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| The Bulls battled, but it wasn't enough in the end (Picture: www.gousfbulls.com) |
Yesterday afternoon was a disheartening day for USF and the fans. The Bulls led the Cincinnati Bearcats heading into the 4th quarter and took the lead late in that quarter, but somehow, someway, they found a way to lose the game. USF has lost 3 straight, 3 straight conference games, and now sit at 4-3 (0-3) in the basement of the Big East, seeing their conference championship dreams vanish and their bowl chances getting even slimmer.
The offense, which was beyond ugly, shined in this game, but did have a lot of mental mistakes (end of the 1st half was a complete mis-management of the clock).
B.J. Daniels had another career day for the Bulls. He completed 31 of 48 passes for 408 yards, the first 400-yard passing day for a USF quarterback, including 3 touchdowns and one interception. A lot of the passes were big plays, not the simple little bubble screens Fitch loves to call on every play.
The running game was held in check, much like we projected it would. Daniels was the leading rusher, carrying the ball 15 times for 83 yards (thought we didn't want him to be the leading rusher anymore). Scott had a rough day, carrying 11 times for 30 yards. Murray carried 6 times for 14 yards and a touchdown. Shaw had one carry for 6 yards. We had stated that the Bearcat defense would slow the run game down, and they bottled it up, forcing USF to fire through the air.
The USF receivers made huge gain. Sterling Griffin had 8 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. He left the game with an ankle injury, returning to the sideline on crutches and an ice pack. We pray he is healthy. Deonte Welch had 5 receptions for 130 yards as he burst onto the scene. Andre Davis had 4 receptions for 60 yards, including a late touchdown that did put USF ahead late. Victor Marc had 4 for 33 yards, Landi had 4 for 51 yards, and Love had one for 5 yards (glad he is still healthy and back on the field).
The defense was not at their best in this game. They allowed 507 yards of total offense, including the final drive where Cincinnati marched down the field, not needing the full minute left on the clock and got the win. The defense played well against UCONN, but was out of positioned and got torched again by Collaros. DeDe Lattimore led the way with 10 tackles. Sam Barrington had 6 tackles (was a bit banged up during the game though). Ryne Giddins had 6 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Jerrell Young and JaQuez Jenkins both had interceptions as well, but when they needed it, they couldn't come up with a stop to end the game and it cost them big this time.
A lot went wrong in this game. 10 penalties hurt the Bulls big time, miscues, bad defense, and the lack of execution continue to kill the Bulls and are sending them into another October meltdown (not sure if that is the word to use, but it seems fitting right now for the Bulls). We will have more on this game all week, looking at who is playing well, what is going on, what can change, and where the team is headed as they enter another bye week.
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