University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers Win Shootout Over Bowling Green 44-41
Sep 19, 2015 | Football
Lynch sets career-high passing mark for second-straight week.
Junior place-kicker Jake Elliott scored the winning points on a 29-yard field goal with 7:35 left in the game. Elliott also had field goals of 52 yards and 38 yards in the contest. Bowling Green's kicker Tyler Tate missed his only field goal attempt and was unable to convert one of the team's extra-point attempts.
After the teams went back and forth and scored at will for much of the game, the Memphis defense made stops on the Falcons' final four drives of the game.
Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch had another banner game, completing 29-of-40 passes for a career-high 386 yards and three touchdowns. On the receiving end of his touchdown passes were wide receiver Tevin Jones, running back Sam Craft and tight end Daniel Montiel. Lynch's career-high 386 yards passing bested his previous high of 354 yards which he threw for in last Saturday's 55-23 win at Kansas.
Bowling Green exploited the Memphis defense through the air for a majority of the game. Falcons quarterback Matt Johnson was 28-of-44 for 443 yards and four touchdowns. Three of his touchdown passes were long-range strikes to Roger Lewis, who finished with seven catches for 261 yards.
Doroland Dorceus led the Tigers rushing attack with 75 yards on 16 carries. He and Craft, who finished with 11 carries for 50 yards, scored rushing touchdowns.
Elliott kicked his 52-yard field goal to start the second half, cutting into the Bowling Green lead. That Tigers' drive was extended on a Nick Jacobs' 11-yard run off a fake punt. For his career, Elliott moved to 8-of-14 on kicks of longer than 50 yards.
Memphis linebacker Genard Avery came up with a huge sack on third down of Bowling Green's first second-half possession. The sack forced the Falcons to attempt a 48-yard field goal, which was missed.
Following the missed field goal, Memphis methodically went down the field 70 yards on a game-tying touchdown drive. During the drive, the Tigers converted a 4th-and-1 with a 32-yard pass from Lynch to Jones. Craft capped the drive with a three-yard scoring rush.
The Falcons had an immediate answer, as Johnson tossed the second-longest touchdown pass in school history, a 94-yard strike to Roger Lewis.
Memphis responded again, as Craft took a screen pass 60 yards for a touchdown that knotted the score at 34-all just before the end of the third quarter.
The back-and-forth between the two teams continued as Bowling Green scored on another quick strike. Lewis was on the receiving end of his third long touchdown reception of the game, this one from 62 yards out.
The Tigers weren't done either, as Memphis tied it back up with a 42-yard touchdown pass on a double reverse pass. Lynch handed the ball to Craft who pitched it to Roderick Procter who tossed it back to Lynch. The Tigers quarterback launched it to a wide-open Jones.
The Memphis defense got its first stop since early in the third quarter and forced a Bowling Green punt. The Tigers drove down the field, and Elliott kicked what proved to be the game-winning score, a 29-yard field goal with 7:35 left in the game.
Memphis held a 17-14 lead late in the first half, before Bowling Green pieced together a pair of 90-yard touchdown drives to take a 27-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Johnson rushed 23 yards for the go-ahead score before tossing a nine-yard pass with three seconds left in the first half to extend the margin to 10 points. Johnson was 22-of-31 passing for 276 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He also rushed four times for 49 yards and a score.
Bowling Green grabbed an early lead on the fourth play of the game when Johnson completed a 62-yard touchdown pass down the sideline.
The Tigers got on the board in their second possession of the game with a six-play, 56-yard touchdown drive. The drive was extended by a crucial review of a pass from Lynch to wide receiver Anthony Miller that was initially ruled incomplete. Two plays later, Dorceus capped the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run, his fourth score of the season and the eighth of his career.
The Falcons quickly retook the lead at 14-7 on a 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a two-yard run by Donovan Wilson. Bowling Green sped the game up on the scoring drive and kept the Tigers defense on their heels.
Looking to answer immediately, Memphis put together a solid drive and faced a 1st-and-10 from the Bowling Green 13 yard line. Back-to-back negative plays forced the Tigers to kick a field goal and cut the lead to 14-10 with 1:51 left in the first quarter.
With the kick, Elliott moved into a tie with Dave Casinelli (1960-63) for sixth on the Memphis all-time scoring chart with 218 career points.
Memphis started the second quarter with the ball and put together a 14-play, 88-yard touchdown drive to take its first lead of the game at 17-14. Montiel caught a six-yard pass from Lynch for the score. The Tigers were balanced on the drive with eight passing plays and five rushes.
The Tigers (3-0) return to action on a short-week turnaround when they host Cincinnati (1-1, 0-1 The American) in their American Athletic Conference opener Thursday, Sept. 24. Game time is 6:30 p.m. (CT) at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. ESPN is televising the Memphis-Cincinnati match-up.
Team Stats

MEM 0, BGSU 7
BGSU - LEWIS, Roger 62 yd pass from JOHNSON, Matt (TATE, Tyler kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:16

MEM 7, BGSU 7
MEM - DORCEUS, D 17 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 6 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:32

MEM 7, BGSU 14
BGSU - WILSON, Donovan 2 yd run (TATE, Tyler kick), 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:24

MEM 10, BGSU 14
MEM - ELLIOTT, Jake 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 66 yards, TOP 3:52

MEM 17, BGSU 14
MEM - MONTIEL, Daniel 6 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 14 plays, 88 yards, TOP 5:27

MEM 17, BGSU 21
BGSU - JOHNSON, Matt 23 yd run (TATE, Tyler kick), 10 plays, 91 yards, TOP 2:50

MEM 17, BGSU 27
BGSU - REDDING, Teo 9 yd pass from JOHNSON, Matt (TATE, Tyler kickfailed) 9 plays, 90 yards, TOP 1:25

MEM 20, BGSU 27
MEM - ELLIOTT, Jake 52 yd field goal 10 plays, 38 yards, TOP 3:10

MEM 27, BGSU 27
MEM - CRAFT, Sam 3 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 4:09

MEM 27, BGSU 34
BGSU - LEWIS, Roger 94 yd pass from JOHNSON, Matt (TATE, Tyler kick) 2 plays, 95 yards, TOP 0:36

MEM 34, BGSU 34
MEM - CRAFT, Sam 60 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 6 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:46

MEM 34, BGSU 41
BGSU - LEWIS, Roger 62 yd pass from JOHNSON, Matt (TATE, Tyler kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:47

MEM 41, BGSU 41
MEM - JONES, Tevin 48 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:54

MEM 44, BGSU 41
MEM - ELLIOTT, Jake 29 yd field goal 7 plays, 44 yards, TOP 2:48







