ORLANDO, NOV. 24, 2017 – Quinton Flowers stole the show with a historic War on I-4 performance that nearly helped USF capture The American's East Division title.

Flowers shattered school records with 605 yards of total offense and 503 passing yards in a heartbreaking 49-42 loss at No. 13/12 UCF that was decided in the thrilling final minutes on Friday night in front of 47,129 at Spectrum Stadium. Flowers (Miami) tied his career high with four touchdown passes and five total touchdowns accounted for. His final scoring toss of 83 yards to Darnell Salomon (Miami) with 1:41 remaining set the stage for USF to tie the game.

No. 22/19 USF (9-2, 6-2) tied it up after the explosive play with a two-point conversion before UCF (11-0, 8-0) captured the division title with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Mike Hughes on the ensuing kickoff. D'Ernest Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield and the Bulls began to move before Flowers hit Mitchell Wilcox (Tarpon Springs) for a 10-yard gain to the UCF 45 and the Knights Richie Grant forced a fumble.

Flowers also rushed for a game-high 102 yards and his 24-yard touchdown run helped spot USF a 34-28 lead late in the third quarter. With the run, Flowers became just the sixth player in FBS history to post at least 60 passing touchdowns and 40 rushing touchdowns in a career.

Junior Tyre McCants (Niceville, Fla.) had a monster game, setting the school record with 227 receiving yards and a touchdown on nine catches. Salomon also shined with a career-best five catches for 139 yards.

Flowers caught fire in the first half with 348 passing yards, three touchdowns and 398 total yards to help the Bulls head into the locker room trailing, 21-20, after UCF got off to a fast start.

USF needed just three plays to strike first in the highly anticipated War on I-4 battle.

One play after Wilcox's 21-yard reception, McCants turned a short catch into a 47-yard touchdown, dragging a Knight for about 25 yards into the end zone just over a minute into the action. McCants secured his second 100-yard receiving game with two catches for 102 yards in the opening quarter and set the school record with six catches for 210 yards by halftime.

After USF jumped ahead first, UCF grabbed the momentum with touchdowns on its first three drives to take a 21-7 lead into the second quarter.

McCants' second 55-yard reception of the day brought him up to 168 yards and set up USF's second score of the game. Temi Alaka's 20-yard touchdown catch cut UCF's lead to 21-13 with 11:46 to play in the half.

Following UCF's third straight punt, the Bulls rolled back into the end zone with Flowers' third TD pass of the half, a 21-yarder to Wilcox that dropped the deficit to 21-20 with 2:09 before the break. USF's defense ended up shutting out UCF in the second quarter, which was only the third time the Knights were held scoreless in a quarter this season.

UCF extended its advantage to 28-20 near the midpoint of the third quarter, but USF closed the gap once again. Darius Tice's 6-yard touchdown run brought it back to a one-point game with 4:42 left in the third quarter.

Ronnie Hoggins (Coconut Creek, Fla.) picked off a pass on UCF's next drive at the Knights' 40 and USF regained the lead in historic fashion. A minute after Tice's TD, Flowers became the sixth player in FBS history to post at least 60 passing and 40 rushing touchdowns with a 24-yard scoring run that helped give USF a 33-28 lead.

UCF jumped back ahead with 7:33 remaining and took a 42-34 lead with 2:21 left on a 23-yard touchdown pass, but the Bulls roared right back.

Needing a big play, Salomon sprinted past a defender and went the distance on an 83-yard touchdown catch that set up a crucial two-point conversion with 1:41 remaining. Rolling right, Flowers found a wide-open Johnson (Immokalee, Fla.) to once again tie the game at 42-42 in dramatic fashion.

UCF then got the big play it needed on the ensuing kickoff, when Hughes went 95 yards for the game-winning touchdown. USF worked its way down to the UCF 45 on its final drive that stalled with a lost fumble in the final minute.

Quotable
Head coach Charlie Strong on the fight his team showed battling back:
"It was a really great effort and I'm really happy with just how hard we played. We kept battling back."

Strong on Quinton Flowers' record-breaking performance:
"An unbelievable performance by Quinton. He just played his heart out and gave us everything he's got. What a great player he is."

Quinton Flowers on his historic game that included a school-record 503 passing yards:
"A lot of people always say I can't throw, I can't do a lot of things. I was prepared for it and I just told myself, 'Make it happen. This is the moment you've been waiting for. They aren't going to expect you to pass the ball a lot like that.' I just came out and I just gave my guys a chance."

Key Stats
605 – Quinton Flowers broke his own school record with 605 yards of total offense.
503 – Flowers also set a school record with 503 passing yards.
95 – Mike Hughes' 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown decided The American's East Division champion after USF tied the game up at 42-42.

Notables

• QB Quinton Flowers set school records with 605 total yards and 503 passing yards while tying his career high with four TD passes. Flowers is tied with Marquel Blackwell for the USF career TD pass lead with 67 apiece.
• QB Quinton Flowers became USF's all-time leader in career offense, breaking Matt Grothe's previous record of 10,875 yards (2006-09). Flowers now has 11,385 yards in his career.
• Flowers became the sixth player in FBS history to post at least 60 passing touchdowns and 40 rushing touchdowns in a career.
• WR Tyre McCants set the USF single-game record with 227 receiving yards and a touchdown on nine catches. McCants registered the second 100-yard receiving game of his career in the first quarter and had 210 yards by halftime on six catches.
• Friday marked the 250^th game in USF football history. USF fell to 6-3 in its all-time series with UCF.

 
Up Next
USF will wait to see where it will be heading for the program's third consecutive bowl game appearance.

ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF finished the 2016 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll with a school-record 11 wins following the program's fifth-ever bowl victory in the Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls' 11-2 record marked the fifth-best winning percentage in FBS football in 2016 and one of just 11 teams to reach 11 wins. USF set nearly 40 team and individual records in 2016, including team records for total yards (6,650), rushing yards (3,714), touchdowns (77) and scoring (569). Junior quarterback Quinton Flowers was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led a school-record 10 players named to the all-conference team, six of which, including Flowers, will return in 2017. 

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