Bulls Run Past Rival UCF for Record 10th Win
USF reached 10 wins for the first time in program history by running all over rival UCF in a 48-31 War On I-4 victory Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.
USF (10-2, 7-1) rushed for 351 yards and five touchdowns while extending its nation-leading streak of 30-plus point games to 16. Head coach Willie Taggart’s Bulls came into the weekend tied for first place in The American’s East Division and now must wait to see if they’re championship game-bound. Also tied for first, Temple must lose to East Carolina on Saturday night to make it happen.
USF’s conference championship game hopes remained alive thanks to stellar efforts on both sides of the ball.
FINAL SCORE USF 48, UCF 31
Quarterback Quinton Flowers set the program’s new season rushing record with 1,425 yards after producing 152 yards and two scores on the ground. The junior from Miami also completed 17 of 26 passes for 152 yards to set a new USF record with eight 300-yard total offense games this season. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
“He (Coach Taggart) said ‘Good run but don’t do that again. We can’t have that – bad ball security.” MARLON MACK
“We have each other’s backs. Q can do his thing and I’ll always have his back and he has mine. So that’s what we have to try and do and block for each other.” MARLON MACK
“I’m definitely going to hold it (trpohy) once it comes back to USF.” MARLON MACK (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
“It is a great feeling, especially to have done it with Dalvin – everybody loves him right now. It is a great feeling and he is one of the top backs in Florida.” MARLON MACK
“I have to think about it and make my decision after the season. It is a tough decision (to stay for senior season) to make at this age and there are many pros and cons to it.” MARLON MACK
“I definitely do. I love it here at South Florida. Especially the fans coming back and us winning.” MARLON MACK
USF had two 100-yard rushers for the fifth time this season. Marlon Mack finished with a season-high 155 yards after breaking off touchdown runs from 43 and 56 yards out. The junior from Sarasota became the first Bull, and only the third player in Florida collegiate history, to post three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
“You see them. The players, they hear them. They want to hear them some more out there. It’s huge. Whenever you have that, it’s an advantage for you at home. It helps with momentum and it helps really giving our guys a little more juice, a little more energy when they’re out there, but that’s always big. I always say that I want to make Ray Jay a snake pit, and we’re going to get it there. Climbing is easier than hanging on, but we’re going to get it there, everybody’s going to get it there and eventually we’re going to have what we want here in this stadium and everybody’s going to come see the Bulls and be happy with the Bulls and be happy the Bulls are playing, no matter who they have coming in here, they’re coming here to watch the Bulls play.” HEAD COACH WILLIE TAGGART (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
USF’s defense also stepped up by forcing three turnovers. The takeaway train started rolling with Juwuan Brown’s 22-yard fumble recovery return that spotted the Bulls a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
D’Ernest Johnson (Immokalee) capped off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds left. The score helped the Bulls rack up 500 total yards and set the program’s new record for total yards in a season (6,181). USF leads the FBS with 44 rushing touchdowns this year. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
Mitchell Wilcox with a 32 yard reception (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
“Great win. Really great win for our guys. We’re really excited for our seniors who could finish their last regular season game in Ray Jay with a victory. Not only with a victory but for these guys to end their season with a 10-2 record is pretty darn big time around here. Considering the first year they came here they started 2-10, they worked really hard, worked through adversity. Those guys easily could have transferred and went somewhere else but they decided to stay here and see it through, and now they’re reaping the benefits. Really happy for our seniors, happy for our entire team, the Bulls Nation, just really proud of our guys. That’s a really good football team over there. Coach Frost has done a great job with Central Florida in such a short time. We knew it was going to be a tough ballgame coming in here, and it was great to get the victory.” HEAD COACH WILLIE TAGGART
“I think the last three games we’ve actually gotten better defensively. That’s something that we needed to do. We weren’t at the standard that we needed to be. That pick was a big pick. It kind of changed the momentum. UCF has a good team. Their coach had them ready to play. It was a back-and-forth ball game. The big plays swung the momentum and that was good for us.” AUGGIE SANCHEZ
FULL GALLERY BY TRAVIS FAILEY
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Mitchell Wilcox with a 32 yard reception (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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USF’s defense also stepped up by forcing three turnovers. The takeaway train started rolling with Juwuan Brown’s 22-yard fumble recovery return that spotted the Bulls a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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“I’m definitely going to hold it (trpohy) once it comes back to USF.” MARLON MACK (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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“You see them. The players, they hear them. They want to hear them some more out there. It’s huge. Whenever you have that, it’s an advantage for you at home. It helps with momentum and it helps really giving our guys a little more juice, a little more energy when they’re out there, but that’s always big. I always say that I want to make Ray Jay a snake pit, and we’re going to get it there. Climbing is easier than hanging on, but we’re going to get it there, everybody’s going to get it there and eventually we’re going to have what we want here in this stadium and everybody’s going to come see the Bulls and be happy with the Bulls and be happy the Bulls are playing, no matter who they have coming in here, they’re coming here to watch the Bulls play.” HEAD COACH WILLIE TAGGART (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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USF had two 100-yard rushers for the fifth time this season. Marlon Mack finished with a season-high 155 yards after breaking off touchdown runs from 43 and 56 yards out. The junior from Sarasota became the first Bull, and only the third player in Florida collegiate history, to post three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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D’Ernest Johnson (Immokalee) capped off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds left. The score helped the Bulls rack up 500 total yards and set the program’s new record for total yards in a season (6,181). USF leads the FBS with 44 rushing touchdowns this year. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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Quarterback Quinton Flowers set the program’s new season rushing record with 1,425 yards after producing 152 yards and two scores on the ground. The junior from Miami also completed 17 of 26 passes for 152 yards to set a new USF record with eight 300-yard total offense games this season. (TRAVIS FAILEY PHOTO)
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