McClain and Mangham spark offense to three straight second half touchdown drives
PROVO, UTAH, SEPT. 25, 2021– The USF football team (1-3) found itself quickly in a 21-point hole at No. 15 BYU (4-0), but showed resilience and talent as freshman quarterback Timmy McClain and junior running back Jaren Mangham sparked the Bulls’ offense in a 35-27 loss.
Making his second career start less than a year removed from leading Seminole High School to a class 8A state title, McClain’s athleticism and poise before a hostile crowd delivered scoring drives of 69, 62, 75, 54 and 94 yards as USF outscored BYU 21-7 in the second half and scored on five of its final six possessions of the game, including touchdowns in all three second half drives.
McClain finished 17-of-24 for 186 yards and ran for 55 yards. Junior running back Jaren Mangham showed power and agility in logging career-bests of 26 carries for 86 yards and adding two touchdowns. He now has seven rushing touchdowns on the season and three straight games with at least two or more. Meanwhile, Xavier Weaver remained McClain’s favorite target, hauling down five catches for 76 yards, while Demarcus Gregory added four catches for 54.
With a crowd of 60,2017 energizing LaVell Edwards Stadium on a beautiful 70-degree night at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, the Cougars leapt out early behind sophomore quarterback Baylor Romney, who started for an injured Jaren Hall. Baylor hit his brother Gunner Romney with a 49-yard strike on the second play from scrimmage and two plays later BYU led 7-0.
After a quick three-and-out on the Bulls first possession, Romney hit Puka Nacua on a 55-yard bomb that set up another BYU touchdown.
On the next drive, USF went for it on fourth and one and fumbled the snap. BYU recovered at the Bulls 34 and used eight plays to take a 21-0 lead with 4:20 left in the first quarter.
The game would change dramatically from there as USF outscored BYU 27-14 the rest of the way and despite trailing in total yardage – 443-367 – recorded more first downs (23-21) and rushing yards (181-138) and held a 35:37 to 24:23 time of possession advantage.
The Bulls responded to the early BYU touchdowns with a pair of long field goal drives that together consumed nearly 12 minutes and kept the explosive Cougar offense off the field. McClain fueled both, making plays running the ball and keeping the chains moving for first downs while finding Bulls’ receivers, including Weaver for a 20-yard gain. But, drives that went 13 plays and 12 plays, respectively, both stalled in BYU territory with USF bringing on Spencer Shrader for field goals of 30 and 42 yards.
After their lone punt in the half, the Cougars offense hit gear again with a seven-play, 75-yard drive capped by a nine-yard TD pass to close the half with a 28-6 lead.
USF opened the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 7:35 and was capped with a 3-yard reverse to Weaver for the Bulls’ first TD of the game. The drive cut the lead to 28-13 and effectively kept the BYU offense off the field for nearly 30-minutes.
BYU responded by scoring in four plays, again with the Romney-to-Romney connection capping the drive, this time with a 47-yard strike from Baylor to Gunner that made it 35-13 with 5:40 to play in the third. It would be their last score of the game.
USF didn’t flinch, using a 28-yard kick return from Brian Battie that got an extra 15-yards from a BYU facemask penalty to spark a touchdown drive of their own. With Mangham gaining tough yards on the ground and McClain hitting Weaver for a 26-yard gain, the Bulls marched straight to the Cougar doorstep before Mangham plunged in from two yards out for his sixth rushing touchdown of the season.
BYU drove all the way to the Bulls 5-yard line, but the USF defense held the Cougars out of the end zone. Justen Smith’s 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Darrien Grant and the Bulls sideline exploded.
McClain took over on his own 6 and marched the Bulls 94 yards, capping USF’s longest drive of the season with a one-yard Mangham run on fourth and goal for his seventh touchdown of the year. On the drive, Kelley Joiner had a 14-yard run, Mangham a 13-yarder and McClain hit Weaver for a big 17-yard gain down to the BYU 1.
Trailing 35-27 and with no timeouts remaining, the Bulls attempted an onside kick, but it went out of bounds and BYU took over on the USF 47. The Cougars ran out the clock to preserve and undefeated season.
Key Stats
2 – Jaren Mangham added two rushing touchdowns, his third straight game with at least two
94 – USF drove 94 yards on 19 plays for a fourth quarter touchdown that cut the BYU lead to eight.
10/20 – USF went 6 of 15 on third down and 4 of 5 on fourth for a combined 10 of 20 on first down conversions in late down situations.
Notables
- Cornerback Daquan Evans posted a career-best 8 tackles to lead USF
- Xavier Weaver led the Bulls in receiving for the fourth time on the season
- USF scored on five of its last six possessions and scored a touchdown on all three of its second half possession.
Up Next
USF will continue a two-game road swing next Saturday when they head to Dallas, Texas to face SMU in a 4 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU.
Tickets for USF home games can be purchased by calling or texting 1-800-GoBulls or visiting USFBullstix.com or Ticketmaster.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and will celebrate its 25th season in 2021 (22nd at the FBS level). USF has posted 15 winning seasons and is the fastest program in the state of Florida to reach 150 all-time wins. Bulls have earned 14 All-America selections, 29 first-team all-conference selections, and 30 USF players have been selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl game appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program-record six-straight from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20-straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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