It’s a Bear-Crush, All Bulls 65-27

Deatrick Nichols with the pick six (Travis Failey/RSEN)

Tampa, Fla.– Cincinnati came to Tampa looking to jump back into the American Athletic Conference Eastern Division Race. They left with their Eastern Division title hopes dashed and their bowl chances slipping away, as the Bulls kept their Eastern Division aspirations alive by routing the Bearcats 65-27.

Flowers up the sideline with a big run on a night where he threw for four tds. (Travis Failey/RSEN)

The Bulls set the tone on the very first play of the game. Sophomore Quarterback Quinton Flowers dropped back and found a wide open Rodney Adams for a 67 yard touchdown. It was Rodney Adams eighth touchdown of the season, giving him the Bulls single season touchdown reception record. 1 play 67 yards in 15 seconds and the Bulls were on the board. Emilio Nadelman would miss the P.A.T and the Bulls would lead 6-0. It was the eighth game of the season the Bulls had scored first.

(Travis Failey/RSEN)

On Cincinnati’s opening possession, Eric Lee sacked Cincinnati QB Hayden Moore causing Moore to fumble. The fumble was recovered by Jamie Byrd on the Cincinnati 10 yard line setting up first and goal for the Bulls. 3 plays later Quinton Flowers would find Sean Price in the back of the end zone making the score 13-0. The Bulls would score on their very next possession. After Jamie Byrd intercepted Gunner Kiel, the Bulls would use a 6 play, 66 yard drive to extend the lead to 20-0.

Eric Lee with a sack and a fumble recovery on Senior Night (Travis Failey/RSEN)

It would not be until the 9:17 mark in the second quarter that the Bearcats would get on the board thanks to a 44 yard field goal from Andrew Gantz. It was too little too late for the Bearcats as the route was on and the Bulls would take a 51-3 lead into halftime, scoring on 8-of-9 drives.

USSOCOM drops in at halftime (Travis Failey/RSEN)

The second half would get a little better for the Bearcats. With the Bulls leading 51-6, USF coach Willie Taggart decided to rest Quinton Flowers and Marlon Mack. The Bearcats would score the first 17 points of the third quarter before USF Quarterback Steven Bench would scamper into the end zone making it 58-20. Both teams would score one more touchdown apiece making the final score 65-27 in favor of USF. The Bulls have now won 6 out of their last 7 games.

Its a Bull celebration Stephen Bench style(Travis Failey/RSEN)

Marlon Mack led the way for the Bulls with 106 yards rushing and 2 TDs, playing only 2 quarters. Quinton Flowers had 165 yards passing with a season high 4 TDs as the Bulls put up 561 yards of total offense including a season high 361 yards rushing. Defensively, the “Bull Sharks” had another outstanding game forcing six turnovers including four interceptions. Deatrick Nichols led the “Bull Sharks” with two interceptions including returning one interception for a touchdown. It was the Bulls first pick-six of the season.

Bull Shark defense harassed Moore all night as Godwin gets the sack(Travis Failey/RSEN)

Zack Bullock and Bruce Hector off the edge (Travis Failey/RSEN)

Now the Bulls must watch and wait. Trailing Temple by one game, the Bulls must hope that the Owls either lose to Memphis or UCONN.

It’s a short week for the Bulls who return to action on Thursday night against I-4 rival Central Florida.

Game Stats and more pictures (Travis Failey)

(Travis Failey/RSEN)

Final

	1	2	3	4	T
CIN	0	3	17	7	27
USF	27	24	7	7	65

Cincinnati Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Hayden Moore	20/36	249	6.9	1	2	16.5
Gunner Kiel	8/15	84	5.6	0	2	13.5
TEAM	28/51	333	6.5	1	4	—

South Florida Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Quinton Flowers	9/15	165	11.0	4	2	95.6
Steven Bench	4/5	35	7.0	1	0	97.7
TEAM	13/20	200	10.0	5	2	—

Cincinnati Rushing

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Tion Green	10	51	5.1	2	11
Hosey Williams	8	28	3.5	0	14
Mike Boone	8	28	3.5	0	8
Hayden Moore	6	-5	-0.8	0	13
Gunner Kiel	3	-5	-1.7	0	3
TEAM	35	97	2.8	2	14

South Florida Rushing

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Marlon Mack	11	106	9.6	2	48
Darius Tice	15	94	6.3	0	20
D’Ernest Johnson	11	71	6.5	0	23
Quinton Flowers	6	49	8.2	0	27
Rodney Adams	3	28	9.3	0	15
Steven Bench	4	25	6.3	1	14
TEAM	53	361	6.8	3	48

Cincinnati Receiving

	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chris Moore	6	131	21.8	1	54
Alex Chisum	6	63	10.5	0	36
Shaq Washington	6	52	8.7	0	16
Mekale McKay	2	32	16.0	0	18
Mike Boone	2	16	8.0	0	15
Nate Cole	2	14	7.0	0	8
Max Morrison	1	11	11.0	0	11
DJ Dowdy	2	8	4.0	0	4
Hosey Williams	1	6	6.0	0	6
TEAM	28	333	11.9	1	54

South Florida Receiving

	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Rodney Adams	3	85	28.3	1	67
Sean Price	2	52	26.0	2	46
D’Ernest Johnson	2	29	14.5	0	21
Ryeshene Bronson	1	16	16.0	0	16
Jordan Reed	2	11	5.5	1	10
Chris Barr	2	5	2.5	0	3
A.J. Legree	1	2	2.0	1	2
TEAM	13	200	15.4	5	67

Cincinnati Interceptions

	INT	YDS	TD
Linden Stephens	1	9	0
Zach Edwards	1	0	0
TEAM	2	9	0

South Florida Interceptions

	INT	YDS	TD
Deatrick Nichols	2	41	1
Devin Abraham	1	29	0
Jamie Byrd	1	11	0
TEAM	4	81	1

Cincinnati Kick Returns

	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kahlil Lewis	4	90	22.5	35	0
Mike Boone	6	84	14.0	33	0
TEAM	10	174	17.4	35	0

South Florida Kick Returns

	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
D’Ernest Johnson	4	181	45.3	54	0
TEAM	4	181	45.3	54	0

Cincinnati Punt Returns

	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Shaq Washington	1	27	27.0	27	0
TEAM	1	27	27.0	27	0

South Florida Punt Returns

	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tajee Fullwood	1	7	7.0	7	0
TEAM	1	7	7.0	7	0

Cincinnati Kicking

	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Andrew Gantz	2/2	100.0	44	3/3	9
TEAM	2/2	100.0	44	3/3	9

South Florida Kicking

	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Emilio Nadelman	1/1	100.0	49	7/8	10
Michael Hill	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1
TEAM	1/1	100.0	49	8/9	11

Cincinnati Punting

	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	IN 20	LONG
Sam Geraci	3	155	51.7	0	0	62
Hayden Moore	1	48	48.0	0	0	48
TEAM	4	203	50.8	0	0	62

South Florida Punting

	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	IN 20	LONG
Mattias Ciabatti	2	83	41.5	0	0	47
TEAM	2	83	41.5	0	0	47