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  • USF Secures A Bowl Bid By Beating Charlotte 48-14

    USF Secures A Bowl Bid By Beating Charlotte 48-14

    USF got an impressive victory on Saturday Night at Raymond James Stadium against the Charlotte 49ers by playing rock solid defense, some trickery and of course behind the legs and arm of their record setting QB in Byrum Brown.

    In front of an announced crowd of over 29,000 fans on Senior Night, The Bulls got off to a slow start as Charlotte moved the ball at will and scored on their first possession of the game with some thinking” Oh no, here we go again” in refence to the matchup the following week where the Bulls got crushed 49-21 by the UTSA Roadrunners.

    But that would not be the case as after Charlotte went for it on 4th and inches from their own 9 yard line and missed on a long pass down the side line, Byrum Brown hit Sean Atkins on a beautiful post route to tie the game at 7.

    Atkins was once again a monster for the Bulls as he has been all season, partnering with Brown for his seventh-straight game with seven or more receptions and extended his season receiving yards record to 961 on the year.

    After the Bulls got the ball back, Atkins took a backwards pass from Brown and then threw the ball to Kelley Joiner for a 62 yard score that got the fans on their feet with the chants of “USF” bellowing throughout the stadium.

    Atkins on the play:

    “What did you see on that big play to RB Kelley Joiner Jr.?” “I saw my best friend running wide open. It was pretty easy to hit him when he was that wide open, so
    that is what I saw.”

    Coach Golesh on the fans:

    “First I want to start out by genuinely thanking that fans that came out tonight. It was a cool crowd with a
    bunch of fans in the house making noise, and I really appreciate that. My job is to fill our stadium, and
    we’re going to continue to do so.

    After the Bulls took a 21-7 lead capped by a 4 yard run by Joiner, Byrum Brown connected with Jaden Alexis for a 60-yard touchdown and the Bulls took a three-score lead just two plays into the third quarter.

    The 49ers needed only five plays to answer, scoring on freshman Steven Johnson‘s first touchdown pass in his first appearance — a 47-yarder to Jairus Mack, to get within 28-14 at the 12:09 mark.

    That was all the scoring for Charlotte though as the Bulls defense stiffened up with three interceptions (Berryhill, Evans and Harris) and LB Jhalyn Shuler and DE D.J. Harris had nine tackles.

    The running game was also strong for the Bulls all night as Michel Dukes rushed for 104 yards on 15 carries, Joiner had an additional 33 and Brown also put up 43 for a team total of 188 yards.

    Brown wasn’t done putting up his Bulls record numbers as he ran 35 yards for a score, giving the Bulls a 41-14 after three quarters then he tossed a 1-yard pass to Naiem Simmons for the lone score of the fourth quarter to go to 48-14.

    Brown on his record and the celebration

    Q: “What does it mean to be the first USF QB to throw for 3,000 yards in a season?”
    A: “It is truly a blessing. It is a testament to the whole organization, my teammates, the coaching staff,
    and the fans they are just building us up. It comes down to everyone going out there and executing. It is
    not just me, it is about the whole team. I am glad for the whole team. I can’t wait to go bowling.”


    Q: “What was it like on the field and in the locker room with this celebration?”
    A: “Everybody was turnt up. I don’t know what to say, everyone was just happy, smiling, and dancing.
    Anything you can name, we were doing it and having a blast.”

    As the Bulls took the field with about 5 minutes to play, Brown and his teammates took the field. Coach Golesh took a timeout and took the starters out to a huge applause as it could be the last time the fans see some of the players on their home field for various reasons. Some are graduating while others including Brown may hit the transfer portal.

    Lets hope that doesn’t happen as this young man has provided this team and this community a huge spark of interest in the Bulls once again.

    After the game, the players high fived the crowd and took pictures with their families prior to going into the locker room.

    No matter which team or whatever bowl game they get invited to, this team is must watch football while he is under center or in the shotgun just like Quentin Flowers was a few years back.

    Many are hoping for a home town USF-UCF matchup in the Gasparilla Bowl, but I’m hoping that the team gets a trip out to Hawaii as they deserve it for what the team and Coach Golesh has done this season.

    We will know on December 3rd who they are matching up with and their destination. The best part is that they will get more time to practice which will help them get ready for the game and for recruiting which is huge for this program and their future.

    Coach Golesh:

    Q: “What does it mean to be bowl-eligible?”
    A: “It is special. Going home for the whole month of December while everyone else practices and gets to
    go to bowl games, eats at you mentally. Being in a position to go out and play in December, and play
    your best football in November, is something that you cannot buy. That is priceless.

    Notes:

    USF recorded its 100th win in Raymond James Stadium.

    USF has registered over 5,000 yards on offense on the season, the sixth time in program history to
    reach the mark and first since 2018.

    USF posted its fourth game with 500+ offensive yards on the year

  • USF Bulls Increase Chances Of Going “Bowling” By Beating The Temple Owls 27-23

    USF Bulls Increase Chances Of Going “Bowling” By Beating The Temple Owls 27-23

    On Saturday at Ray Jay, the USF Bulls defeated the Temple Owls 27-23 in a nail biter on Military Appreciation Day. With the victory putting them at 5-5 with two winnable games to play against the UTSA Roadrunners on the road and then back at home against Charlotte, the postseason bowl possibility looks like a reality.

    In front of a crowd of 30,938, Quarterback Byrum Brown led the Bulls once again and got the team off to a great start by hitting Sean Atkins on a 40 yard deep ball to setup Brown to take it in untouched from 7 yards out only 1:46 into the game, which was also their fastest score of the year.

    The Bulls kept their foot on the gas in the first quarter as the defense had three straight stops leading to two more scores for the Bulls to go up 17-0 late in the first quarter. “I thought how our guys started was incredible,” said first-year coach Alex Golesh,

    “I thought offensively to go down and go punch it in relatively quickly, and then the defense to answer the bell, then to score again and the defense answer the bell … now the next part of who we are has to be, how do we keep the gas going?”

    Temple got on the board as EJ Warner hit TE Jordan Smith on a beautiful post play with Smith making a nice cut route to deke Daquan Evans for the score to make the game 17-7.

    Warner playing in front of his Super Bowl winning father, finished the game 24-47 for 280 yards and 3 costly interceptions including a pick six by defensive end Tramel Logan to give the Bulls the lead at 27-10 with 3:09 to go in the third.

    “He came off the field on the sideline and said, ‘I’ve been on the JUGS (passing machine) coach, like you keep preaching,’ ” Golesh said. “It sounds so simple, why is a (defensive) lineman on the JUGS every single day? Because of the one opportunity that might come at him. You talk about process, that’s nothing we make him do.”

    Temple’s defense then stepped up and held the Bulls to no points in the final 18 minutes and turned the game into a nail-biter as the Owls trimmed the deficit to 27-23 as Warner hit WR Dante Wright for a 12 yard score. Kicker Camden Price missed the huge extra point preserving a four-point USF lead with 7:03 to play.

    Warner threw for 199 yards in the second half but USF was able to run out the clock on the final drive to give USF another conference win to go 3-3 on the season. On the final drive, Brown and the Bulls ran a 14 play drive and were able to drain Temple of the timeouts to secure the big home victory.

    There were fantastic performances on the offensive and defensive side of the ball with WR Sean Atkins going for 9 catches and 169 yards giving him the single season team reception record by a Bull surpassing Rodney Adams who had 67 in 2016. Atkins has 69 with two games to go and has been a staple for Brown this season as a first down getting target.

    “It’s surreal, man,” said graduate receiver Sean Atkins, a former walk-on who eclipsed USF’s single-season receptions mark with a nine-catch, 169-yard day.

    “Meaningful games in November are something special. I haven’t (been) able to be a part of it my whole career here, so just being able to live in the moment right now and just go out every day in practice and know that it’s something we’re playing for, it’s just something special.”

    On the defensive side of the ball, Aamaris Brown intercepted Warner twice making highlight type plays to quell the Owls drives. They were the first two picks of the year for Brown and they couldn’t have come at a better time in the season.

    USF amassed 451 yards, but was a combined 7 of 20 on third and fourth down, and was flagged 10 times for 70 yards.

    Byrum Brown also got his bell rung as his helmet came flying off in the third quarter but only missed one play and was back on the field leading his teammates to victory.

    “Week 10 of the season, that should not be happening and it was happening,” Golesh said. “So we’ve got to fix that.”

    In the grand scheme of things, the Bulls with Alex Golesh leading the team and Brown behind center, this team is one that the fans can get behind and the future with their upcoming recruiting classes looking solid, The Bulls seem to be back and looking to throw a strike in the post-season.

  • Bulls Play Their Hearts Out But Fall To The Alabama Crimson Tide 17-3

    Bulls Play Their Hearts Out But Fall To The Alabama Crimson Tide 17-3

    Coming into Saturday’s game with the Crimson Tide, no one except the Bulls thought they could stay with them for 4 quarters. Well the USF Bulls proved everyone wrong as they were in the game until late in the forth quarter when Bama Quarterback Ty Simpson punched it in from the 1 yard line to give Alabama a 17-3 lead late in the game.

    The Bulls fought all game long and weathered a hour rain delay in from of over 65,000 fans. It was the most fans I have see in the stadium for a Bulls game since I started covering them 15 years ago. It was also great to see Alabama fans worry about losing the game as their team struggled.

    Bulls QB Byrum Brown was great with 23 carries for 92 yards but struggled mightily with his accuracy and finished by going 14 for 28 for 87 yards and 1 costly pick as the team was moving the ball in the forth quarter trying to tie the score at 10.

    Bulls fans, the coaches and the national media could not say enough about the Bulls defense who held Alabama QBs to 107 yards in the air with Buchner and Simpson throwing for a combined 10 for 23. The Bulls defense was led by Daquan Evans who had 8 tackles with 4 for loss, 3 sacks and 1 pass deflection. He was in Bama’s backfield all day long and had an amazing game.

    Other Bull players who stood out in Saturdays contest were linebacker Jhalyn Shuler, who led all players with 11 tackles; receiver Sean Atkins (six catches, 42 yards); and running Nay’Quan Wright, who rushed 15 times for 62 yards and ignited the entire stadium with an early bull-dozing run of an Alabama defender.

    With 6:54 left in the third and the game tied at 3, Alabama got things going as expected late in the game. Taking over at their own 16, the Crimson Tide went 84 yards on 6 plays with Roydell Williams diving in from the 1 yard line.

    After Alabama scored, The Bulls got momentum and drove into Bama territory.  On 1st and 10 at the Alabama 41-yard line, Golesh decided to go for a bomb towards the end zone. Brown threw a corner post route but the receiver ran a middle post and Malachi Moore intercepted the pass to thwart USF’s comeback attempt.

    You could feel the air come out of the stadium and many fans departed after the play. Golesh said “Because we were moving it, we were chunking down the field on that drive. That was a critical drive in the game for us to make it 10-10 and I don’t know if I got impatient as much as I saw an opportunity. … In every imaginable way that’s my fault, and I told Byrum that and I told (the receiver) Michael Brown-Stephens that.”

    With Alabama having 4-5 star players for backups, its tough for a club like the Bulls to keep up with SEC powerhouses when backups have to get rotated in. Its just a size situation but keeping with Alabama for the whole game, the talk of moral victory was said by many but Bulls Head Coach Alex Golesh wasn’t having it.

    “Valiant efforts are for losers,” he said. “Moral victories are for losers. Winners win. So there are no moral victories. … You can say that’s an SEC team. You can say the No. 10 team in the country. You can say whatever you want. They’re on our schedule. They are playing us at home. We’ve got to go win football games. I’ll own it. We weren’t as good as we had to be tonight to win.”

    Nick Saban after the game said he was most proud of how the team competed. Says they didn’t play great but kept answering the bell and was his happy with how team competed.

    Up next for the Bulls, their conference schedule kicks in with a home game against Rice at 4pm.

  • Bulls Lose More Than Just The Game Against Tulane

    Bulls Lose More Than Just The Game Against Tulane

    The USF Bulls lost 45-31 to the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday on Homecoming Day after putting up a good fight for most of the game with a potential upset in the making. With the Bulls leading 14-10 in the second quarter and with another offensive drive under way, Quarterback Gerry Bohanon took a huge shot as he was running the quarterback option towards the Green Wave sideline.

    At first it looked from my standpoint as if he took a direct hit on his forearm but as he laid on the turf, Bohanon was favoring his shoulder and unfortunately for the Bulls he would stay out for the remainder of the game. This injury had a direct effect on an already struggling rushing attack with the backs only gaining 60 yards combined for the whole game.

    Up until that point, Bohanon was having one of his best games as a Bull as he had had thrown for 109 yards an a score touchdown with an additional 59 yards on the ground including a 33-yard touchdown.

    USF’s defense struggled once again to say the least. They gave up 564 total yards of offense including 222 yards rushing which has been their Achilles heal all season long.

    Tulane’s Michael Pratt’s was superb throwing for 326 yards passing, and two touchdowns while also running the ball in for an additional two scores.

    With 18 scholarship players missing the game and with the injury to Bohanon, the Bulls get a much needed bye week to help heal their wounds. Not just their physical wounds but to also help to get everyone on the same page to try to salvage their season and possibly the coaches jobs that many fans and pundits are calling for.

    Next up: A road game against Houston on October 29th with the time to be determined.

  • The UCF Knights Once Again Win The War on I-4 over the USF Bulls

    The UCF Knights Once Again Win The War on I-4 over the USF Bulls

    Photo-Mark Matson

    Under a cloudy sky at the Bounce House, the home of the University of Central Florida Knights, the home team did just enough to seal a win over the University Of South Florida Bulls in the War On I4. Aptly labeled as both teams are on either ends of this stretch of highway that bisects the state. With the win the Knights took their fifth straight win in the series.

    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson

    The Knights started the game off a with a well-balanced attack on a 57-yard 10 play drive that mixed both passing and running equally. But the South Florida Bulls defense stiffened when it counted, and the drive stalled at the 18-yard line. With a chance to score first, kicker Daniel Obarski missed on a 35-yard field goal attempt.

    Photo-Mark Matson

    After a series by the South Florida Bulls that netted -1 yard. The Knights were back on the attack and drew first blood with an eight play 63-yard drive that put the Knights up 7 – 0 on a Parker Navarro 3-yard run.

    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson

    The South Florida Bills would come right back and tie things up with a twelve play 72-yard drive that would take 6 minutes off the clock and close out the first quarter. The drive was capped off with quarterback Timmy McClain running it in himself. While the drive was successful, the Bulls committed several penalties on it which would be part of their undoing throughout the game. With multiple false starts and ineligible man downfield penalties this squarely put them on their backfoot at all the wrong times.

    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson

    With Both teams equally punting twice and missing a field goal attempt in the second quarter it looked like the half would come to an end tied. With the South Florida Bulls punting, Knights punt returner/wide receiver Titus Mokia-Atimalala returned the ball thirty-nine yards to the South Florida Bulls 27-yard line. Quarterback Mikey Keene and the rest of his Knights teammates drove the final twenty-seven yards in six plays and capped it off with a 7-yard completion to wide receiver Brandon Johnson to pull ahead 14 – 7 with just 11 seconds left in the first half.

    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson

    The first two series of the second half by the South Florida Bulls were both solid drives. But were both stalled by false start penalties that ultimately netted the team two field goals to draw the to within one point. When the Knights had a chance to respond they did with a well timed ten play 61-yard drive that took up 5:24 of the clock. They drove down to the South Florida Bulls 14-yard line but could only come away with a field goal to put them up 17-14.

    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson

    With less than three minutes to go and eighty yards to the end zone, the game was put on the shoulders of South Florida Bulls true freshman quarterback Timmy McClain. After a quick completion and a sack, McClain was chased out of the pocket and made a poor throw that was intercepted, but the play was negated by an offsides by the Knights. After the South Florida Bulls made it down to the twenty-six-yard line, McClain used his feet on successive plays to get down to the Knights three-yard line setting up an exciting and improbable finish to the game.

    Photo-Mark Matson

    But that would be as far as they would get as the Knights defense sacked McClain who went down to his knee and threw the ball which was picked off. As the referees reviewed the final play of the game, they determined that McClain was down negating the interception, but time had expired giving the Knights the win.

    Photo-Mark Matson

    With the win the Knights finished the season 8-4 with an undefeated record at home as well as getting at least eight wins in the last four out of five seasons. While the South Florida Bulls end the year at 2-7 and 1-7 in AAC play. But McClain has shown flashes of more and this should be an improved team next season

    More Pics from The Game From Mark Matson

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    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson
    Photo-Mark Matson

  • USF Suffers Heartbreaking Loss To Tulsa At Raymond James Stadium

    USF Suffers Heartbreaking Loss To Tulsa At Raymond James Stadium

    Photo-Travis Failey

    What seemed like it was going to be a victory Saturday for the USF Bulls turned to heartbreak as Tulsa defeated USF 32-31 at a steamy Raymond James Stadium

    Photo-Travis Failey

    USf turned Tulsa over three times and had a special teams touchdown but in the end it wasn’t enough as the defense gave up a 99 yard drive in third quarter and the go ahead td late in the forth. But you can’t lay all of this loss on the hands of the defense.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    This was a team loss with some fingers being pointed at Head Coach Jeff Scott who went for a controversial 4th down and short play on the Bulls own 42 yard line with 4 minutes to go. The Bulls didn’t convert and Tulsa scored to go ahead and the young Bulls offense couldn’t counter and get into field goal range for a chance to win the game.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    Coach Scott on the loss:

    “It was a gut-wrenching loss. The reason it hurts is not because we were up and let it go or any of that, it hurts because our guys played their tails off.

    I’m obviously disappointed in the result. I take a lot of responsibility on me. There were a lot of plays that we had where we could’ve won the game, maybe 8-10 of those plays. We didn’t get it done and at the end of the day that falls on me. The one thing I am very proud of is how hard our guys played. Our guys did not play like a 1-4 football team that have been through what they’ve been through in five games.

    They played their hearts out. At the end of the day, we didn’t get it done at the very end when we had some opportunities. It was a big difference from when we played these guys a year ago with pretty much the same team. We were in position. We’ve got to find a way to win the game.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    “Obviously, the call everyone wants to talk about is understandable, the fourth-and-one, and at the end of the day, I’m going to go down believing in our guys. That’s what it was all about. Jaren Mangham and that offensive line have been dang-good this year. It was four minutes to go. You get the first down, I feel like you win the game. Yeah, we could’ve punted it and this, that and the other, but we said we’re going to attack, we’re going to be aggressive and we felt like we had the right call.”

    Photo-Travis Failey

    The Bulls were ahead most of the game by using a combination of running and passing plays by freshman QB Timmy McClain and RB Jared Mangum but the big plays on defense, most notably the three turnovers and special teams return were huge for the Bulls.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    Brian Battie ran back 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and would have had another td if there wasnt a bad roughing the punter penalty that really hurt the Bulls momentum and I believe led to Tulsa’s comeback victory. Even though they didnt score after the penalty, Tulsa shifted the field in their favor.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    Antonio Grier’s 69-yard interception return for a touchdown was one of the three turnovers the Bulls defense got and really got the crowd into the game in the second quarter.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    Tulsa dominated the the time of possesion and the amount of plays ran from scrimmage. They out-gained the Bulls 535 to 268 yards, ran 31 more plays (88-57) and recorded 31 first downs to the Bulls 13. The Golden Hurricanes running backs also had big days as Deneric Prince and Shamari Brooks each went over 100 yards rushing.

    Photo-Travis Failey

    Quarter back Davis Brin also had a big day going 22-39-2 for 266 yards and also had 2 rushes for 37 yards. One of these tds happened as Brin connected with Sam Crawford Jr. for 37 yards after a USF fumble on a kickoff after a Tulsa field goal. It was a beautiful strike that got Tulsa within 4 at the half at 24-20

    Photo-Travis Failey

    At the conclusion of the game the fans and the team hung their heads wondering what happened. It will be interesting to see if this team goes into a shell or continues to play hard as they did on Saturday. For the fans and the teams sake, I hope its the latter and not the former

    Photo-Travis Failey
  • Bulls Get Run Over By Taylor and the Badgers in 2019 Opener

    Bulls Get Run Over By Taylor and the Badgers in 2019 Opener

    The 2019 USF Bulls Football Season got off to a screeching halt at the hands and feet of the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers but ohh what could have been. Ok!!! Who am I kidding?? You can look back at the Badgers first drive on 3rd and 7 and say if the Bulls get the stop, who knows. But they didn’t and the rout was on.

    This wasn’t just the Badgers and Taylor, their Heisman candidate running back, running roughshod over the Bulls but also the Bulls hurting themselves all night long. Dropped passes that would have been big plays, turnovers mixed with bad penalties and questionable coaching led to the Bulls getting crushed on National TV.

    The new offense that Kerwin Bell installed this summer was just that, offensive. USF quarterback Blake Barnett was 13 of 30 passing for 109 yards, with two interceptions against Wisconsin. He also had minus-3 yards rushing.

    USF didn’t get into Wisconsin territory until late in the fourth quarter, and ended up settling for a 43-yard field goal attempt by Coby Weiss that missed miserably.

    “Very disappointing and embarrassing loss,” head coach Charlie Strong said after the game. “When you have the crowd that we had, and they had to wait for over an hour-and-a-half, and we go out and play the way we played, there’s no reason for that. As a head coach, I thought I had them ready to play. I guess I didn’t.”

    The Bulls tried their best to slow down Jonathan Taylor but couldn’t as he had 4 tds and 183 combined yards and set the pace for his run at the Heisman and a top ten slot in next years draft.

    Friday‘s game was the worst loss in program history in front of an announced crowd of 46,704 fans inside Raymond James Stadium on a crazy on a gain off again rainy night.

    Next up for the Bulls is a road battle against another Big 5 opponent in Georgia Tech next Saturday at 2 pm.

  • Bulls Get Washed Away by The Green Wave

    Bulls Get Washed Away by The Green Wave

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Article by USF Athletics

    TAMPA, NOV. 3, 2018 – USF dropped consecutive conference games for the first time since the end of the 2014 season with a 41-15 setback against Tulane on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Tulane (4-5, 3-2 in AAC) took control of the game with 34 straight points after USF (7-2, 3-2 in AAC) started with a 3-0 lead. The Bulls’ nation-leading streak of consecutive 20-plus point games was snapped at 38.

    Quarterback Blake Barnett moved closer to USF’s first 3,000-yard passing season, completing 29 of 49 attempts for 332 yards. The junior from Corona, Calif., also led the USF rushing attack with 59 yards and produced his eighth touchdown on the ground this season in the fourth quarter after a career long 39-yard run in the first period of play.

    Blake Barnett (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Tyre McCants (Niceville, Fla.) moved up to fourth on USF’s career receptions list (119) after registering a game-high nine catches for 85 yards. Stanley Clerveaux (North Miami) matched his career high with five receptions for 50 yards, a new career best.

    Tyre McCants (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Freshman Johnny Ford also is tied for the team lead with eight rushing touchdowns after a 5-yard score in the third quarter. The Miami native has rushed for at least one touchdown in each of the past three games with six scores during that stretch.

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Tulane headed into halftime with a 27-3 lead after scoring 27 unanswered points, including 20 in the second quarter.

    USF started the scoring in the middle of the opening quarter with a 27-yard field goal by Coby Weiss (Gainesville, Fla.). The 65-yard drive was sparked by Barnett’s career long 39-yard run on USF’s first offensive play of the game.

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Following USF’s third turnover of the game, Darius Bradwell’s 73-yard touchdown run helped extend the Green Wave lead to 34-3 with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter. USF answered back about three minutes later with Ford’s eighth rushing touchdown run of the season from 5 yards out.

    Johnny Ford (Photo-Travis Failey)

    USF’s rally continued with a 1-yard touchdown run by Barnett that cut the deficit to 34-15 with 9:26 remaining. The touchdown was set up by a 31-yard reception by junior Darnell Salomon (Miami), who finished with three catches for 54 yards.

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Redshirt freshman linebacker Andrew Mims (St. Johns, Fla.) recovered a fumble in USF territory on Tulane’s next drive, but the Bulls couldn’t complete their fourth double-digit fourth quarter comeback of the season.

    Senior Josh Black (Tampa) led the defensive effort with a career-high 10 tackles, including his team-leading fifth sack of the season. Freshman Dwayne Boyles Jr. (Miami) also set a career high with eight tackles.

    Roland Skies for the grab (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Key Stats

    364 – Tulane rushed for 364 yards on 52 attempts (7.1 ypc).

    110 – USF’s rushing yardage total after posting at least 200 yards on the ground in 31 of the previous 37 games.

    34 – Tulane took control of the game with 34 unanswered points after USF took a 3-0 lead.

    3 – USF turned the ball over three times, including two lost fumbles.

    More photos from the game

     

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Barnett Goes Backwards (Photo-Travis Failey)

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

  • USF Remains Unbeaten, Now Ranked 20th and Bowl Eligible

    USF Remains Unbeaten, Now Ranked 20th and Bowl Eligible

    Mitch Wilcox (Photo-Travis Failey)

    TAMPA, OCT. 14, 2018 – One of just eight remaining unbeaten teams in FBS football, USF (6-0; 2-0 American) has reached bowl eligibility on the earliest date in program history and climbed into the top 20 of the national rankings for the 31st time in program history, checking in at No. 20 in the latest Amway Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll.

    One of three unbeaten and Top 25 ranked teams in the East Division of the American Athletic Conference, USF’s comeback from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit in a 25-24 victory at Tulsa marked its largest fourth quarter comeback since 2012 and earned the Bulls bowl eligibility on Oct. 12, one day earlier than the previous earliest date in program history.

    Randall St. Felix (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Bowl eligible for the fourth straight season and in October for the sixth time in program history, the 2018 Bulls team bettered by one day the 2007 team, which earned bowl eligibility on Oct. 13, 2007 after a 64-12 defeat of UCF.

    The American is the only conference nationally with three unbeaten teams. The Bulls are joined by No. 10/9 UCF (6-0) and No. 20/21 Cincinnati (6-0). UCF comes to Raymond James Stadium for the War on I-4 on Fri., Nov. 23 while the Bulls travel face Cincinnati on Sat., Nov. 10.

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Junior Jordan Cronkrite (Miami) posted his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game, collecting 151 yards and a 66-yard touchdown Friday in Tulsa. Cronkrite stands third nationally in rushing yards per game (151.4) and yards per carry (8.05) and became the first Bull to post four touchdown runs of 60-plus yards in the same season. With 757 yards and six touchdowns through six games, Cronkrite is well on his way to posting the ninth 1,000-yard rushing season in program history and becoming just the fifth Bull to accomplish the feat. The Bulls have been ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing in each of the previous three seasons and have had a 1,000-yard rusher for a program record four straight seasons.

    Ronnie Hoggins (Photo-Travis Failey)

    USF returns to Raymond James Stadium, where it has won 19 of its last 22 games, on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. Homecoming clash with UConn (1-5; 0-3 American). The Bulls have won six straight games against the Huskies and will be looking to equal the program’s best-ever start by improving to 7-0 for the second straight season. The Bulls are 34-6 in their last 40 games, a mark that is tied with Oklahoma for the fourth-best mark nationally over each team’s last 40 contests and trails only Alabama (38-2), Clemson (36-4) and Ohio State (35-5).

    (Photo-Travis Failey)

    Saturday’s game will be televised by CBS Sports Network and can be heard live on the USF Sports Network (820AM; iHeart Radio Bulls Unlimited).

    Season and single-game tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls, visiting www.USFBullsTix.com or in-person at the USF Ticket Office (Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center) Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

     

  • UCF Takes the 2017 War on I-4 Battle

    UCF Takes the 2017 War on I-4 Battle

    All Photos by Travis Failey

    In front of a national audience, the war on I4 didn’t disappoint as UCF won a thrilling game 49-42 over USF at Spectrum Stadium. Both teams had everything to lose, especially the Knights who came into the game undefeated at 10-0 with a possibility of not only going to the AAC Championship Game vs Memphis but also a possible shot at the National Championship Playoff.

    Those conversations will continue at least for one more week after a go-ahead 95-yard kick return TD by cornerback Mike Hughes with 1:41 left in the game. Prior to the return touchdown, the game seemed like it would go into overtime because of the previous drive when USF tied it up after  Flowers hit Darnell Salomon for an 83-yard TD.

    Unfortunately, The Bulls once again shot themselves in the foot with special team errors including a missed field goal of 42 yards and an extra point by Emilio Nadelman along with the kick return touchdown which really came back to haunt the Bulls. Another key issue for the Bulls was the penalty situation as the Bulls had over 100 yards in penalties and the refs didn’t help USF’s cause by missing a key defensive holding call on UCF late in the game.

    With USF driving late to tie the game tight end Mitch Wilcox caught a critical third down pass for a first down but UCF’s Ritchie Grant “Peanut Punched” the ball from Wilcox’s hand. UCF recovered and went into the victory formation to finish one of the wildest games in FBS history. It was was a tough moment for Wilcox who caught a touchdown earlier in the game.  Wilcox will recover as he is a part of the heart and soul of this team and will once again be a key member of the Bulls in their upcoming bowl game and during the 2018 season

    Overshadowed in this game was the record-breaking performance by Quinton Flowers who passed for 503 yards setting a new record in Bulls history along with becoming the sixth player in FBS history to pass for 60 tds and rush for 40.  Flowers saved his best for his last regular season performance by outgaining UCF 605-533 in total yardage.  Also, the Bulls got an unbelievable night by junior wide receiver TyreMccants who started off the game with a 47-yard TD from Flowers and finished the game with nine receptions for 227 yards.

    Flowers wasn’t the only quarterback to have a record-breaking night, UCF’s McKenzie Milton went 29-of 44 for 373 yards and four touchdowns and Surpassed former quarterback Daunte Culpepper for single-season touchdowns. Most likely the Bulls (9-2) will earn a mid-level bowl game while UCF will continue their amazing season as they host the Memphis Tigers next Saturday at noon for the right to be the champion of the AAC.