Locklan Hewlett threw a touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton on a fake punt to help South Florida notch a convincing 34-7 season-opening rout over No. 25 Boise State on Thursday night at Tampa.
The stunning trick play gave the Bulls a 10-point lead in the middle of the third quarter and was part of 34 unanswered points as USF halted an 18-game losing streak against ranked teams. Byrum Brown rushed for two touchdowns and finished 16-for-24 passing for 210 yards to pace the Bulls.
Maddux Madsen completed 25 of 46 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown for the Broncos, who reached the College Football Playoff quarterfinals last season. Chris Marshall caught a touchdown pass for Boise State.
Sire Gaines rushed for 44 yards on nine carries and Malik Sherrod gained 27 yards on 11 attempts for the Broncos, who are trying to replace star running back Ashton Jeanty. The 2024 Heisman Trophy runner-up racked up 2,601 on the ground last season.
USF led 10-7 when the momentum-changing play occurred on fourth-and-6 from the Boise State 45-yard line in the third quarter.
The Bulls went into punt formation and Hewlett came in from the sideline. The true freshman quarterback lined up as the punter and the Boise State players and coaches didn’t notice.
Hewlett caught the snap and looked to his right and threw deep toward Singleton, who caught the ball at the Broncos 19-yard line and broke three tackles en route to giving the Bulls a 17-7 lead with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
Boise State failed from fourth-and 2 from the USF 23 with 2:47 remaining in the third. The Bulls answered by moving 77 yards on three plays, the big one being Brown’s 55-yard completion to Chas Nimrod. USF then hurried to the line and Brown kept the ball and went around the left side to score from the 15 and make it 24-7 with 1:44 left.
The Broncos came up empty on fourth-and-7 from their own 43 on their next possession. USF then drove 43 yards on five plays with Cartevious Newton crashing through two tacklers on an 8-yard scoring run to make it a 24-point lead with 13:26 left in the contest.
USF’s Nico Gramatica tacked on a 33-yard field goal with 3:29 left.
The Broncos struck first when Madsen hit Marshall on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left in the opening quarter.
USF got on the board on Gramatica’s 52-yard field goal with 12:39 left in the first half.
Six-plus minutes later, Brown dropped back to pass before scampering 23 yards through a big hole for the touchdown that put the Bulls on top for good.
