By Erik Slaby
Tampa, FL- On a sunny day here in Tampa, the University of South Florida Bulls were able to defeat the East Carolina University Pirates, 38-22. USF is now 5-1 on the season and has a 2-0 record in the American Athletic Conference. East Carolina put up a fight but USF, led by their offense, with some clutch stops from their defense, were able to close out a tough and sloppy game against an inter-conference opponent.
Midway through the third quarter, East Carolina had just scored to make the score 24 -22 but had failed on the two-point conversion to tie the game. East Carolina was a field goal away from taking the lead. USF needed to respond and respond they did. On the third play of the drive, quarterback Quinton Flowers completed a short pass to wide receiver Rodney Adams, who sprinted down the field for a 62-yard touchdown.
“It was just a designed play where we get their (East Carolina) [line]backers to come up and have a chance to have Rodney Adams one-on-one,” Flowers said after the game when speaking about the play. “Rodney did a move where he spun around and I gave him a chance. Rodney just came through with the catch.”
On the next drive by East Carolina, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew was intercepted by USF linebacker Nigel Harris who returned it 34 yards to setup the USF offense in great field position. Two plays later, USF running back Marlon Mack powered his way in for a nine yard touchdown run and the dagger. USF head coach Willie Taggart spoke after the game about the resiliency of the team.
“I though the ball game showed a lot of character in our football team. We let East Carolina get back in it and we didn’t flinch. Our guys came back in it and made a big play when we needed a play. That was great to see out of our football team, as playing as bad as we did there throughout the game.”
The USF offense was led by Mack and Flowers. Mack had 18 carries for 152 yards and two touchdowns. This was his 16th game where he rushed for over 100 yards, a school record. Flowers completed 21 of 29 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, as well as carrying the ball 16 times for 115 yards. The rushing performances of Mack and Flowers extended USF’s nation leading streak of games with 200-yards rushing to 11 games. Running back D’Ernest Johnson also had 111 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
“I’m running out of things to say about the kid. He does it all for us,” Taggart said with a smile on his face regarding Johnson’s performance. “He’s awesome. He great to have around, I’m glad he’s on our football team.” Taggart also added, “I think D’Ernest is our best overall football player.”
East Carolina was led offensively by running back James Summers, who had 18 carries for 118 yards and one touchdown. This was a great rebound for Summers from last week, where he struggled to run the football against UCF, with nine carries for a total of only four yards. The East Carolina offense received a jolt when backup quarterback Gardner Minshew entered the game in relief of starting quarterback Phillip Nelson, who was knocked out of the game in the third quarter. This makes it back-to-back games that Nelson has left the game with an injury.
On his third throw of the game, Minshew completed a 46 yard pass to wide receiver Deondre Farrier to setup a one yard touchdown pass from Minshew to wide receiver Zay Jones on the very next play. Minshew completed 21 of 33 passes for one touchdown and one interception but he also led East Carolina to three scoring drives. Wide receiver Zay Jones had 18 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Kicker Davis Plowman was also big for East Carolina, as he made three field goals to keep them in the game. Including a career long 49 yard field goal.
Even though USF won the game, Taggart knows the team still has to improve, especially with penalties as the team had nine penalties for 101 yards. “It was a sloppy game by us, especially on offense. We’re in the red zone, we got these penalties and it gets us behind the sticks. It was just sloppy all over. We’ve got to get those corrected.” He also added that the penalty problem was “very concerning.”
Next week, USF continues their inter-conference play against the University of Connecticut Huskies. That will likely be a close game, as the last three time USF and Connecticut have faced each other, USF has won the games but never more than by a margin of eight points. Connecticut has been able to play USF tough so it will be interesting to see if USF can keep up their high-powered offense rolling, or if they will hit a speed bump next week.
Midway through the third quarter, East Carolina had just scored to make the score 24 -22 but had failed on the two-point conversion to tie the game. East Carolina was a field goal away from taking the lead. USF needed to respond and respond they did. On the third play of the drive, quarterback Quinton Flowers completed a short pass to wide receiver Rodney Adams, who sprinted down the field for a 62-yard touchdown.
“It was just a designed play where we get their (East Carolina) [line]backers to come up and have a chance to have Rodney Adams one-on-one,” Flowers said after the game when speaking about the play. “Rodney did a move where he spun around and I gave him a chance. Rodney just came through with the catch.”
On the next drive by East Carolina, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew was intercepted by USF linebacker Nigel Harris who returned it 34 yards to setup the USF offense in great field position. Two plays later, USF running back Marlon Mack powered his way in for a nine yard touchdown run and the dagger. USF head coach Willie Taggart spoke after the game about the resiliency of the team.
“I though the ball game showed a lot of character in our football team. We let East Carolina get back in it and we didn’t flinch. Our guys came back in it and made a big play when we needed a play. That was great to see out of our football team, as playing as bad as we did there throughout the game.”
The USF offense was led by Mack and Flowers. Mack had 18 carries for 152 yards and two touchdowns. This was his 16th game where he rushed for over 100 yards, a school record. Flowers completed 21 of 29 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, as well as carrying the ball 16 times for 115 yards. The rushing performances of Mack and Flowers extended USF’s nation leading streak of games with 200-yards rushing to 11 games. Running back D’Ernest Johnson also had 111 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
“I’m running out of things to say about the kid. He does it all for us,” Taggart said with a smile on his face regarding Johnson’s performance. “He’s awesome. He great to have around, I’m glad he’s on our football team.” Taggart also added, “I think D’Ernest is our best overall football player.”
East Carolina was led offensively by running back James Summers, who had 18 carries for 118 yards and one touchdown. This was a great rebound for Summers from last week, where he struggled to run the football against UCF, with nine carries for a total of only four yards. The East Carolina offense received a jolt when backup quarterback Gardner Minshew entered the game in relief of starting quarterback Phillip Nelson, who was knocked out of the game in the third quarter. This makes it back-to-back games that Nelson has left the game with an injury.
On his third throw of the game, Minshew completed a 46 yard pass to wide receiver Deondre Farrier to setup a one yard touchdown pass from Minshew to wide receiver Zay Jones on the very next play. Minshew completed 21 of 33 passes for one touchdown and one interception but he also led East Carolina to three scoring drives. Wide receiver Zay Jones had 18 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Kicker Davis Plowman was also big for East Carolina, as he made three field goals to keep them in the game. Including a career long 49 yard field goal.
Even though USF won the game, Taggart knows the team still has to improve, especially with penalties as the team had nine penalties for 101 yards. “It was a sloppy game by us, especially on offense. We’re in the red zone, we got these penalties and it gets us behind the sticks. It was just sloppy all over. We’ve got to get those corrected.” He also added that the penalty problem was “very concerning.”
Next week, USF continues their inter-conference play against the University of Connecticut Huskies. That will likely be a close game, as the last three time USF and Connecticut have faced each other, USF has won the games but never more than by a margin of eight points. Connecticut has been able to play USF tough so it will be interesting to see if USF can keep up their high-powered offense rolling, or if they will hit a speed bump next week.