Chris Swain Helps Navy Upset No. 15 Memphis 45-20
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Chris Swain ran for 108 yards and three touchdowns and Navy upset No. 15 Memphis 45-20 on Saturday night, ending the Tigers' winning streak at 15 games.
The Midshipmen (7-1, 5-0 American Athletic) remained tied with Houston atop the West Division. Memphis (8-1, 4-1) was 13th this week in the first College Football Playoff poll.
DeBrandon Sanders ran for 82 yards and Navy's triple-option rushing attack had 374 yards against a Memphis defense that had only allowed 118.8 yards a game.
But it was a 75-yard scoring pass from Keenan Reynolds to DeBrandon Sanders with 6:43 left in the third quarter that gave the Midshipmen the lead for good at 24-17. The pass came on the first play from scrimmage after Memphis tied it at 17.
The Midshipmen beat a Top 15 team for the first time since Nov. 17, 1984, against then-No. 2 South Carolina, and accomplished the feat on the road for the first time since Sept. 21, 1974, against then-No. 8 Penn State.
Memphis' Paxton Lynch was 26 of 42 for 305 yards, but threw an interception, one of three Tigers turnovers. He entered the entering the game with only one interception.
Navy held Memphis, which entered the game averaging 47.9 points and 560 yards of offense, to 438 yards.
In addition to Swain's scores and Sanders' scoring reception, Calvin Cass scored on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter and Demond Brown added a 1-yard touchdown run to close the scoring.
Reynolds, tied with former Wisconsin star Montee Ball for the most career rushing touchdowns in NCAA history at 77, did not score.
Reynolds gave Navy the lead early in the third quarter by crossing up the defense that was concentrating on the run with the long pass to Sanders. That came after Memphis had a 15-play drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Anthony Miller that tied it at 17.
The game's first two possessions played according to script with Memphis striking first and quickly through the air, covering 85 yards in just four plays, the final 11 on a pass from Lynch to Miller. The Midshipmen answered with a 9-minute drive over 75 yards, all on the ground. Swain scored from 3 yards.
Swain scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter, and Austin Grebe's 44-yard field goal closed out the half with Navy leading 17-10. The Midshipmen had 199 yards of offense in the half, 194 of them on the ground.
Lynch was 15 of 25 for 198 yards in the half, but Navy linebacker Anthony Gonzales picked off a pass to set up Grebe's field goal as time expired.
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