TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2021) -- Although the South Florida football team didn’t ultimately come out on the winning side of things against No. 15 BYU on Saturday night, it gave fans and supporters a glimmer of hope that has been hard to come by in recent years.
After a demoralizing start that saw the Cougars jump ahead to an early 21-point lead, things looked bleak for the Bulls. Nevertheless, coach Jeff Scott rallied his guys and leaned on freshman quarterback Timmy McClain, who nearly led the team to a comeback victory. Here are three things USF fans can look for the team to build on, and three things USF must clean up if they want to win some games in conference play.
The Good — Timmy McClain
In his first career collegiate start on the road, in front of a boisterous crowd of 60,207 fans, McClain made play after play in pursuit of the victory.
His final stat line, 17-of-24 for 186 passing yards and 55 rushing yards on 15 attempts, isn’t necessarily eye-popping, but it was clear the offense moved well with McClain at the helm. Scott agreed, and named him the starter moving forward in the post-game press conference.
Considering the Seminole High School (Sanford, FL) product is still in the very early stages of his career, Bulls fans can be optimistic that they may have found their next quarterback.
The Bad — Secondary
On three separate occasions, the Bulls allowed the Cougars to connect on passes for over 45+ yards apiece, including a 49-yard shot and a 47-yard heave from sophomore quarterback Baylor Romney to his brother, junior receiver Gunner Romney.
Much of this was due to the fact that USF had defensive backs left on an island alone with a receiver in single coverage. On top of that, the Bulls were forced to play guys like freshman defensive back Jalen Herring, who got the first significant snaps of his collegiate career.
If the Bulls want to upset teams like SMU next week, an improved secondary would be a vital part of that.
The Good — Jaren Mangham
Senior running back Darrian Felix didn’t make the trip from Tampa to Provo, and that meant someone else from the position was going to have to step up.
That player eventually proved to be junior running back Jaren Mangham, who finished the night with 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 attempts.
A bruising back, Mangham now has seven touchdowns through the first four games of the season.
The Bad — Pass Rush
In what seems to be becoming a trend, USF struggled to put pressure on the opposing quarterback.
Romney, who stepped in for the injured Jaren Hall, had enough time in the pocket to comfortably sit back and wait for his receivers to get open, which also led to some of the aforementioned big plays.
The Bulls were unable to tally a sack against the Cougars and only registered one QB hit. Whether it be a linebacker like seniors Dwayne Boyles or Antonio Grier, or a defensive end like sophomore Tramel Logan, it’ll be huge if someone can step up and prove to be a pass-rush threat.
The Good — Well Disciplined
In a stadium that was rocking, the Bulls did well by not committing a single false start on the night.
Granted, they had to burn some timeouts to avoid any delay of game penalties, it was still an impressive showing of discipline.
With a freshman quarterback under center and a big early hole to dig out of, the Bulls could’ve quickly unraveled and allowed a bad first quarter to spiral out of control, but to their credit, they kept chipping away and nearly got the job done.
The Bad — Poor Start
Although the strong second-half performance was encouraging, it makes the poor first-quarter showing that much more infuriating.
It took under two minutes for BYU to score its first touchdown on the night, and after two USF drives that didn’t muster any points, the Cougars scored twice more to build a 21-0 lead, which turned into a 28-6 advantage by halftime.
Even if the Bulls just played slightly better, and allowed one less touchdown, or made a couple more plays, the end of the game could’ve been different. Regardless, what’s done is done, and the performance in the face of adversity is something USF must look to build on moving forward.
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