Southern Methodist 41, South Florida 23
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - Tanner Mordecai threw his two touchdown passes in a 21-point third quarter and SMU became bowl eligible with a 41-23 win over South Florida, the Bulls' eighth-straight loss.
USF, which fired coach Jeff Scott and defensive coordinator Bob Shoop last Sunday, played a spirited first half under interim coach Daniel Da Prato, scoring 10 late points to tie the game at 17 at halftime. But it was the Mustangs, under first-year head coach Rhett Lashlee, who took control to earn a probable bowl trip for the fourth-straight year.
The Mustangs went 97 yards in six plays with their first possession of the third quarter, taking the lead on a 21-yard pass to Rashee Rice. Their next drive was one play, Mordecai finding Jordan Kerley down the middle for a 70-yard touchdown.
SUM (6-4, 4-2 American Athletic Conference) capped the game-changing quarter with Tyler Lavine's 8-yard touchdown running after the Bulls turned the ball over on downs.
Mordecai finished 19 of 27 for 280 yards. Lavine and Camar Wheaton, who scored two touchdowns in the first half, both ran for 112 yards. Kerley had seven catches for 156 and Rice six for 99.
Brian Battie ran for 145 yards for the Bulls (1-9, 0-6). Katravis Marsh threw a touchdown pass to Xavier Weaver, but Marsh was taken from the field on the stretcher after lowering his head on a run with less than six minutes to go in the game.
Jason Albritton ran for a score and Byrum Brown threw his first college touchdown pass, hitting Jayson Littlejohn inside the last two minutes for the Bulls.
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Updated November 12, 2022
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
SMU | USF |
| SMU |
TD |
10:08 |
Camar Wheaton 1 yd run (Collin Rogers kick) |
7 |
0 |
| SMU |
FG |
4:22 |
Collin Rogers 22 yd FG |
10 |
0 |
| Second Quarter |
SMU | USF |
| USF |
TD |
13:41 |
Jason Albritton 1 yd run (Spencer Shrader kick) |
10 |
7 |
| SMU |
TD |
9:23 |
Camar Wheaton 18 yd run (Collin Rogers kick) |
17 |
7 |
| USF |
TD |
2:44 |
Xavier Weaver 32 yd pass from Katravis Marsh (Spencer Shrader kick) |
17 |
14 |
| USF |
FG |
0:08 |
Spencer Shrader 41 yd FG |
17 |
17 |
| Third Quarter |
SMU | USF |
| SMU |
TD |
8:10 |
Rashee Rice 21 yd pass from Tanner Mordecai (Collin Rogers kick) |
24 |
17 |
| SMU |
TD |
5:56 |
Jordan Kerley 70 yd pass from Tanner Mordecai (Collin Rogers kick) |
31 |
17 |
| SMU |
TD |
0:13 |
Tyler Lavine 8 yd run (Collin Rogers kick) |
38 |
17 |
| Fourth Quarter |
SMU | USF |
| SMU |
FG |
8:02 |
Collin Rogers 45 yd FG |
41 |
17 |
| USF |
TD |
1:46 |
Jayson Littlejohn 17 yd pass from Byrum Brown (failed 2pt pass) |
41 |
23 |
| Team Stats |
| |
SMU |
South Florida |
| First downs |
30 |
22 |
| Rushing |
15 |
10 |
| Passing |
12 |
11 |
| Penalty |
3 |
1 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-11, 45% |
7-18, 39% |
| 4th down efficiency |
1-3, 33% |
2-4, 50% |
| Rushes-Yards |
41-273 |
42-179 |
| Passing Yards |
280 |
202 |
| Return Yards |
20 |
26 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
19-27-0 |
14-34-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
0-0 |
2--16 |
| Punts |
0 |
4 |
| Punts-Average |
� |
39.8 |
| Fumbles Lost |
0-0 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
2-20 |
7-60 |
| Time of Possession |
27:18 |
32:42 |
| SMU Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| T. Mordecai |
19 |
27 |
280 |
2 |
0 |
| South Florida Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| K. Marsh |
12 |
31 |
178 |
1 |
1 |
| B. Brown |
2 |
3 |
24 |
1 |
0 |
| SMU Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| T. Lavine |
17 |
112 |
6.6 |
1 |
| C. Wheaton |
14 |
112 |
8.0 |
2 |
| V. Gardner |
6 |
19 |
3.2 |
0 |
| T. McDaniel |
2 |
19 |
9.5 |
0 |
| T. Mordecai |
1 |
6 |
6.0 |
0 |
| K. Jennings |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| South Florida Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| B. Battie |
26 |
145 |
5.6 |
0 |
| J. Albritton |
4 |
16 |
4.0 |
1 |
| M. Dukes |
4 |
10 |
2.5 |
0 |
| K. Powell |
2 |
6 |
3.0 |
0 |
| K. Marsh |
4 |
3 |
0.8 |
0 |
| X. Weaver |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
| B. Brown |
1 |
-2 |
-2.0 |
0 |
| SMU Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Kerley |
7 |
156 |
22.3 |
1 |
| R. Rice |
6 |
99 |
16.5 |
1 |
| D. Goffney |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
0 |
| R. Maryland |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| R. Daniels Jr. |
2 |
4 |
2.0 |
0 |
| M. Dixon |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
0 |
| South Florida Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| X. Weaver |
4 |
60 |
15.0 |
1 |
| J. Horn Jr. |
3 |
60 |
20.0 |
0 |
| S. Atkins |
4 |
55 |
13.8 |
0 |
| J. Littlejohn |
1 |
17 |
17.0 |
1 |
| G. Reynolds |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| M. Dukes |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| SMU Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| J. Rogers |
1 |
20 |
| South Florida Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| SMU Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| South Florida Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| A. Stokes |
2 |
82 |
41.0 |
| C. McCreary |
2 |
77 |
38.5 |
| SMU Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| South Florida Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| SMU Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| B. Massey |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| South Florida Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Horn Jr. |
1 |
20 |
20.0 |
| B. Battie |
1 |
6 |
6.0 |
| SMU Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| C. Rogers |
53 |
| South Florida Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
