Saturday, August 31, 2013 07:00 PM (ET)

Recap: McNeese State 53, South Florida 21

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 31, 2013

McNeese State 53, South Florida 21: Nic Jacobs pulled in five catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns, setting career marks in all three categories, to lead the visiting Cowboys in a rout over South Florida.

Quarterback Cody Stroud threw for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns for McNeese State, which rolled off 40 unanswered points after the Bulls took an early 7-0 lead. Dylan Long added two touchdowns on the ground for the Cowboys, who knocked off a FBS school for the second consecutive season, after defeating Middle Tennessee last year.

Matt Floyd narrowly edged senior Bobby Eveld in a preseason competition to start under center for South Florida and the sophomore floundered in his season debut. Floyd was intercepted twice, including a 76-yard return for a touchdown by Guy Morgan just before halftime that gave McNeese State a 33-7 lead at the break.

South Florida actually took a 7-0 lead 2:13 into the game, thanks to an 80-yard touchdown run from Marcus Shaw. A series of errors, however, sent the Bulls down a path from which they would never recover.

After a safety got the Cowboys on the board, Kelvin Bennett capped a 91-yard touchdown drive with a 7-yard run for a score, and after Shaw coughed up the ball inside his own 10, Long scampered to the end zone from 7 yards out himself to give McNeese State a pair of touchdowns in just 24 seconds. Stroud's 22-yard strike to Jacobs less than four minutes later helped the Cowboys pile on amid 31 points in the second quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: South Florida fell to 16-1 all-time in home openers and 1-1 all-time against McNeese State. ... 53 points marks the second-highest total allowed in Bulls history, just shy of Oregon's 56 points against South Florida in the 2007 Sun Bowl. ... Floyd finished 9-of-20 and was benched in the second half in favor of Eveld, who passed for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Covers 25 Years Logo Established in 1995,
Covers is the world
leader in sports
betting information.
Covers is verified safe by: Evalon Logo GPWA Logo GDPR Logo GeoTrust Logo Evalon Logo