Byrum Brown threw for 357-yards and a career-best five touchdowns Saturday but South Florida could not get enough stops on defense and fell to Memphis 50-59 in an American Athletic Conference game at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

The last USF quarterback to throw five TD passes in a game was Marquel Blackwell on Oct. 19, 2002 (at East Carolina). Brown also rushed for 100-yards on 23 carries.

The Bulls fell behind 14-0 less than four minutes into the game but fought back to take a 42-38 lead when Kelley Joiner rushed for a nine yard touchdown with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

The Bulls defense gave up back-to-back touchdowns, one an 85-yard catch-and-run score by the Tigers.

BullsInsider.com covered the game and here is our Instant Analysis:

IT WAS OVER WHEN: Brown’s pass to Sean Atkins was broken up by DeAgo Brumfield at the USF 19 and the Bulls turned it over on downs with 4:11 to play and down by 10 points. Two plays later Memphis scored a touchdown slamming the door shut on the Bulls.

HE STOLE THE SHOW: Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan threw four touchdown passes and 349-yards on the day. He also ran for 42 yards on eight carries. Henigan had zero turnovers.

THE STAT DOESN’T LIE: Memphis posted 441-yards passing. The Tigers burned USF defensive backs like Chicago pizza.

WHAT A PLAY: With less than a minute to play in the first half, Matthew Hill blocked a Memphis punt at the Memphis 44-yard line. Timarcus Simpson recovered the ball at the 31-yard line and returned it to the Memphis 9-yard line.

THE BOTTOM LINE: This could have been much worse. The Bulls fumbled four times but only lost one of those fumbles. This loss drops USF below .500 in conference play for the first time this season. At the risk of being captain obvious, until the Bulls defense improves they are going to struggle to win games consistently. Up next for USF is noon game vs. Temple next Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.