Prince, Braxton guide Tulsa to 48-42 win over South Florida

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Deneric Prince rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns, Braylon Braxton threw for 302 yards and a score and Tulsa held off South Florida 48-42 on Friday night.

Byrum Brown’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Chris Mottillo helped South Florida grab a 10-0 lead. Tulsa closed to within 10-7 by quarter’s end when Prince’s 67-yard run set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Braxton.

Tulsa (4-7, 2-5 American Athletic Conference) scored on three straight drives — short scoring runs by Steven Anderson and Prince around Braxton’s 31-yard scoring strike to Keylon Stokes — and the Golden Hurricane led 28-13.

Brown, who completed all 11 of his pass attempts in the first half, hit Sean Atkins for an 18-yard touchdown, but Zack Long kicked a 23-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to put Tulsa up 31-20 at halftime.

Braxton stretched Tulsa’s lead to 38-20 with a 1-yard scoring run on the first possession of the third quarter. Brown answered with a 6-yard scoring run and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jayson Littlejohn and Brian Battie’s 2-point conversion run to get the Bulls within 38-35.

South Florida (1-10, 0-7) turned a punt into a 13-yard loss on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Golden Hurricane a first down on the Bulls’ 18-yard line. Three plays later Prince scored from a yard out to make it a two-score game.

Battie scored on a 21-yard run with 2:49 to play for South Florida. An onside kick was unsuccessful but the Bulls defense forced a three-and-out. USF took over on its own 9-yard line and turned the ball over on downs without gaining a yard.

Brown completed 21 of 25 passes for 240 yards for USF. Battie rushed for 169 yards on 19 carries. Brown added 76 yards on the ground. Atkins had eight catches for 115 yards.