USF Falls to UCONN

(AP/Fred Beckham)

After 16 days, the USF Bulls were hoping they could get back to the high offense and solid defense they had been use to. But the Huskies of UCONN had other ideas on their homecoming day as they beat the Bulls 16 to 10. USF has dropped two straight games now and has a lot to think about as they head home next week for the homecoming game with Cincinnati.

B.J. Daniels was 15 of 27 on the night for just 164 yards and two interceptions. The problem with the offense was the lack of throwing down the field. The Bulls committed to running the ball at the 6th ranked rush defense, but never took shots at some of the young defensive backs for the Huskies. Daniels missed throws down the field, got stopped by the UCONN defense, and just couldn't execute and run this offense. It was painful to watch him try to get the offense going. The playcalling was questionable, but his lack of plays also hurt the team as well as they looked like a JV high school offense out there.

Scott ran the ball 13 times for 58 yards. Scott had a huge fumble that allowed UCONN to get the touchdown on the recovery that proved to be the game deciding score. He sat the second half on the bench while Murray got the bulk of the carries. Murray provided a spark coming off the bench for the Bulls. He carried the ball 10 times for 41 yards, showing a nice burst out of the backfield. Daniels was the leading rusher. He carried the ball 10 times for 63 yards, including the only touchdown USF would see. Daniels was bottled up a few times and couldn't get the big break away runs consistently like he has before. Lamar had one carry for 11 yards, Miller had one for 6 yards and Marc had one carry for one yard.

Sterling Griffin led the way in receiving on the afternoon despite the bad offense. He had 5 receptions for 63 yards. Victor Marc had 5 catches for 50 yards (continues to shine). Deonte Welch had one catch for 16 yards and Murray had one for 14 yards. Stephen Bravo-Brown had one for 10 yards, Love had one for 7 yards, and Scott had one for 4 yards.

The defense did it's job. They held UCONN to 253 yards of offense, had 7 sacks on the night and forced two turnovers. Ryne Giddins played possessed, DeDe Lattimore and Sam Barrington came up huge for the secondary, and overall the team played well. The offense just continued to put them in a hole all night and made it nearly impossible for them to get anything done. Credit has to go to the UCONN offense and their rush and pass attack, it kept them on the field, and made the game shorter.

This was just a frustrating game all around. From bad penalties, no execution, and simply being out muscled on the field, USF looked bad out there, real bad. Now at 4-2 (0-2) they are going to be battling for a bowl game and seeing their conference dreams fading away already. There was really no excuse for this performance. Huskies are not that good, be honest. The Bulls had two weeks to figure out a game plan, but just couldn't get it done.

The team has to do more soul searching after this loss. The offense has to figure out how to attack down the field, not sit back and wait for something and continue to hold back. They have the speed, but the question is, is it the playcalling (Fitch) or just the lack of execution by the players.