Freshman quarterback Timmy McClain and sophomore wide receiver Xavier Weaver show big play ability as offense struggles
RALEIGH, N.C., SEPT. 2, 2021– The USF football team opened the 2021 season presented by Tampa General Hospital with a 45-0 loss at NC State Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C. with 52,633 on hand at Carter-Finley Stadium.
USF struggled offensively for much of the game, but did show some big play ability and built some momentum and sustained drives under freshman quarterback Timmy McClain, who stepped in for starter Cade Fortin midway through the second quarter. Following McClain’s second interception of the game late in the third quarter, Fortin returned to lead the Bulls on a 15-play, 71-yard drive that ended at the NC State 4.
McClain finished 7-of-13 for 126 yards and two interceptions. Fortin went 7-of-20 for 41 yards and one interception. Xavier Weaver led Bulls’ receivers with two catches for 73 yards. Defensively, the Bulls were led by linebacker Andrew Mims as he set a career high of 14 total tackles. NC State posted 525 yards of offense, led by a strong performance from running back Zonovan Knight who ran for 163 yards and a touchdown.
“When you’re playing a good team, you gotta execute,” USF Head Coach Jeff Scott said. “We just didn’t execute. They’re talented but we’re a lot better than we played tonight. And I know we’ll play better here moving forward.”
USF got a quick 16-yard run from Darrian Felix on the opening offensive play, but couldn’t sustain the drive or the running game. First game jitters resulting in some missed throws and dropped balls hampered the offense throughout the first half.
On its opening drive, NC State went 76 yards in nine plays and scored on a 33-yard pass from Devin Leary to Ricky Person to take a 7-0 lead. The Bulls defense forced a three-and-out on the Wolfpack’s next drive and played solid, bend but don’t break football throughout much of the first half, but began to tire as the offense struggled to sustain drives.
The Wolfpack tacked on a 35-yard field goal on their third drive to take a 10-0 lead after a first quarter that saw the Bulls out-gained 112 yards to 21.
NC State extended the lead to 17-0 on their first drive of the second quarter, moving the ball 70 yards on six plays capped by an 11-yard Ricky Person run. Person also had a 32-yard gain in the drive.
“It’s definitely difficult but I think that we definitely prepared well for it,” Mims said of NC State’s running attack. “It’s just we really gotta get into the execution part of it and really carry that out better. It’s difficult but there’s nothing that we can’t handle when we put our minds to it.”
USF Safety Matthew Hill gave the Bulls a spark with his first career interception on a deep pass from Leary. He returned it 27 yards to the Bulls 35 where USF freshman McClain entered the game at quarterback in replace of starter Fortin. McClain promptly showed off his versatility, gaining a first down with an 11-yard run on second and four. The Bulls moved the ball to the NC State 34, but a miscue on a snap stalled the drive.
NC State used a 26-yard run by Knight to move the ball to midfield, but a big sack by linebacker Antonio Grier followed by a burst off the line by defensive end Ryan Thaxton that forced a hold, led to an Wolfpack punt.
The Bulls took over at their own 8 but couldn’t get a first down, giving the ball back to NC State with 1:10 to play in the first half. Leary hit Devin Carter for a 51-yard strike to the USF 11 and Person ran in for an 11-yard touchdown two plays later to make it 24-0.
USF took over on the its 15 and, after a Wolfpack facemask moved the ball to the 31, McClain lofted a 44-yard bomb to Weaver to move the Bulls to the NC State 25. However, he was picked off two plays later and NC State took a 24-point lead and 299-92 advantage in offense to the locker room after the first 30 minutes of play.
On NC State’s second drive of the second half, Knight burst through the left side and went 46 yards for a touchdown that gave the Wolfpack a 31-0 lead.
On the Bulls ensuing possession, McClain hit Weaver for a 29-yard gain and tight end Mitchell Brinkman for 31 yards to move the Bulls to the NC State 8. But, following a penalty McClain threw late across the middle and was picked off by Wolfpack safety Cyrus Fagan.
The Wolfpack drove the ball 74 yards in eight plays, capping the drive with a seven-yard pass from Leary to Christopher Toudle for a 38-0 lead with 2:53 to play in the third quarter.
USF’s 2021 home opener is next Saturday vs. Florida in a 1:00 p.m. kick on ABC. It will mark the Gators’ first-ever trip to Raymond James Stadium to play the Bulls. The Gators stand No. 13 in the Week 1 Associated Press Poll.
A few tickets remain for the Florida game and are available 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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