On a nearly perfect fall Saturday, the Memphis Tigers would welcome the 18th-ranked USF Bulls to the Liberty Bowl for one of the most anticipated Group of Six games of the year. In many cases, Saturday’s  matchup between the Tigers and Bulls of South Florida was an elimination game for the College Football Playoff race, with conference championship implications as well. Coming into the matchup, both the Bulls and the Tigers have a single loss; Memphis lost last weekend to UAB, and South Florida’s lone loss came at the hands of Miami early in September. USF could afford a loss a little bit more than Memphis could, with the lone loss for the Tigers coming in conference, but for the College Football Playoffs, the margin of error is near zero for either team. 

A win for either team would give them the advantage in the arms race to host the American Championship game in early December. A win for the Tigers would give them the tiebreaker over USF, while a USF win would give the Tigers a second conference loss and an uphill climb just to make the conference championship game, let alone host the event. 

Last week, Memphis starting quarterback Brendon Lewis went down with an injury in the game against UAB and was listed as day-to-day. With an hour or so before kick today, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Lewis was a go for the Tigers on Saturday. 

South Florida won the toss and elected to receive, putting early pressure on the Tigers’ defense. A ballsy decision that ended in disaster as Everett Roussaw picked off South Florida, giving the Tigers excellent field position for a Frank Peasant Memphis touchdown, giving the Tigers an early 7-0 lead over the Bulls. USF would respond with a long touchdown drive of their own to make it 7-7 before a Byrum Brown 44-yard QB keep to retake a South Florida lead 14-7 over the Tigers. At the end of the first quarter, South Florida had forced another Memphis punt after a sack on Brendon Lewis. 

The Memphis defense opened the second half with a fourth-down stop of the USF offense to give the Tigers the ball back on the USF 40. Memphis would punt it to USF after a false start by the Tigers’ offensive line pushed Memphis out of contention for going for it on 4th down. Memphis and USF would then exchange punts once more. South Florida would put together a quick drive that ended with a touchdown to extend the lead over Memphis to 21-7 with 4:21 remaining in the half. Memphis put together a quick three-minute drive that ended with Brendon Lewis finding Cortez Brahm in the endzone for a Memphis touchdown to cut the USF lead to 21-14 with 50 seconds in the half. USF would take it down the field to kick a field goal as time expired on the half to extend the lead over Memphis to 24-14. 

Gianni Spetic would open the second half for the Tigers with a 55-yard field goal to cut the USF lead to 24-17 with 9:51 to go in the third. That Memphis defense would bend but not break, forcing a turnover on downs, giving the Tigers a first-and-ten on the USF seven-yard line. The Memphis drive would stall out, ending in a missed 45-yard field goal, giving the Bulls the ball back with 13 seconds remaining in the quarter. Sam Franklin would extend the South Florida lead to 31-17 with a 73-yard touchdown run with just two seconds remaining in the third. 

Greg Desrosiers Jr would cap off an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a touchdown to cut the USF lead to 31-23 after a weird failed two-point conversion attempt with 13:13 to play. The Memphis defensive unit would once again force another stop, giving Memphis the ball back after a punt with 11:05 remaining in the game. Brendon Lewis would find Jamari Hawkins for a 57-yard first down, but the drive would stall out once again as the Tigers had to settle for a field goal to cut the South Florida lead to 31-26 with 7:08 left on the clock. Memphis takes four minutes off the clock, capping off the drive with a Memphis touchdown to take a 34-31 lead over USF with 1:07 remaining in the game. South Florida would drive down the field to miss a 52-yard field goal to give the Tigers a massive win as they jump back in the driver’s seat to represent the Group of Six in the College Football Playoffs. 

Memphis will hit the road next Friday night as they head down to Houston to take on the Rice Owls. 

Photo Credits – Memphis Football on X