McNeese Cowboys vs South Florida Bulls Match Player Stats On Aug 31, 2013

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.