BYU storms past South Florida 50-21
TAMPA, Fla. – We knew it could be bad, but not that bad. In the first game of the season, the South Florida Bulls were blown out 50-21 by No. 25 Brigham Young in front of an announced crowd of 31,521 that endured a two hour and thirty-six-minute weather delay that pushed kickoff of the 4 p.m. scheduled game to 6:36 p.m.
After all the enthusiasm going into this season, the Bulls do not appear to have changed that much. The game got away from USF quickly in the first eleven minutes for the Bulls, having four scores against them, including a lightning fast BYU end-around run for 75-yards, and a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
After a quick Bulls three-and-out, the Cougars marched back down the field and scored on another end-around from the five-yard line. Within six minutes of the first quarter, BYU wide receiver Puka Nacua was credited with two touchdowns.
It got worse for USF.
The next Bulls drive resulted in a 33-yard pick-six by BYU junior Max Tooley, giving the Cougars a quick 21-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter. The domination did not stop; another Bulls three-and-out gave the Cougars the ball right back. And they did just what we all expected, drove the ball right down the field, and with a 21-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Keanu Hill the score was 28-0 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
There were no surprises at the start of the second quarter. After back-to-back punts, BYU got their offense back in rhythm. With five complete passes and 59 yards, the Cougars found the endzone yet again on a 13-yard pass to junior Dallin Holker.
It wasn’t until 14-seconds left in the half that the Bulls put some points on the scoreboard. This was partly due to a 50-yard catch by junior Xavier Weaver putting them in the red zone. A few plays later, senior running back Jaren Mangham took a hand-off from Gerry Bohanon and leaped over the offensive line for a one-yard touchdown.
The score at half was 38-7 Cougars.
The second half opened with some revenge for the Bulls. On the opening kickoff, sophomore Jimmy Horn Jr. sprinted 89-yards for a score that made it 38-14. On their first drive of the half, the Cougars drove to the USF 14-yard line but grad student Mekhi Lapointe picked off Jaren Hall’s pass in the end zone and returned it to the USF 12.
USF was unable to move the chains and was forced to punt. The snap on the punt sailed over punter Andrew Stokes head and through the end zone for a safety and a 40-14 BYU lead.
Shortly after, the Cougars scored on a 52-yard touchdown run by senior Christopher Brooks that caused most of the remaining USF faithful to head for the parking lot. The Bulls added a nine-yard touchdown run by sophomore Brian Battie. The third quarter was not over but the game was.
In addition to Horn’s kickoff return one of the few positives in this game was Weaver posting a career high 113-yards receiving. When asked about his performance, Weaver answered very humbly, "I don’t care about the stats," Weaver said. “If we aren’t winning, I’m not happy.”
In the Jeff Scott era, the Bulls have lost nine games by 20+ points – four of them by 30+ points – and have given up 50+ points five times. Next week the Bulls host the Howard Bison, Saturday at 7:00 pm ET.
Due to lightning within eight miles of the BullsInsider.com offices, this article was delayed from last night.