MIAMI — They battled for 60 minutes, then again for two overtimes and literally fought after the final play.
And for Memphis, the end result was a win 76 years in the making.
Paxton Lynch threw four touchdown passes and rushed for three more scores, Jake Elliott kicked a 54-yard field goal to end the first extra session and Memphis wasted a pair of double-digit leads before rallying to beat BYU 55-48 in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl on Monday.
“It wasn’t always pretty,” Memphis coach Justin Fuente said.
No, but it was memorable — largely for the right reasons, though also for a scene that got out of hand at the end.
Roderick Proctor caught an 11-yard pass from Lynch to put Memphis up in the second overtime, and from there things just got worse for BYU.
After DaShaughn Terry sealed the win by picking off BYU quarterback Christian Stewart in the second OT, tensions and emotions took over. Dozens of people from both sidelines spilled toward the middle of the field, many punching and grabbing. Cameras caught BYU defensive back Kai Nacua — who had blood streaming from his face — coming from behind to punch in the head Memphis tight end Alan Cross, who was being restrained by someone from the Tigers’ staff.
“You want them to rise above that and have fantastic sportsmanship,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “I’m sure if you go back and look, there’ll be an instance or two that ignited. Probably the majority wanted to handle it really well.”
There was no immediate word on any disciplinary action from either team.
Lynch threw for 306 yards and the four touchdowns, including a 5-yarder to Keiwone Malone with 45 seconds left in regulation — on fourth-and-4, his second fourth-down conversion on the Tigers’ final drive of regulation.