The University of South Florida Bulls let a potential win slip away as the University of Cincinnati kicked a game winning field goal as time expired on Saturday night. The Bulls were in command for most of the game before losing control in the final minutes of the game.
Cincinnati received the opening kickoff, but their opening drive stalled on their 40 yard line. They punted to the USF 29.
The Bulls would take over and drive quickly to their 41. On the fourth play of the drive, USF quarterback, Jordan McCloud, connected with Randall St. Felix for a 55 pass. That pass set up a four yard Trevon Sands touchdown to give the Bulls an early 7-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, the Bulls score again. This time, it is a 28 yard field goal extended the USF lead to 10-0.
Later in the period, the Bearcats began a possession from their 20 yard line with 50 seconds before halftime. On the second play of that drive, Desmond Ridder is sacked by Darius Slade for a one yard loss. The sack caused a fumble, which was recovered by Kevin Kegler at the Cincinnati 20.
The Bulls ran two plays and then opted to attempt a 43 yard field goal. The attempt failed, wide right, as time expired. At halftime, the score was USF 10, Cincinnati 0.
USF went three-and-out to start the second half.
The Bearcats, however, figured something out during the break and began their first scoring drive of the game on their first second half possession. They began with favorable field position after the Bulls punted to the Cincinnati 44 yard line. Ten small gain plays later, the drive ended with a Gerrid Doaks one yard touchdown run. With 9:50 to go in the third, quarter, USF led 10-7.
USF quickly responded on the next possession. On the first play of the drive, which began on the USF 25, McCloud found Kelly Joiner near the sideline for a 49 yard catch and run down to the Cincinnati 26. Five plays later, McCloud connected with Mitchell Wilcox for a four yard touchdown pass, extending the Bulls lead to 17-7.
Cincinnati would drive to the USF 27 on their next possession, but had to settle for a field goal. With under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, the score was USF 17, Cincinnati 10.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats scored their second touchdown of the game on a two yard run by Michael Warren. The score was set up by runs of 35 and 11 yards several plays earlier. With 14:26 left in the game, the score was tied at 17.
Several possessions later, the Bulls were driving the field into Cincinnati territory. They would eventually stall at the Bearcats’ 15 yard line, where they opted to kick a field goal rather than attempt to move the ball five yards for a first down. The field goal attempt bounced off the right upright, the fourth missed field goal of the game for USF. The score remained tied at 17.
The Bearcats took possession on their 20 yard line with 2:07 left in regulation. Six plays into the drive, Ridder connected with Warren for a 30 yard gain down to the USF 40. They would eventually get to the USF 20 yard line, where they chose to kick a field goal with one second on the clock. The kick was true and as time expired, Cincinnati secured the win, 20-17.
After the game, USF head coach, Charlie Strong, was visibly upset by the loss.
“This one hurts,” said Strong. “And, it hurts because we saw a great team effort tonight, just the way our guys came out, the energy that they had, just the way they played from start to finish. We had opportunities.
“We’ve got two games left. We need to get to a bowl game.”
When asked why the normal kicker, Coby Weiss, was not kicking in the game, Strong said, ”Coby has been injured and hasn’t been kicking well.”
This is the third straight game that the defense has kept their opponent to 20 points or less. Strong was asked to comment about the defensive performance in this game.
“It was a great defensive effort,” said Strong. “Lately, we’ve been playing very well on defense. Our guys have been playing with so much energy. Week in and week out, (defense) just continues to carry this team.”
That defense contained Ridder to just 78 passing yards, the lowest total he has been held to all season. He was also sacked four times for a loss of 22 yards.
The Cincinnati run game was very effective, however, rushing for 200 yards and two touchdowns as a unit, led by Warren’s 134 yards and one touchdown. The Bearcats average 202 rushing yards per game, so they were not very affected by anything the Bulls did on defense.
McCloud finished the game with 267 yards passing and a touchdown. That’s a season-high in passing yards for the freshman. St. Felix had just two catches, but they amounted to a team-high of 70 yards.
Jordan Cronkrite and Kelley Joiner combined for 150 yards rushing.
Cincinnati will look to keep rolling, playing Temple at home next week, followed up by a visit to #18 Memphis in the season finale.
The Bulls are still looking for bowl eligibility. They will host #18 Memphis on Saturday for a 4 PM EST kickoff. They end the season at UCF on Black Friday, the time yet to be announced.
