Memphis Tigers toy with USF Bulls, 49-10

TAMPA—

The University of Memphis Tigers rolled to an easy victory over the University of South Florida Bulls on Saturday, 49-10. The Tigers racked up over 500 yards on offense in the blowout victory. Strong performances from Memphis quarterback, Brady White, and running back, Kenneth Gainwell, led the way for the easy win.

Early in the game, it was the Bulls who came hot on their first drive, after forcing Memphis to punt on theirs. On the third play of the Bulls’ first possession, Kelley Joiner took a handoff from Jordan McCloud 47 yards, deep into Memphis territory. Three plays later, it was Dave Small who got the Bulls on the board with their first touchdown on a one yard run. With a little over 11 minutes left in the first quarter, USF led 7-0.

The Bulls defense was full of energy early in the game, and they forced Memphis to punt on their first two drives. On the third Tigers’ possession, however, Patrick Taylor ran for a three yard touchdown to tie the game at seven. His touchdown was made possible by a 20 yard pickup he made earlier on the drive and a 16 yard pass from White to Kedarian Jones.

Two possessions later, the Bulls found themselves at the Memphis 20 yard line after K.J. Sails intercepted a White pass and returned it 40 yards to the Memphis 23. After a short run and two incomplete passes, the USF coaching staff opted to kick the field goal, which they made, to go up 10-7. This would actually be the beginning of a momentum shift that would favor Memphis for the remainder of the game.

Early in the second quarter, Memphis took their first lead in the game, 14-10 on a Taylor touchdown run. That touchdown was made possible, in part, by a 21 yard run by Gainwell and a 15 yard reception by Kedarian Jones.

After forcing the Bulls to go three and out, the Memphis offense began their next drive on their 34 yard line. After pushing to USF territory, a bad snap gave them a 2nd and 38 on their 30 yard line. Two plays later, they were celebrating in the end zone again, going up 21-10 with 2:04 to go in the first half.

The Tigers would get the ball back again in the first half with 1:34 to go. That would be enough for them to pile onto their score with another touchdown. This time it was a pass from White to Damonte Coxie to go up 28-10.

The second half was all Memphis. They would score three more times on an 18 yard run by Antonio Gibson, a ten yard rush by Taylor, and a 22 yard run by backup quarterback, Connor Adair. The Tigers probably could have run the score up even more, having two more possessions after going up 49-10. Instead, they opted to run the ball to run the clock until time expired.

White, who was relieved late in the game by Adair, finished with 222 yards passing, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Although he did throw two interceptions, the Bulls were only able to score a field goal from the turnovers.

After the game, USF head coach, Charlie Strong, talked about those two interceptions.

“Go up seven to nothing,” said Strong, “and then able to get two turnovers and our defense made it a short field and we only got three points out of it and missed another field goal.”

Strong also talked about the ineffectiveness of the offense.

“We didn’t play well. When you go out there and play a good team like Memphis and all three phases had to play together. Just knowing who they are and what they’ve done and how they’ve played the whole season.

“And then, we just could not get any rhythm going at all on offense”, said Strong. “Then it just beats down your defense. We had plays where we didn’t tackle well, but then you get worn down because you’re on the field a lot.”

Gainwell finished with 128 rushing yards and Taylor finished with 99, the bulk of the 325 rushing yards the Tigers put on USF.

For the Bulls, McCloud struggled with just 45 passing yards.

Asked about McCloud being out of the game, Strong said, “it was a coaches’ decision. When he went back, I think he may have bruised his thumb, but it was more of a coaches’ decision.”

Freshman running back, Kelley Joiner, had a solid game, rushing for 116 yards in his debut as starter.

“Very pleased with his (Joiner’s) performance tonight,” said Strong. “He’s a freshman, played well. It was just great to see him go there and play as well as he played.”

The Bulls were outgained 560 to 170 yards on offense in the game. So, naturally, a reporter asked if they are fixable.

“We got to get it fixed,” said Strong. “It can be fixed. As a coaching staff, we’ve got to get right on offense. But it can be fixed.”

The Tigers improve to 10-1 (6-1) on the season. They will host #19 Cincinnati on Friday afternoon for a 3:30 kickoff. That game will be televised nationally on ABC.

For USF, this is the first year they are not bowl eligible since 2014. They drop to 4-7 (2-5) with one game left on the schedule.

“We’ve got one game left,” said Strong. “We need to get back. We need to get everybody back healthy and get ready to go to Orlando and get ready to play Central Florida.”

The USF vs. UCF matchup will get prime time scheduling, with an 8:00 PM EST kickoff broadcast on ESPN.