GoUSFBulls.com Record-Breaking Flowers Posts 516 Yards in Win at UConn

[Brad]

Record-Breaking Flowers Posts 516 Yards in Win at UConn

EAST HARTFORD, Conn, NOV. 4, 2017 – Quinton Flowers shattered a school record with 516 yards of total offense and threw for a career-high 385 yards in USF's 37-20 win at UConn on Saturday.

Flowers' historic night helped USF (8-1, 5-1) rack up 602 yards of offense in the program's fifth straight conference road victory. USF has won six straight games against UConn (3-6, 2-4).

Flowers became just the seventh player in FBS history to reach 7,000 passing and 3,000 rushing yards in a career with his USF record 16^th career game with 300-plus total yards. Flowers passed for the second-most yards in school history, threw for three touchdowns, and matched his career high with 24 completions in 37 attempts.

Flowers also posted his 13^th-career rushing game with 131 yards on 16 carries and became just the fourth player in American Athletic Conference history to total 500-plus yards in a game.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (St. Petersburg) posted his second straight 100-yard receiving game with six catches for 152 yards. Valdes-Scantling made Flowers' 60^th career touchdown pass special by taking it 95 yards late in the third quarter, which tied the record for the longest reception in school history.

Senior D'Ernest Johnson (Immokalee, Fla.) grabbed sole possession of USF's all-time receptions lead for a running back with his 69^th catch that went for an 11-yard score in the third quarter. Johnson started the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run and rushed for 30 of USF's 217 yards on the ground.

USF increased its nation-leading interception total to 17 with a pick by senior Deatrick Nichols (Miami). Senior Bruce Hector(Tampa) registered 1.5 of USF's four sacks, while Jaymon Thomas (Immokalee, Fla.), Devin Abraham (Tarpon Springs) and Nico Sawtelle (Jensen Beach, Fla.) all led the team with 10 tackles apiece.
 
USF's rushing attack racked up 54 yards on the Bulls' first scoring drive that was capped off with Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Johnson started the drive with a 23-yard run and Flowers had two rushes for 32 yards during the 69-yard march to the end zone.

Mitchell Wilcox's first touchdown catch of the season from 12 yards out helped give USF a 14-0 lead on the opening drive of the second quarter that featured more explosive plays. Flowers moved the chains with a 21-yard run, Valdes-Scantling had a 26-yard reception and Tyre McCants (Niceville, Fla.) put the Bulls into the red zone with a 19-yard catch. McCants finished with a career-high six catches for 89 yards, with many yards coming after the catch.

McCants' 40-yard reception to the UConn 24 helped set up USF's final score of the half, a 38-yard field goal by Emilio Nadelman(Miami) with 3:16 remaining. USF's 17-7 lead stood up by the break thanks to a heads-up interception by Nichols at the Bulls' 11 in the final minute.

Following a fourth-down stop by the defense, USF padded its lead to 27-7 with Johnson's 11-yard scoring catch and got to 30 points for the 25^th time in the past 26 games by the end of third quarter. Valdes-Scantling's 95-yard touchdown reception with 17 seconds on the clock helped the Bulls take a 34-7 lead into the fourth quarter. It marked the 100^th touchdown Flowers has accounted for in his record-breaking USF career.

Quotable
Head coach Charlie Strong on the Bulls' overall performance:
"You look at the job Quinton did with 385 yards passing, three touchdowns and 131 yards rushing. Then you look at Valdes, he had five catches for 152, but the big one he dropped. I said, 'You could have had over 200 yards receiving.' Just overall, even on defense, you had some guys making a lot of tackles and making a lot of plays. We had a big fourth-down stop. I'm just proud to see us bounce back after last week."

Key Stats
602 – USF kept the chains moving often and totaled 602 yards of offense.
516 – Quinton Flowers' school record total of offensive yards racked up against the Huskies.
9 of 14 – USF converted on 64 percent of the time on third down.

Notables

• Quinton Flowers broke his own school record with 516 yards of total offense. Flowers set the previous school record with 473 yards at Memphis on Nov. 12, 2016.
• Quinton Flowers became the seventh player in FBS history to reach 7,000 passing and 3,000 rushing yards with his USF record 16^th game with 300-plus yards.
• D'Ernest Johnson became USF's all-time receptions leader for a running back with his 69^th catch that resulted in an 11-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
• USF has won six straight games against UConn and five straight conference road games. The Bulls are 18-4 in conference games over the last three seasons. 

Up Next
USF returns to Raymond James Stadium to host Tulsa on Thursday, Nov. 16. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the Bulls' regular season home finale will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com or by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls. Learn about the Bulls' special ticket offers for senior night HERE.

[Rocky Style]

Bravo.  Broke his own record! 

[Apis Bull]

GOAT