The University of South Florida Bulls took a tough loss to the East Carolina University Pirates on Saturday, 44-24. The Pirates seemed to have their way on both sides of the ball in a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate.
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The scoring was early and often in this game, beginning with a 25 yard field goal by the Pirates on their first drive to get them a 3-0 lead with 10:35 to go in the first quarter.
USF had a quick answer to the field goal, scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the game. Johnny Ford’s eight yard touchdown run was set up in part by a 37 yard catch and run by tight end, Mitchell Brinkman. With just under nine minutes remaining in the first quarter, USF led 7-3.
The Pirates also had a response ready on their next possession. Keaton Mitchell returned the kickoff 25 yards to the ECU 41 yard line. ECU grinded for five minutes, a few yards at a time, until they capped off the drive with a two yard touchdown pass from Holton Ahlers to Darius Pinnix. That returned the lead to the Pirates, 10-7, with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bulls went three-and-out on the subsequent possession, punting to the ECU 22 yard line. Three plays later, facing a third and 7 on the ECU 25 yard line, Ahlers completed a pass to C.J. Johnson, who ran 75 yards for another ECU touchdown. With 16 seconds left in the first quarter, ECU had extended their lead to 17-7.
Early in the second quarter, McCloud, facing a third and 8 on the USF 38, scrambled for the first down, only to have the ball pop out and be recovered by ECU’s Elijah Morris at the USF 42 yard line. On the very next play, Rahjai Harris took a handoff 42 yards for another Pirates touchdown. ECU’s lead with 13:18 to go in the first half was 24-7.
Later in the period, the Bulls would get on the board again with a seven yard touchdown run by Ford. The Bulls were put into scoring position largely due to a 52 yard pass from McCloud to Omarion Doillison. Immediately prior to the touchdown run, Ford had a 16 yard run. With just under five minutes left in the half, the Bulls had cut the ECU lead to 24-14.
ECU would go on to miss a field goal on their next drive, giving the Bulls the ball on their own 29 yard line. McCloud was sacked on first down and threw incomplete passes on second and third. Trent Schneider came out to punt, but he was unable to catch the snap and ended up picking the ball off the ground and running it out of bounds. That gave the Pirates a ten yard field, which took them just one run by Harris to turn into six points. With 2:17 left in the half, ECU had a 31-14 lead.
The Bulls would score again before the half, on a 31 yard field goal by Jared Sackett with 32 seconds left in the half. At the break, ECU 31, USF 17.
The fireworks would slow down in the second half. The only score in the period came with ten seconds left in the period, when Ahlers connected with Johnson for a 14 yard touchdown pass, extending the Pirates’ lead to 38-17.
ECU would go on to kick two field goals in the fourth quarter, building their lead up to 44-17, but the Bulls would score one more touchdown before the end of the game.
With less than a minute left in the game, Noah Johnson ran for touchdown to get the Bulls back on the scoreboard. With 30 seconds left in the game, the score was ECU 44, USF 24.
After the game, USF head coach, Jeff Scott spoke with the media.
“First of all,” said Scott, “I want to congratulate East Carolina and coach Houston on the win tonight. I felt like they played very well. I’m obviously very disappointed with our execution, really in all three phases. I was pleased with the way we practiced this week, with the effort, with the attitude. Probably the most frustrating part right now, is we’re just not translating it to the game.”
“Our message to the guys in the locker room is, ‘don’t change’. We have got to do what we’re doing better than we have. We’ve got to execute better. You can’t make the mistakes we made tonight and beat anybody.”
Scott was asked about what he thought of McCloud’s performance at quarterback, where he passed for close to 300 yards.
“I was proud of Jordon. I thought he played his butt off. We didn’t protect him well at times. When we did give him time, I thought he played well.”
McCloud finished with 298 yards passing, but no touchdowns. Latrrell Williams was his favorite target, with eight catches for 93 yards. Bryce Miller, DeVontres Dukes, and Michell Brinkman all finished with more than 40 yards receiving. Johnny Ford led the running back corps with 44 yards and two touchdowns.
For the Pirates, Ahlers was very efficient, netting three touchdowns on his 222 yards of passing. C.J. Johnson, who busted out a 75 yard run, was the top receiver with 99 yards. Defensively, Xavier Smith had a strong game, with 12 tackles and three tackles for loss, one of which was a sack.
ECU improves to 1-3 with the win. They will host Navy in one week for a noon kickoff.
The Bulls need to regroup quickly for their road trip to Philadelphia to visit Temple on Saturday. That game is also set for a noon kickoff, with television broadcast on ESPN+.
