13-0 lead. Nadelman's PAT was blocked.

Tulane cut the deficit to 13-7 on a 73-yard slant from Banks to receiver Terren Encalade, but Flowers made it 20-7 on the next possession with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Salomon 42 seconds before halftime.

NOTES: Bulls P Jonathan Hernandez had punts of 60 and 65 yards in the first half. ... USF S Devin Abraham had his fourth interception of the season, picking off Jonathan Banks at the USF 2-yard line in the first half. The Bulls lead the nation with 16 interceptions this season. ... Tulane had a 25-yard TD run by RB Dontrell Hilliard called back in the first half due to a holding penalty.