Quinton Flowers leads USF to dramatic Birmingham Bowl win

Quinton Flowers led USF to a win over Texas Tech late in the Birmingham Bowl, putting the perfect cap on his career.

South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers has become one of the most exciting players in college football the past few seasons, but Saturday was bittersweet. With the Bulls taking on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Birmingham Bowl, this marked the final time Flowers would be leading the offensive charge for USF. And, boy, did he ever leave a lasting impression on all of us.

The first half of the Birmingham Bowl between these two offensive powers was not what we all expected, with the score being tied at just 10 at the half. However, both offenses opened up in the second half, giving us all the shootout we were looking for.

It was becoming increasingly evident that Flowers would be given the chance near the end of the game to engineer a game-winning drive. Well, he was afforded that opportunity, and of course, he delivered.

After Texas Tech took a 34-31 lead with just 1:31 to go in the postseason contest, the ball was in Flowers’ hands and he was tasked with putting the team on his back if they wanted to earn their second-straight Birmingham Bowl win. What did he do? He engineered a seven-play, 75-yard drive that he ended with a gorgeous 26-yard scoring strike to Tyre McCants to put this one to bed and perfectly cap off his career.

This entire game was one final showing from one of the best quarterbacks of the past few seasons in college football. When all was said and done in the win, Flowers finished with 311 yards passing and four touchdowns while adding in 106 yards on the ground with his legs and another score. It was one last reminder that Quinton Flowers is one of the most dominant players in college football.

USF will dearly miss this young man, and so will the entire sport of college football. But, it was nice of him to give us one more incredible performance to remember him by.