SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 15, 2014
USF 14, SMU 13: Deposed starter Mike White entered the game in the fourth quarter and led the Bulls to two touchdowns, including the game-winner with four seconds remaining as USF rallied to defeat the host Mustangs in an American Athletic Conference game.
Freshman Quinton Flowers got the start ahead of White, a sophomore who started five games this season and won the job out of summer, but Flowers struggled to move the offense, going 6-of-15 for 105 yards. White finished 9-of-16 for 106 yards and Andre Davis was held to 59 yards receiving on six catches but four of those yards came on the game-winning catch on fourth-and-goal.
Sophomore Matt Davis, in his second start, was 22-of-31 for 189 yards and a score and also led the Mustangs (0-9, 0-5) in rushing with 53 yards on 11 carries. Der’rickk Thompson had three catches for 96 yards for SMU, which has lost 11 straight.
White replaced Flowers with the Bulls (4-6, 3-3) trailing 13-0 in the fourth quarter and promptly completed 3-of-4 for 45 yards on a five-play, 48-yard drive that culminated in a 12-yard touchdown to D’Ernest Johnson with 8:02 remaining. With no timeouts and the clock running on fourth down, White hit Davis along the left sideline of the end zone for the score.
SMU led 13-0 - its first halftime lead this season - by scoring 10 points in the final 21 seconds of the half. Davis threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Justin Lawler, and Cameron Smith recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff with 17 seconds left before Cody Rademacher kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired.
GAME NOTEBOOK: SMU entered the game having created just six turnovers this season and had yet to score off an opponent’s miscue, but turned two fumbles into 10 first-half points. … Davis’ 59 yards receiving made him the first player in USF history to reach 2,000 yards in a career. … SMU’s losing streak is tied for the third-longest in school history - the record is 15 games set in 2003-04.