Tampa, FLA --
The University of South Florida Bulls were dominated in all aspects of the game by the Tulane Green Wave, who handed the Bulls a historically bad, 41-15 loss on Saturday. For USF, it seemed like anything that could go wrong, did. Everything from poorly timed penalties, of which they had 11 for 108 yards, to momentum killing turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 interception).
However, the loss was a lot bigger than bad luck. The Bulls, who had been ranked 17th in rushing offense this season, were outgained 368-110 on the ground but a team who only averaged 204 yards per game. Several running plays were huge touchdown runs where no USF player even touched the runner. Justin McMillan, the Tulane quarterback in just his second start of the season, passed for just 61 yards. For comparison sake, USF quarterback, Blake Barnett passed for 332 yards.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
Tulane had a big second quarter, scoring 20 points in the period. In the final minute of play, they kicked a field goal to go up 27-3. The advantage the Green Wave had was tremendous, but the Bulls would have an entire half to come up with four scores, something they’ve easily done many time this season. Given that mentality, with USF getting the ball back in the second half, they would signal quickly whether or not they had gotten the first half message. On their first drive, they started with a big 14 yard run by Johnny Ford on first down. They followed that up with an incomplete pass to Stanley Clerveax, a six yard sack of Barnett, and another incomplete pass for Clerveax. That punt from the USF 33 yard line was the moment when it became clear that USF just didn’t have what they needed to have to close the gap in this game.
THE STAR OF THE GAME
Corey Dauphine was the star of the game, rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was a 21 yard scamper. What was even more important for his team was the timing of those touchdowns. The first one gave them a 14 point lead and the second one made it a three score game, which put the Bulls in a hole they could not dig out of.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
No other team on Tulane’s relatively weak schedule has allowed them to run for 368 yards and only Nicholls State allowed them five touchdowns. The only team that has run for more yards against USF this season was Georgia Tech, who managed 419 yards. The Bulls have one of the worst rushing defenses in the nation ranked 121st, after finishing 2017 ranked 21st.
WHAT A PLAY
Midway through the third quarter, the USF offense was putting together their best offensive drive of the game, converting five first downs. Getting down to the Tulane 23 yard line, Barnett attempted a pass to Jernard Phillips, which was tipped back to Zachery Harris and intercepted. That gave Tulane the ball on their own 15 yard line. Green Wave running back, Darius Bradwell took the first down handoff 73 yards for the touchdown that would be the nail in the coffin, giving Tulane a 34-3 lead.
THE BOTTOM LINE
USF is now 7-2 on the season and any hopes of meaningful post-season play are waning. They would need a team in their division to lose two games, one of which would have to come to the Bulls, to have a shot at a conference championship. Looking at how good some of those teams are, this seems unlikely. Knowing this, it is likely that Charlie Strong and company will start looking towards next season and get some younger players playing time.
The Bulls will head to Cincinnati next Saturday and hope to turn things around. The game time for that matchup has yet to be released. The same is true for television coverage, if any.
