Lynch rushed for 44 yards and was 18-of-23 for 232 yards, tossing scoring passes to Mose Frazier and Brandon Hayes for Memphis (8-3, 6-1 AAC), which won for the fifth straight time. The Tigers, who also received 189 rushing yards on 21 carries from Hayes, can earn a share of the conference title with a win over visiting Connecticut next Saturday.

Freshman Marlon Mack ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, and Mike White was 21-of-35 for 244 yards before leaving with a fourth-quarter leg injury for South Florida (4-7, 3-4) which saw its bowl hopes end with its fifth loss in the last seven games. The Bulls also received a late-game touchdown pass from No. 3 quarterback Steven Bench to Andre Davis and a pair of first-half field goals from Marvin Kloss.

Following a short punt and 12-yard return, Memphis took possession at the South Florida 27-yard line on its second drive of the third quarter and scored 28 seconds later on an 11-yard pass from Lynch to Hayes. The Bulls reached the Tigers’ 4-yard-line on the ensuing drive, but Memphis’ Donald Pennington pounced on a botched handoff on a third-down end-around play, leading to a 67-yard drive and a 35-yard Jake Elliott field goal which capped the Tigers’ scoring.

South Florida grabbed the early lead with Kloss kicking a 21-yard field goal on its first drive, but Memphis answered with Lynch scoring runs on back-to-back possessions to give the hosts a 14-3 lead. After the teams traded TDs – a 75-yard Mack run and a 42-yard pass from Lynch to Frazier – on the ensuing two possessions, Kloss capped a 17-play, 76-yard Bulls’ march with a 35-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the second quarter to cut the Tigers’ lead to 21-13 at the half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Memphis has reached eight wins for only the fifth time in the last 50 years. … Lynch has accounted for 24 TDs this season (14 passing and 10 rushing). … Mack now has rushed for 1,009 yards this year – the fourth 1,000-yard rushing season in the program’s history.