The Houston Cougars came into a hostile environment and beat the USF Bulls 54-42. Quarterback Clayton Tune put on a masterpiece last night. Tune threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns in the win. The QB played one of the best games any quarterback could play. Houston was determined to establish the run game with their running back duo in Alton McCaskill and Ta’ Zhawn Henry. McCaskill rushed for 125 yards. Henry rushed for 130 yards.
Running the ball allowed the pass-action game to be effective. Houston’s Nathaniel Dell and KeSean Carter had a big day against the Bulls secondary. Dell had 164 receiving yards and Carter 123 receiving yards. Despite Houston winning last night, USF’s running back Brain Battie made a statement. He had two 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns and a 29-yard touchdown. Battie scored the first touchdown in the game. Without Battie the outcome could have been a lot worse for USF.
USF quarterback Timmy McClain had a pretty good game. McClain finished the game throwing 289 yards with two touchdowns while adding 46 rush yards and one rushing touchdown. USF had a 28-26 lead going into halftime. The second half of the game was when the Cougars took over the game offensively. The Cougars scored on their three first possessions in the second half of the game. They also managed to get a few stops against the USF offense which was the difference in this ball game.
Houston went up 40-28 in the third quarter, and they had all the momentum going in their favor. At that moment, USF managed to score a touchdown on their next drive and bring the game within 6 points. Houston got the ball back with all the pressure being against them on the road. Up by 6 points late in the fourth quarter, Houston needed a touchdown to put the game away.
Houston coach Dana Holgorsen called the game “nuts, on all accounts.”
“I don’t want to sit here and act like I’m mad because we just won our eighth game in a row and won a conference game on the road,” Holgorsen said. “There’s a lot of things that we’re going to have to clean up. At the end of the day, the difference was Clayton Tune.”
Alton McCaskill put the game away with a rushing touchdown to give them a 12-point lead. Houston improved their record to (8-1), and they will be on the road again next week against Temple. With the loss, South Florida’s record is (2-7). USF will be facing Cincinnati next. UC is one of the best teams in college with a (9-0) record.
