USF wins again despite mediocre quarterbacking from Quinton Flowers

USF quarterback Quinton Flowers set a new Bulls record for rushing touchdowns. He couldn’t even muster 100 passing yards against Temple.

There is no denying that Quinton Flowers is a special talent. The USF Bulls quarterback holds the distinction of being the first FBS quarterback from a Florida school to throw for 2000 yards and rush for 1000 in a season. He nearly topped 3000 passing yards last year, which would have set another benchmark.

USF entered the year as a favorite to earn the Group of Five bid into a New Year’s Six bowl game. They are still on track after a dominant 43-7 win over divisional nemesis Temple on Thursday night. But the Bulls reached 4-0 mostly on the strength of its running game. Admittedly, Flowers is a big part of that running game, even if he could technically get called for targeting sometimes the way he plays.

Against the Owls, Flowers finished with 59 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. But as a passer, Flowers managed just 96 yards in the air. It wasn’t a huge deal, as the defense held the Temple offense scoreless. (The Owls’ only touchdown, notably, came on strip-sack fumble return by Jacob Martin.) The Bulls did what they needed in a convincing rout of their divisional rival.

Related Story: USF Football: 3 takeaways from Bulls’ win over Temple

So what is the issue with Flowers if USF keeps winning?

Simply put, Flowers has not been that accurate this season. He is great at extending plays and moving around to buy time, but accuracy has been his key issue. On Thursday night USF scored plenty in a 43-7 blowout over a Temple team that dealt them their only conference loss in 2016. And yes, Flowers got his pair of touchdowns on the ground. But he increasingly looks like a running back who sometimes throws the ball rather than a quarterback who can run.

The issue is largely due to consistency. Flowers has never been the most reliable of quarterbacks. One game he might complete 80 percent or more of his attempts. Other times, he has struggled to even reach a 50 percent completion rate. Even when he throws touchdown passes, he still is failing to put the ball in the right place for his receivers. Look at this clip from the Illinois game:

https://twitter.com/SoFloBulls/status/909922417040076800

Tyre McCants beats his marker for the catch but has to work harder than necessary to do so. That has been the case for South Florida receivers all season, as Flowers has underthrown receivers he would normally hit in stride. Flowers is connecting with his receivers nearly seven percent less than last season.

More troubling is the fact that his completion rate is more than three percent lower than where the quarterback was at in his development as a sophomore. While the country has become enamored with his running prowess, Flowers is regressing as a passer.

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With Flowers operating a dangerous backfield loaded with Darius Tice and D’Ernest Johnson, it is still plenty capable of winning the American Athletic Conference and going to a New Year’s Six bowl. But the third-year starter looks further and further from winning the Heisman with each passing week even as the Bulls keep winning.