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26 passing yardage advantage. LU QB Ben
Kisner connected on all six passes he attempted.
The
remaining three quarters?
Well perhaps the most telling difference was rushing. USF
outrushed LU 235-28 in the final 45 minutes. USF had 49
carries, LU 16. USF had 24 first downs, LU 9. Though USF
only had a 106-100 edge in passing yards, USF did complete
15-of-18 passes while Kisner completed 11-of-21 passes in
addition to an interception to Donavon Evans.
"Everybody stepped up and we started executing on offense
and defense," USF coach Kevin Donley said. "Everybody kept
it together and believed and fought through a tough start.
You've got to give Lindenwood credit. They came to play and
took advantage of an early penalty that maintained their
possession."
"The main thing was to keep our composure," USF quarterback
Jeff Wedding said afterwards. "It was a wake-up call. Our
defense started dominating, got us a turnover and we grabbed
the momentum.
"Nobody panicked and after the second touchdown, our defense
really picked up the intensity. Doug (Wasylk) turned a short
pass into six points and I think the play rejuvenated all of
us."
Wasylk scored his first touchdown of the season taking a
short pass from Wedding, then weaving and bulling his way to
the end zone for a 17-yard TD reception. Rhys Barnhart
booted the first of five PATs and with 14:14 to play in the
half, USF was on the right track.
"Once we got warmed up and saw what they were tryin' to do
on defense, we started playin' with more confidence," RB
Daniel Carter said.
"No," Taylor Vieck said to a question about feeling like the
Cougars took and uppercut to the belly falling behind early.
"We just stayed composed, stayed under control and scored 35
unanswered points."
Simple as that.
Vieck ran hard every time he got the ball and when he didn't
get the ball, he was leveling tacklers with bone-jarring
blocks. The sophomore from Vincennes was named the NAIA
Offensive Player-of-the-Game after he led USF rushing with
77 yards on 12 carries including an 18-yard TD run.
"I've got to give credit to our offensive line and our backs
-- (Marcus) Rush, Doug (Wasylk) and Daniel Carter," Vieck
added. "I just had to run and read their blocks."
On
defense, junior outside linebacker Jarrell Hunter led the
Cougars with 11 tackles, two big tackles for losses worth 27
yards, and a quarterback hurry. Hunter was named NAIA
Defensive Player of the Game.
"It
was just some adversity we had to overcome," Hunter said
about falling behind 14-0. "Our offense really gave us a lot
of confidence with the two scoring drives that got us back
in the game."
"Three big plays changed the game for us," LU coach Pat Ross
said. "We fumbled the ball away around midfield, we didn't
execute a fake punt attempt and we had an unsportsmanlike
penalty that contributed to their third TD. Those mistakes
turned the game around and USF displayed championship
character making the most of our mistakes."
USF
took the opening kickoff and used 4:56 on the clock and 10
plays to push its lead to 28-14 when Ruch muscled in from
the LU 11-yard line with 10 minutes to play in the third
quarter.
Wasylk finished the scoring when he bounced off several
tacklers for a 27-yard TD run with 6:24 to play in the
fourth quarter to score his first rushing TD of the season.
Hakeem Abdulluh led LU rushers with 81 yards on 16 carries.
The Indianapolis native had 44 yards on seven carries in the
first quarter, 37 yards on nine carries the final three
quarters. Murrell finished with 50 yards rushing on nine
attempts, just seven yards on four carries in the final 45
minutes.
USF
won its 45th consecutive home game including the playoffs
and improved to 14-0 at home in NAIA FCS play.
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-- GO USF --
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