South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown threw three touchdown passes and scored two more scores and the 24th-ranked Bulls forced five turnovers in a 63-36 win over North Texas Friday night in Denton, Texas.
The Bulls (5-1, 2-0 American Conference) overcame a sloppy first quarter in which they turned the ball over three times.
North Texas (5-1, 1-1) was able to muster just seven points behind and its own miscues didn’t allow it to add a 21-14 lead in the first half.
The Mean Green’s turnovers exceeded the three they had committed together in their first five games. USF earned its third straight victory and is averaging 60 points over that span. The Bulls have scored 50 or more points in three straight games for the first time in program history.
North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who hadn’t thrown an interception in his first five starts this season, was picked off three times. He completed 30 of 46 attempts for 326 yards and two touchdowns.
Brown completed 22 of 28 passes for 245 yards with one interception, and he rushed for a game-high 82 yards on 21 attempts.
One of the costliest gifts for North Texas came with 43 seconds left in the first half when Miles Coleman fumbled a punt and it was recovered by Cedrick Hawkins Jr. at the Mean Green 17-yard line.
On third-and-goal with two seconds left in the first half, Brown connected with tight end Jonathan Echols for a 2-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21.
USF took the lead for good with some trickery when Christian Neptune threw a pass on a receiver option to Keshaun Singleton for a 29-yard score. It was part of a string of 28 unanswered points for the Bulls to take control of the game.
Jhalyn Shuler, who had a first-half interception, returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown to increase USF’s lead to 42-21 with 11:35 left in the third.
Coleman, who finished with seven catches for 101 yards, gave North Texas some hope with a catch and a 54-yard run to the end zone to cut the deficit to 42-28.
However, the Bulls responded when Brown found a wide-open Jeremiah Koger for a 63-yard touchdown with 8:14 left in the third. Koger finished with four catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
–Field level media
