McCown TD pass helps Jaguars get 19-13 victory over Bucs

Luke McCown hit John Matthews for a 27-yard touchdown pass as the Jacksonville Jaguars got a 19-13 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their preseason game tonight at Raymond James Stadium.

McCown, the former Buc who lost a battle with Byron Leftwich to be Tampa Bay's starting quarterback last preseason, threw the TD strike to a diving Matthews on his first pass of the game, with 1:14 left in the third quarter, after replacing Jaguars starter David Garrard.

"It was a lot of fun being back here, seeing a lot of familiar faces," McCown said. "I've got a lot of great memories here. I was here for four years. All three of my boys were born here. There's a lot of great people in this organization, and they did a lot for me in my career, and I'm very appreciative of that."

It was Jacksonville's only touchdown of the game, but Josh Scobee added four field goals and that was enough as the Bucs offense evaporated after the starting unit left the field.

The starters didn't make a lot of mistakes on offense, but they didn't exactly set the world on fire, either. Their only touchdown drive covered just 19 yards and was set up by Barrett Ruud's 80-yard interception return.

If the Bucs management hoped to establish a running game and see a receiver or two step and a secure a roster spot, head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Mark Dominik had to be disappointed.

Tampa Bay managed just 42 yards rushing in the game, with 18 of those coming from quarterback Josh Johnson. Derrick Ward led the running backs with 19 yards on 4 carries.

Receiver Maurice Stovall (ankle) did not play, which meant Reggie Brown, Arrelious Benn and Michael Clayton had another chance to claim that spot. None had a catch in the game. Clayton didn't even play, because Morris said his staff wanted to get longer looks at Brown and Benn, in particular.

Rookie Mike Williams once again was the Bucs' best receiver, with three catches for 83 yards. Only two other receivers caught passes: Michael Spurlock had one for nine yards and Sammie Stroughter had one for five yards.

Johnson was an economical 9-of-14 for 122 yards and a touchdown, but admitted the offense needs to do more.

"We have to get more positive yards out of our first and second downs and stop getting into so many third and long situations," he said.

Scobee's fourth field goal, from 43 yards with 10:52 remaining in the game, extended Jacksonville's lead to 19-13. His third field goal, from 27 yards out, brought the Jaguars within 13-9 in the third quarter.

The Jaguars marched 70 yards in 14 plays, but stalled after getting a first-and-goal at the Tampa Bay 4-yard line. Rookie safety Cody Grimm broke up one pass in the end zone and Scobee came on for the short field goal with 2:50 left in the period.

"You always want to get three-and-outs, that keeps you fresh, that keeps you healthy. We played 50 snaps in that first half, which is too many like we talked about last week," Morris said. "We need to get better on third down."

The Bucs' first-team offense returned for the first possession of the second half, and Conner Barth's 40-yard field goal gave Tampa Bay a 13-6 lead.

The starters moved the ball 58 yards in 10 plays, including two carries for 21 yards by the much-maligned Ward, before Barth's second field goal made it 13-6 less than five minutes into the second half.

"It was exciting to see, as a quarterback, the way we came out of the half," Johnson said. "We came back and put a drive together and put three points on the board, even though we should've probably gotten seven. The way we were able to come out and get points, that's progress. Especially for a young team."

After getting picked apart for much of the first half by Jacksonville's passing game, the Tampa Bay defense forced a huge turnover to turn the tide and take a 10-6 halftime lead.

Jacksonville appeared poised to take the lead late in the second quarter and had a third-and-goal at the Bucs 1-yard line, but Ruud intercepted Garrard and returned the pick 80 yards to the Jacksonville 19-yard line to give the Bucs a first down at the Jaguars 19-yard line with 3:27 left before halftime.

"Great interception, terrible return," Ruud said. "I stepped in front of it and ran pretty well for about 60 yards but, then kind of locked up after that."

Johnson hit tight end Jerramy Stevens for a 12-yard gain on the next play, then found fullback Earnest Graham three plays later for a 2-yard touchdown pass that put the Bucs up 10-3 with 1:51 remaining before intermission.

Before the interception, thrown under heavy pressure from defensive end Kyle Moore, Garrard was 15-of-17 passing for 134 yards. He finished the game 24-of-31 for 211 yards.

Johnson, who also started the third quarter, was 6-of-8 for 83 yards. His passer rating was 147.4 at the break.

Garrard moved Jacksonville right back down the field after Graham's score, setting up Scobee's 43-yard field goal with one second left in the first half.

Barth kicked a 51-yard field goal to bring Tampa Bay into a 3-3 tie in the first quarter.

The Bucs drove 55 yards on five plays, most of those coming on a 53-yard completion from Johnson to rookie receiver Mike Williams. Barth then tied the score with the long kick with 9:03 left in the first quarter.

Scobee kicked a 35-yard field goal to cap the game's first drive and give the Jaguars an early 3-0 lead.

Scobee's kick came after a short, 33-yard drive in five plays that was set up by a 47-yard kickoff return from Jacksonville's Scotty McGee, which gave the Jaguars the ball at midfield.

Garrard hit tight end Marcedes Lewis for a 26-yard gain to the Bucs 24 before the drive stalled and Scobee came on with 11:44 left in the first quarter.

Clifton Smith fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Bucs 13-yard line. It was his first touch of the preseason after missing the first two games with gout.

The game was suspended before the start of the second quarter because of lightning strikes in the area. The game resumed after a 30-minute delay.

The start of Jacksonville's previous game, Aug. 21 against Miami, was delayed for 1 hour, 45 minutes because of severe storms in the Jacksonville area.

The Bucs were without starting quarterback Josh Freeman and the Jaguars played without starting running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

Also inactive for the Bucs was right guard Davin Joseph. Jeremy Zuttah started in Joseph's place, one week after losing the starting spot at left guard to free agent signee Keydrick Vincent.

Safety Sabby Piscitelli, who lost his starting spot to Sean Jones this week, suffered what the Bucs called a "mild" concussion in the fourth quarter.