TULSA, Okla -- In dramatic fashion, the University of South Florida Bulls defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 25-24. Dramatic come-from-behind wins are becoming a norm for the Bulls, who needed a 15-0 scoring run to take the win in the final seconds of regulation.
Both teams started the game cold, with neither scoring on their first two possessions. Tulsa would find the endzone on their third try, however, a 14 yard pass from Seth Boomer to Jarion Anderson. Ten minutes into the first quarter, the Golden Hurricane led by a score of 7-0.
The Bulls would get on the scoreboard on the subsequent possession. They faced a third and 15 from their own 12 yard line when Blake Barnett found tight end, Mitchell Wilcox across the middle for a diving 45 yard catch to the Tulsa 43. Three plays later, Barnett connected with Tyre McCants for a 15 yard pickup to the Tulsa 11. Another McCants catch would get them to the five yard line, but the drive stalled and they opted to kick the chip shot field goal. With just over a minute left in the first quarter, the Bulls trailed 7-3.
Neither team would score until the end of the second quarter. Tulsa quarterback, Boomer, faced a third and 17 on the Tulsa 48 and found a wide open field to run in, picking up 30 yards on the scramble and setting up first down on the USF 22. Their drive would stall at the USF 10 yard line. Nate Walker came out to kick the field goal, which was blocked. A flag was thrown on the play, however, penalizing Tulsa for five yards and allowing a retry, which was successful from 34 yards. The Tulsa lead improved to 10-3 with 2:28 left in the half.
USF would start the next drive strong, with a 14 yard pass from Barnett to Wilcox on first down. They would continue to drive to the Tulsa 40 yard line, when Barnett’s pass to Darnell Salomon in the endzone was picked off by Keanu Hill.
Tulsa got the ball back with 22 seconds, but chose to run out the clock in the first half, content with a seven point lead, 10-3.
In the third quarter, Bulls got things going quickly. Jordan Cronkrite took a handoff for seven yard gain on first down. On second down, Barnett passed to Salomon for a two yard gain. Facing a third and one, Barnett handed the ball to Cronkrite again, who took the handoff for a 66 yard touchdown run. Just over a minute into the second half, the score was tied at ten.
Three drives later, it was a series of big plays by the Golden Hurricane that gave them back the lead. On second down with 12 to go on the Tulsa 40 yard line, Boomer scrambled for 13 yards, running out of bounds untouched. Three plays later, it was Shamari Brooks on 15 yard run to set up first down on the USF 43. The next play, Boomer scrambles again. This time, it was for 17 yards to the USF 11 yard line. Two plays later, Brooks scored on a ten yard run to give Tulsa a 17-10 lead.
The Bulls could not respond on the next drive, stalling on their own 34. But, Tulsa was rolling, putting up seven more on their next possession. It was Brooks again, running for a ten yard touchdown. This one was set up by a huge 47 yard run by Javon Thomas and a 17 yard catch by Jarion Anderson. With a minute to go in the third quarter, the Golden Hurricane led by two touchdowns, 24-10.
The fourth quarter was all USF, who outscored Tulsa 15-0 in the final period. On their second drive of the quarter, it was Barnett scrambling for a one yard touchdown. Big plays on the drive included an 11 yard catch by Wilcox, an 18 yard catch by McCants, and a 17 yard run by Johnny Ford. The extra point was blocked by Tulsa, so the Bulls trailed 24-16 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
The USF defense forced Tulsa three-and-out on their next possession, but not until the Golden Hurricane had run more than two minutes off the clock. A Tulsa punt into the end zone gave the Bulls the ball on their own 20 yard line. Facing third and nine, Barnett scrambled for 13 yards to the USF 34. Then, he found Wilcox for a ten yard gain. With another third and long situation on the USF 44, Barnett scrambled again for 11 yards. On the following play, he connected with Darnell Salomon for a 31 yard pickup to the Tulsa 14. Two plays later, Barnett ran for his second touchdown of the game. They opted to try the two point conversion, but the effort failed, leaving USF trailing 24-22 with two minutes to go.
Once again, the defense forced Tulsa to punt after three plays. When the USF offense got the ball again, just 1:06 remained in the game, and they were out of timeouts. On the first two plays, Barnett was forced to throw the passes away. On third down, however, he connected with Wilcox for a 15 yard gain. A second pass to Wilcox for 13 yards was nullified by a holding call. The very next play, Tulsa was penalized for roughing the passer, which turned the Bulls first and 20 from their own 48 into first and ten from the Tulsa 37. Two plays later, it was Barnett to McCants for 32 yards, to the Tulsa five yard line. Barnett spiked the ball to stop the clock, giving Weiss just a few seconds to kick the field goal, which he did to give USF the win.
USF has needed to stage a comeback in each of their past five wins against FBS competition. Under those circumstances, some coaches might show some concern for the team’s lack of performance. Head coach Charlie Strong sees it differently.
“We talk about it each and every week, just how resilient these guys are and how they continue to battle back,” Strong said. “They never think they’re going to lose a game.”
Strong also spoke to the heroics of the players who always seem to step up when the game is on the line.
“I told them in there, McCants and Wilcox always seem to find a way to make plays,” he said. “You want the ball in their hands because they’re unbelievable players.”
Barnett finished with 237 yards passing with one interception. Cronkrite followed up his record breaking 302 yard game at UMass with a 151 yard effort against Tulsa. McCants and Wilcox finished with 91 and 95 yards, respectively.
For the Golden Hurricane, Boomer had just 79 yards passing, but 46 rushing yards. Brooks finished with 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Next up for Tulsa is a trip to nearby Fayetteville to face the Arkansas Razorbacks on October 20th. Kickoff is set for 11:00 AM central. It is not scheduled to be televised.
The Bulls will return home to host UConn. That game will begin at 7:00 PM eastern and will be broadcast on CBSSN.
