Freshman QB starts 21-of-21 before finishing with 240 yards and three touchdowns passing in first career start
TAMPA, Nov. 18, 2022 – USF football (1-10; 0-7 AAC) saw freshman quarterback Byrum Brown put on a spectacular debut on a cold 30-degree night in Tulsa (4-7; 2-5 AAAC), but the Golden Hurricane claimed a 48-42 shootout victory on senior night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
Brown, making his first career start, started the game going 21 for 21 passing, the first FBS player to achieve that on the year, before his first incompletion came late in the fourth quarter. He finished –21 of25 for 240 yards and three touchdowns passing and added 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground as his 84 percent completion percentage for the game broke Quinton Flowers five-year old record.
He did it with the Bulls playing without leading wide receiver Xavier Weaver who did not make the trip. Sean Atkins posted career highs of nine catches for 115 yards and tight ends Chris Mottillo and Jayson Littlejohn caught touchdown passes.
Brian Battie became just the sixth Bull to post a 1,000-yard rushing season as he logged his fourth straight 100-yard game, one off the USF record, running for a career-high 169 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He now has 1,042 yards on the season. Dwayne Boyles led the Bulls defense for the seventh straight game posting 11 tackles and became the 13th Bull to post 100 tackles on a season and just the eight to log 300 on their career.
Tulsa quarterback Braylon Braxton passed for 302 yards and a touchdown and Deneric Prince ran for 219 yards and two touchdowns to lead a Tulsa offense that posted 573 yards. The Bulls posted a season-best 499 yards of offense and equaled a season-high 42 points.
The Bulls took an early 10-0 lead, but saw Tulsa score 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 15-point lead. Brown’s arm helped cut the margin to eight, 28-20, before a late field goal sent Tulsa to the half leading 31-20.
Tulsa took the opening kickoff of the second half and quickly made it 38-20, driving 72 yards in 1:41 for a touchdown on a 1-yard Braxton run.
USF responded quickly as Battie ripped off a 33-yard run and Brown finished the drive with a six-yard touchdown trot to cap a 79-yard drive that made it 38-27.
Following the score, the Bulls went with the on-side kick and recovered at the Tulsa 35 to seize the momentum. Brown quickly guided USF to the endzone hitting tight end Jayson Littlejohn with a 17-yard strike three plays later for a touchdown. The Bulls went for two and Battie scored on a broken-play, reverse to cut the Tulsa lead to 38-35 with 7:10 to play.
Tulsa responded with a 40-yard pass play to Steven Anderson to move to the USF28, but on a big 4th-and-1 at the 19 the USF defense stood strong and turned the ball over on downs. The Bulls looked to be on the verge on seizing the lead when Battie bolted for a long run, but a penalty flag negated the play and the Bulls were forced to punt shortly after. The snap was fumbled by punter Andrew Stokes and Tulsa recovered at the USF18. Four plays later it was 45-35 after Prince rushed in from a yard out with 14:27 to play.
Tulsa extended the lead to 48-35 on a 25-yard field goal with 5:10 to play, but USF refused to fold.
Brown led a 51-yard touchdown drive capped by a darting and dodging 21-yard Battie touchdown run that cut the lead to 48-42 with 2:49 to play. The Bulls failed to convert and onside kick, but the defense came out strong and forced a Tulsa 3-and-out, getting the ball back for the Bulls at the USF9.
With 1:17 to play, the Tulsa defense pinned its ears back and came hard for the freshman quarterback. The Bulls failed to gain a yard on four plays and gave the ball back to Tulsa, which ran out the clock.
USF looked motivated from the start, receiving the opening kickoff and driving 68 yards in 11 plays for a field goal. Brown hit Atkins for a big 3rd-and-long pick-up and Battie burst 33 yards on a sweep to get the Bulls deep in Tulsa territory before settling for a 25-yard Spencer Shrader field goal.
The Bulls defense forced a Tulsa punt on the Hurricane’s first possession and USF took over on its own 10. USF went into its bag of tricks, using a direct snap to Michel Dukes for a 14-yard gain and then pulling back-to-back flea flickers with a toss back to Brown who hit Atkins for a 38-yard gain to the TU20 and then on the next play found Mottillo, after a Dukes toss back, for a 20-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead.
Tulsa responded with a 66-yard burst by Prince up the middle of the field to the USF2 and got on the board two plays later when quarterback Braxton ran in from three yards out.
The Bulls got another field goal after Brown had a big 36-yard run and hit Holden Willis with an 11-yard pass to move deep into Tulsa territory, but a 15-yard personal foul penalty helped stall the drive and USF settled for a 34-yard Shrader field goal to make it 13-7.
The Bulls forced another Tulsa punt, but Atkins muffed the return and the Hurricane recovered at the USF 22. Four plays later Steven Anderson plunged in from a yard out and Tulsa led 14-13. Tulsa then widened the lead by driving 81 yards in seven plays, capped by a 31-yard pass from Braxton to Keylon Stokes that made it 21-13 with 5:25 to play in the first half.
Following a penalty on the kickoff, USF started at its own 47, but a bad direct snap into Dukes feet could not be handled and Tulsa recovered the fumble at the USF47. Five plays later Prince galloped in from 10 yards out and it was 28-13 Hurricane.
USF rallied as a red-hot Brown led the Bulls down the field with five straight completions, hitting Atkins for an 18-yard touchdown to cap a 65-yard drive in 1:08 that cut the lead to 28-20 with 1:13 to play in the half. Tulsa moved 70 yards in the final 1:10 to tack on a field goal and go to the half up 31-20.
KEY STATS
• RB Brian Battie logged his fourth-straight 100-yard rushing game and sixth of the season, as he ran for a career-high 169 yards on 19 carries. The USF record for consecutive 100-yard games is five set by Jordan Cronkrite (2018), Quinton Flowers (2016) and Marlon Mack (2015).
• WR Sean Atkins posted career highs with nine catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, his second straight game with career highs. His 18-yard touchdown catch near the end of the first half marked the first of his career.
• USF posted a season-best 499 yards of offense and equaled a season-best 42 points.
NOTABLE
• QB Byrum Brown made his first career start and started the game 21-of-21 passing, becoming the first FBS player to start a game with 21 consecutive completions since MTSU’s Brent Stockwell completed 22 straight vs. Alabama A&M in 2016 . He finished the game 21-of-25, his 84 percent completion percentage breaking the USF program game record of 82.8 percent (24-29) set by Quinton Flowers at Memphis in 2016.
• RB Brian Battie recorded the 10th 1,000-yard rushing season in program history and first since Jordan Cronkrite ran for 1,121 yards in 2018. He became just the sixth Bull to achieve the feat and now has 1,042 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns on the season.
• LB Dwayne Boyles posted his seventh-straight game leading the Bulls in tackles as he had 11 on the day. He now has a career-best 101 tackles on the year and became the 13th player in USF history to post 100 tackles in a season.
UP NEXT
USF returns to Raymond James Stadium next Saturday for its final game of the season in a War on I-4 clash with UCF. The game will kick off at either 7 or 7:30 p.m. with the final time and broadcast channel announced following this Saturday’s games. It will be Fan Appreciation night with give aways for fans throughout the game and door prizes for fans.
Season tickets • Single-game tickets • Group tickets (10+): call 1-800-GoBulls
ABOUT USF FOOTBALLThe USF football program first took the field in 1997 and celebrated its 25th season in 2021 while breaking ground on a $22 million Indoor Performance Facility. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections, including 2021 consensus All-American Brian Battie, and 31 first-team all-conference selections. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and most recently making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. The Bulls 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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