The University of Cincinnati had no problems defeating the University of South Florida Bulls, 28-7 on Saturday. But, as lopsided as the score looks, the Bearcats gave USF plenty of opportunities for the upset, in a game that featured nine total turnovers.
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The Bulls took the opening kickoff as a touchback and began the first drive of the game on their 25 yard line. Freshman quarterback, Katravis Marsh, started for the first time in his career. That inexperience was highlighted on his third pass of the game, which was intercepted by Coby Bryant at the USF 46 yard line.
USF’s defense would step up on the next drive, however, intercepting Desmond Ridder on his second pass of the game. Mac Harris returned his interception to the USF 37.
Getting the ball back didn’t help the Bulls’ offense, though, as Marsh threw his second interception in as many passes on his next attempt. Ahmad Gardner had the catch for the Bearcats at the Cincinnati 49 yard line.
On the next possession, the Bulls’ defense came up with another takeaway. On the second play of the drive, Blake Green forced Gerrid Doaks to fumble, which was recovered by Thad Mangum at the Bearcats’ 45 yard line. That was the fourth turnover in four possessions.
Cade Fortin relieved Marsh at quarterback on the next series, but the offense went three-and-out.
Cincinnati started the next drive on their eight yard line and drove 92 yards on 13 plays to put Bearcats on the scoreboard. The drive took off when Ridder scrambled for a 26 yard gain to the Cincinnati 36. Doaks would add carries of 10 and 11 yards before capping the drive off with a 10 yard touchdown run with 4:28 remaining in the first quarter.
Just before halftime, with 39 seconds on the clock, Ridder connected with Josh Whyle for a 13 yard touchdown, putting Cincinnati up 14-0. The Bulls would get out to midfield on their next possession, only to run out of time in the half. At the break, Bearcats led 14-0.
In the second half, Cincinnati took the kickoff and drove to the USF 20 yard line, where their drive stalled. The opted for the field goal, but it was missed wide left.
Jordan McCloud came into the game at quarterback for the Bulls. On their first drive of the half, he moved the offense into Cincinnati territory, only to get stopped at the Bearcats’ 35 yard line. Facing 4th and 3, USF opted to try and convert, but came up a yard short with a two yard pass to Chris Carter.
Cincinnati turned that failure into momentum. On the fifth play of the next series, Ridder scrambled for a 35 yard gain to get down to the USF 10. Two plays later, Doaks runs for a three yard touchdown, putting the Bearcats up 21-0 with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulls answered on their next possession. Johnny Ford returned the kickoff to the USF 35 yard line. McCloud connected with St. Felix for an 11 yard gain and followed up with a ten yard pass to Bryce Miller two plays later. Then, it was Ford with a 28 yard catch and run, setting the Bulls up with first down on the Cincinnati 16. Three plays later, they were faced with at 4th and 14 on the Bearcats’ 20 yard line. After calling a timeout, McCloud pitched to Ford on a jet sweep, who then pitched back to St. Felix, who then passed it back to McCloud for an 18 yard gain. Ford would carry it two yards for the score on the next play, ending the shutout. With 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Bulls trailed 21-7.
The Bearcats had an immediate response. Tre Tucker fielded the USF kickoff on the Cincinnati 3 yard line and returned it 97 yards for the final touchdown of the game, with just 36 seconds left in the third quarter.
After the game, USF head coach, Jeff Scott, spoke with media via Zoom call.
“Alright,” said Scott, “first off, congratulations to coach Fickle and his team. I think he's got a really good team that played very well.”
Scott praised his defense, while noting that the offense struggled.
“Obviously,” said Scott, “disappointed with the result of this game. I really felt like our defense, in the first half, kept us in the game and continued to give the offense some good field position. Unfortunately, we weren't playing complimentary football and our offense was just not executing very well.
“Bottom line it's about us and it's about our execution and just felt like offensively and special teams we did not play winning football today. I felt like the defense for the majority of the time, the limited guys we had out there to play, I felt like they gave us a shot. This is part of our journey.
Scott was asked about the quarterbacks in the first half.
“Our game plan going in is to give Marsh and Cade some opportunity in the first half. I just didn't feel like we were getting in any rhythm and, you know, we're turning the ball over and I just felt like I needed to change it up.
“Going in the second half, I decided to go with Jordan, and you know I felt like once he settled in, he moved our offense. We had the two picks he's got to learn from.”
Aside from the scoreboard, the game was surprisingly close, statistically. The Bulls had 291 yards of total offense, compared with 332 for the Bearcats. And, while the Bulls’ quarterbacks accounted for five interceptions, Cincinnati’s Ridder threw three.
Doaks was the breakout star of the game for the Bearcats, rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown. He also had a catch for six yards.
For the Bulls, McCloud racked up 137 yards passing in just two quarters of play, which would project for a pretty solid game, had he gotten the start. He did throw two interceptions, but his ability to move the chains probably makes him the frontrunner in the quarterback competition.
The Bearcats move to 3-0 on the season and will visit Tulsa on the 17th. The Golden Hurricane are coming off an upset over #11 UCF.
USF drops to 1-2 and will host ECU for Homecoming on Saturday. Kickoff for that game is set for 7 PM. Broadcast for that game will be made available on ESPN+.
