The inaugural Miami Beach Bowl was filled with storylines: A program on the rise, a program looking to finish strong without their biggest star, a terrible venue and a horrendous statue (those last two go hand-in-hand). The game itself was a shootout, filled with fire and emotion and passion throughout, going all the way to two overtimes before we finally had a winner. After the shootout and a nasty brawl at the end, the Memphis Tigers came out on top of the BYU Cougars 55-48.

The game itself was played inside of Marlins Park (yes, the Miami Marlins' baseball field), of course with their hideous, moving statue included. It was a strange game to look. The TV commentary team was out in the sun, with an awkwardly placed and awkwardly constructed press box. There was a ridiculous glare on the field for part of the game. The stadium situation was strange to say the least. The setup for the Miami Beach Bowl was far from great, but the game itself was one for the ages.

Memphis started off quickly, striking first blood on a 33 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Paxton Lynch to Keiwone Malone. BYU would immediately strike back with a long touchdown of their own. The team would trade another set of touchdowns and Memphis would tack on a field goal, bring the final first quarter score to 17-14, setting up the rest of the high scoring affair.

Paxton Lynch ran for his second touchdown of the afternoon early in the second quarter, extending the Tigers' lead to 24-14. BYU would seize the lead headed into halftime, however, as a Christian Stewart passing touchdown and a rushing score by Paul Lasike gave the Cougars their first lead of the day, 28-24 at intermission.

Memphis dominated the third quarter, scoring twice to take back the lead. Just over 5 minutes into the period, Lynch an for his third touchdown of the game and threw for another, one of his four, took give Memphis another lead at 38-28. Then, suddenly, BYU came storming back, scoring 17 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter. It looked as though the Cougars had wrapped up the first ever Miami Beach Bowl, but Lynch was able to force the ball downfield and into the endzone with just 45 seconds on the clock in order to send the game to overtime.

BYU was able to knock in a field goal on their drive in the first overtime, putting the pressure on Memphis. On their first possession, the Tigers would end up losing 12 yards, pushing them way back for a 55-yard field goal attempt. Even an attempt by BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall to ice Memphis kicker did not work, as one of the best kickers in the nation, Jake Elliott, hit the kick with plenty of room to spare, sending the game to a second overtime.

The second overtime period moved by without quite as much suspense. Roderick Proctor grabbed Lynch's fourth touchdown pass of the game to give the Tigers the lead, and BYU was not able to answer, making the final score Memphis 55, BYU 48. The ending of this exciting was marred by an ugly brawl, however. BYU players clearly took exception to Memphis players celebrating at the end of this emotionally-charged game, and very quickly a couple shoves turned into some violent shoves and a whole lot more as a scrum broke out on the field. It was an ugly scene, complete with a large dog pile near the BYU sideline, a Memphis player using his helmet as a weapon and a nasty sucker punch thrown by BYU's Kai Nacua. It was a rough ending to a highly entertaining game.

This was a game filled with plenty of passing yards and passing touchdowns, but a host of interceptions as well. Christian Stewart of BYU, who has stepped in to replace Taysom Hill in the second half of the season, finished with a passer efficiency rating of 123.7, completing 23/47 passes for 348 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Algernon Brown led the Cougars with 78 rushing yards, and Paul Lasike ran for two touchdowns on the day. Mitchell Juergens led the team with 87 receiving yards, while Mitch Mathews had the team lead in receptions with 9.

It was an up and down game for Paxton Lynch of the Memphis Tigers, but it he did contribute to each touchdown that they scored on the game. He went 24/46 for 306 yards with 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, giving him a rating of 105.4 for the day. He also ran for all three of Memphis' rushing touchdowns. Bradon Hayes led the team in rushing yards with 49 on 22 carries. The Tigers' leading receiver was Keiwone Malone, who had 6 receptions for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns.

This bowl loss is a disappointing end to a frankly disappointing season for BYU. There was early season talk of an undefeated season for the Cougars, but once quarterback Taysom Hill went down with a gruesome leg injury, that talk was out the window and fans were left to speculate just how good the rest of the team was. It was a fine season for BYU, but not one that the Cougars faithful and coach Bronco Mendenhall expected. It will be a rough offseason in Provo, filled with questions about the future and thoughts of "what if" about the 2014 season.

For Memphis, this is a huge victory. it is not a premier bowl game but it is a major, nationally looked game nonetheless. The Tigers proved that their regular season was not just a fluke, finishing off a solid BYU team to capture a bowl victory. This is a program on the upswing, stocked with a roster of good talent with a very good head coach. This win clearly shows that Memphis is a program here to stay, and will be contending in the American Athletic Conference for years to come.