USF football lost their ninth straight game to an FBS opponent, going back to the middle of last season.
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TAMPA--
The University of South Florida was blown away by the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University, 48-21 on Saturday. The Mustangs scored early, often, and pretty much at will against a USF defense that seemed helpless to stop them.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
It would be easy to say when SMU won the toss, but that would be understating just how good SMU was tonight. Early in the first quarter, the USF defense forced a three-and-out for SMU on the opening drive of the game. After the Mustangs scored a touchdown on their next drive, USF quarterback, Jordan McCloud, threw the first of two interceptions in the game, both of which ended up in touchdown drives for the Mustangs. That second interception gave SMU a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and seemed to be the point at which the game took a final turn favoring SMU.
THE STAR OF THE GAME
Despite playing just a half, and for the losing team, the star of the game is Blake Barnett. Barnett came out to begin the second half, being handed at 34-0 deficit. He didn’t lead the team in a historic comeback, but he did throw three touchdowns passes, with no interceptions, for a total of 222 yards. He tied SMU quarterback, Shane Buechele, for game-leading touchdowns and passed for just four fewer yards on about half as many attempts. Barnett was also the second leading rusher for the Bulls, with 24 yards. That might not seem like much, but the top runner was Jordan Cronkrite, who had just 30 yards rushing.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Ten to zero. SMU sacked USF quarterbacks ten times. The Bulls did not get a single sack all game.
WHAT A PLAY
On the drive that began with McCloud’s second interception, SMU quarterback, Shane Buechele, connected with James Proche for a 39 yard reception. Not only was it a big play, but Proche managed to catch the ball one-handed, while falling out of bounds, and in tight defensive coverage. The drive may not have ended in a score if it weren’t for that huge play by Proche.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Simply put, SMU is a good team. USF is not. The game was never as close as the final score indicated. SMU scored at will throughout most of the first half, and there was nothing special about the second half that would have prevented them from doing the same. The coaching staff clearly decided to run out the clock as much as they could, giving playing time to three different quarterbacks and various other non-starters.
SMU is 5-0 for the first time since 1983 and USF is 1-3. The Bulls will look to turn things around at UConn on Saturday for a 7 PM EDT kickoff. SMU hosts Tulsa on the same day at 7:30 PM EDT.
