TULSA, Okla. — Paxton Lynch completed 32 of 44 passes for a career-high 447 yards and four touchdowns to help No. 18 Memphis win its 14th straight game, 66-42 over Tulsa on Friday night.
Lynch has thrown for more than 300 yards in each of his last six games for Memphis (7-0, 3-0 American Athletic Conference).
The Tigers have gone more than a year since their last loss against Houston. The winning streak is the third longest in the country behind No. 1 Ohio State (20 games) and No. 4 TCU (15 games).
Dane Evans was 24 of 36 passing for 421 yards and four touchdowns for the Golden Hurricane (3-4, 0-3). Keyarris Garrett had 14 catches for a career-high 268 yards and three touchdowns.
Both in the top 10 nationally in total offense, the teams combined for 1,248 yards of offense in the wild back-and-forth affair.
In addition to the career bests by Lynch and Garrett, sophomore Doroland Dorceus had a career-high 150 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Memphis. Jamarius Henderson added 119 yards on the ground and two scores on 14 carries.
But it was Lynch, the junior who guided the Tigers to a 37-24 win over No. 24 Mississippi a week ago, who once again shined the brightest — throwing touchdown passes of 58, 45, 21 and 5 yards in the win. He also ran for a 3-yard touchdown to put Memphis up 49-35 in the third quarter.
Tigers coach Justin Fuente was concerned earlier in the week how Memphis would respond following last week’s dramatic win over its Southeastern Conference neighbor to the south, even seeking out advice from former Texas coach Mack Brown and TCU coach Gary Patterson.
Any concerns Fuente had were finally put to rest in the second half after Tulsa closed to 42-35 on Evans’ an 80-yard touchdown pass to Josh Atkinson.
Following the score, the Tigers outscored the Golden Hurricane 24-7 to close out the game — with Henderson capping the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes remaining.
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