Quinton Flowers played the game of his life. It wasn't enough.
Friday night’s War for I-4 between South Florida and UCF was an instant in-season classic, featuring one of the most outrageous endings we’ve seen in a good while.
The Knights won, 49-42, after a game-sealing fumble with under a minute to play, but both sides put up incredible numbers, including the best performance of the night coming from the losing side.
WATCH: South Florida's Tyre McCants drags UCF defender 20 yards for a touchdown
Here’s a quick peek inside just a few of the numbers:
44: South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers had 44 more yards of total offense (605) by himself than UCF’s entire team (561) racked up on Friday night. It was the best game of his collegiate career.
South Florida may have come up short in the end, but what a game from Quinton Flowers: pic.twitter.com/zWeQXcrEs7
— NCAA Football (@NCAAFootball) November 25, 2017
Curiously, before this month, Flowers had never gone for 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game. In his three November games, he’s done it twice. Sounds like a player heating up.
Good luck stopping Quinton Flowers.
— ESPN (@espn) November 24, 2017
He's got nearly 500 total yards as South Florida and UCF are battling for a division crown in a wild one on ABC. pic.twitter.com/Z00e7QN8m8
53: The number of game seconds in which the final three (3!) touchdowns of the game were scored. McKenzie Milton found Otis Anderson for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 2:21 left to play.
40 seconds later, Quinton Flowers connected with Darnell Salomon for an 83-yard touchdown pass and, after a two-point conversion, tied the game at 42 points apiece.
And then, on the ensuing kickoff, Mike Hughes took the kick return 95 yards to the house in 13 seconds.
MIIIIIIIKEEEE!!!
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) November 25, 2017
95 YARDS!!!! pic.twitter.com/y8pRcuLvek
Thus: 22 points in, yep, 53 seconds.
1,214: The rivals combined for over 1,200 total yards of offense, averaging 7.1 yards of offense per play, and 2.02 yards per in-game second, an absolutely outrageous pace.
60: The number of first downs between the two teams, 33 for the Knights and 27 for the Bulls.
12: A dozen players between the two teams had at least 20 receiving yards. Eleven of those 12 players had at least two catches. And, interestingly, despite UCF’s McKenzie Milton throwing for 373 yards, no UCF receiver had 100 yards on their own.
1: The number of plays featuring a sleigh ride:
TAKE ME WITH YOUUUUUUUU pic.twitter.com/n6KCqxty3o
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) November 24, 2017
227: Receiving yards by the Tyre McCants, the player from the above highlight. McCants averaged 25.2 yards per catch.
168: The teams ran a combined 168 offensive plays, featuring 89 passes and 79 rushes, a pretty surprising balance considering the two teams combined for 876 passing yards in the end.
0: the number of those 168 plays which succesfully converted a fourth down, despite three attempts from the two teams.
