The University of South Florida Bulls took another hard loss on Saturday, falling to the University of Houston Cougars, 56-21. Most of the game was not as close as the final score would indicate, so it was bad day for the Bulls.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
Late in the third quarter, trailing 42-0, Leonard Parker carried the ball for a two yard touchdown to end the shutout. Then, after forcing Houston into a rare punt, the USF offense once again drove the field for another touchdown. This time, it was a pass from Jordan McCloud to Omarrion Dollison for a two yard touchdown. The score early in the fourth quarter was suddenly 42-14 and the Bulls were showing signs of life. Three plays into the next Houston series, Clayton Tune’s pass is intercepted by Bentlee Sanders, who returned it for a 38 yard touchdown. In less than ten minutes, USF had cut the Cougars lead in half, 42-21, scoring three unanswered touchdowns after just ending the shutout. Houston did answer, however, on the next series, which ended with a six yard touchdown pass from Tune to Christian Trahan, extending the Cougar lead to 49-21. There was now just five minutes left in the game, but there was still some hope for the Bulls, considering how the quarter had begun. That hope ended on the subsequent kickoff, which was fumbled by Dollison and recovered by Shaun Lewis for a 14 yard touchdown. A little more than five minutes before the end, the Houston lead was an unsurmountable 56-21.
THE STAR OF THE GAME
Tune passed for just 165 yards, but he was responsible for a total of five Houston touchdowns. He passed for three and ran for two more, accumulating 120 rushing yards along the way. Tune did throw an interception, but when he had the ball, he was able to move the chains nearly at will.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
17-10. Houston had 17 plays for gains of 10 yards or more compared to just ten for the Bulls. Big plays made the difference for the Cougars. If USF could have found a way to keep this one area more competitive, the game would have had a very different outcome. From a statistical point of view, many things were a draw or even favored the Bulls. They had about 150 yards less offense, but were less penalized (75-21), had more total plays (80-63), had longer time of possession (31-29), and more interceptions gained (1-0). The two were essentially even on first downs (24-25), third down conversions (5), average completion yards (12.4), red zone scoring (2/3 vs. 3/3), as well as many other categories. The stat sheet doesn’t look as lopsided as the scoreboard, except in the number of big plays and sacks (4-0 to favor UH).
WHAT A PLAY
Sanders intercepting Tune for a 38 yard pick six has to be about the best play of the game. It added points to the board at a critical time in a game that looked like it had long been over. It was a big momentum moment for the Bulls that made a comeback look like a reasonable possibility. Of course, it also stopped Tune from another scoring drive, which the Bulls’ defense had problems doing.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Bulls are 1-7 and Houston has extended their AAC streak over them to five straight. From a big picture perspective, it probably works to USF’s advantage that this winless season (thus far) is occurring during a global pandemic, which will be the biggest asterisk of a sports season, ever. There are signs of life on this winless squad, however, and lots of those bright spots come in the form of freshman players, who are gaining priceless experience, which will pay dividends in the future.
