The University of South Florida Bulls lost to the University of Florida Gators, 42-20 on Saturday. Florida controlled the first half, running up a 35-3 advantage by halftime. The Gators racked up over 600 yards of offense in the effort. The Bulls outscored the Gators in the second half, but the effort was not enough to overcome the first half deficit.

The game got off to a slow start, with both teams punting on their opening drives.

The Gators did score on their second possession of the game, seven yard run by Dameon Pierce to put Florida up 7-0 with around 11 minutes to go in the quarter.

USF responded on their next drive, eating nearly five minutes of clock, only to have their drive stall on the Florida eight yard line. Settling for a field goal, it was 7-3 with under five minutes to go in the period.

On the first play of the next possession, Florida quarterback, Anthony Richardson connected with wide receiver, Jacob Copeland for a 75 yard touchdown catch and run. With 4:27 on the clock, Florida extended their lead to 14-3.

The Bulls would have their next drive end with a failed fourth down conversion on the Florida 33 yard line.

The Gators extended their lead in the second quarter with back-to-back scoring drives, going up 35-3 with over six minutes remaining in the first half. The first score in the quarter was a 41 yard reception by Copeland from Richardson. Then, Emory Jones came in at quarterback and ran for a 33 yard touchdown.

In the second half, it was a slightly different story.

Mekhi LaPointe picked off a Jones’ pass and returned it 50 yards to the Florida ten yard line. Despite the short field, a fumble on third down by USF quarterback, Timmy McClain ended the drive. The Bulls’ staff opted for the field goal, cutting the Florida lead to 35-6.

On the subsequent Florida drive, Brock Nichols intercepted Jones and returned his catch to the Gators’ 43 yard line.

McClain and the Bulls offense made the most of this turnover, scoring on an 11 yard pass to Sean Atkins. With under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Florida led 35-13.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Gators would extend their lead to 42-13 with 10:29 to go in the game. Richardson returned to the game at quarterback and ran for an 80 yard touchdown on the first play of a drive. He outran no less than four USF defenders on his trip to the end zone.

In the final USF possession of the game, Katravis Marsh took over quarterback duties. A 45 yard punt return by Xavier Weaver set the Bulls up with good field position on the Florida 27. Marsh ran three running plays to get down to the 16. On the next play, he connected with tight end, Mitchell Brinkman for what looked like a Bulls touchdown. Ruled down on the two, it took a run by Jaren Mangham for two yards to give the USF their final touchdown of the game, trailing Florida 42-20.

The Bulls struggled defensively in the loss, allowing 666 yards of total offense, split nearly evenly between rushing and passing yards. But, it was big plays that hurt them the most, allowing 16 plays of over ten yards gain and 13 plays for over 15 yards. Five of those big plays, for gains of 75, 35, 41, 33, 80 led to Florida touchdowns.

Offensively, the Bulls looked better with all three quarterbacks. Cade Fortin passed for a team-high 91 yards, while McClain passed for 83, 44 of which came on one play. McClain also ran for a net gain of 11 yards. Fortin also threw an interception.

In the postgame press conference, head coach Jeff Scott, answered questions about McClain’s performance.

“Well, it wasn’t perfect,” said Scott, “but he definitely gave us a spark. He just kind of showed some energy. I think it was very similar to last week whenever he went in to NC State. The difference is, he didn’t throw interceptions. He protected the ball a little bit better.

“I hated that we had a bad snap down there on the one yard line. That should have been a touchdown drive right there. He did some good things. I was glad for him to be able to get some work today. Both him and Cade. We just have to back as a staff and kind of evaluate both of those guys and the other guys that we have through two games.”

Scott had hoped to have a quarterback decided upon before opening up conference play. With mixed results from his top choices, that leaves the question open.

Overall, Scott is encouraged by what he saw, today.

“Even though we haven’t got the result we want these two games,” said Scott, “I’ve seen some improvement. I still see a lot of things we need to get corrected, but that’s what gives me optimism as we move forward into next week.”

Fans will find encouragement in Scott’s attitude toward the loss.

“There’s no moral victories,” said Scott. “The goal is to win the game. We didn’t win the game. We played very poorly in the first half.”

Despite what he saw as poor first half play, Scott points to outscoring the Gators in the second half and a committed group of players as signs of improvement.

“But, I do think we’re going to look back to the second half of this game,” said Scott, “and we’re going to look at the way this group responded, down 35-3. It’s very easy, very common, to just roll over. It could have gotten really ugly, real quick.

“Our guys competed and played real hard in the second half and outscored them 17-7 in the second half.”

Scott attributes that persistence to the team’s philosophy at halftime.

“I just told our guys,” said Scott, “there’s nothing we can do about the first half. But, what I expect them to do is go out and play better in the second half than we did and play all the way to the very last whistle.

“Bottom line, there’s not going to be one player or coach that is going to quit or given in. I’d very disappointed if I saw that. I told them, ‘hey, we’re going to treat it like it’s zero-zero.’ We say that all the time. We say that if we’re up at half. We say it’s a zero-zero game. So, let’s find out what the score is in the second half.”

Latrell Williams was the favorite target at receiver, catching seven passes for 22 yards. Xavier Weaver had five catches for a team-leading 68 receiving yards. Darrian Felix led running backs in carries with 13 and rushing yards of 40.

For the Gators, Richardson had a very good day, passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 115 yards and another score. Jones passed for 151 yards and ran for 89, with a passing and rushing touchdown to his credit. At receiver, Copeland was the star, with 175 yards and two touchdowns.

Florida now leads the all-time series at 2-0. They will host Alabama next Saturday for a 3:30 EST kickoff.

The Bulls start their season with a disappointing 0-2 record, but should have an easier time when FAMU visits on September 18th. Kickoff for that game is set for 7 EST.