By Erik Slaby
Tampa, FL- On a rainy night here in Tampa, the University of South Florida Bulls were able to defeat the University of Connecticut Huskies, 42-27. USF is now 6-1 on the season and has a 3-0 record in the American Athletic Conference. Despite a slow first half and a turnover filled 3rd quarter, USF, led by a combination of both their offense, the defense and their ability to prosper against adversity, were able to get the win.
This game was a tale of two halves. By the end of the first half, amidst a downpour of rain, tepid support from the crowd, USF led Connecticut 14-3 but the game felt much closer than it actually was. Both teams had played pretty sloppily in the first half and there was no indication that that would change in the second half. It did change somewhat in the third quarter.
On USF’s opening drive of the quarter, USF quarterback Quinton Flowers launched a deep pass down the field and it was intercepted by Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu. The Connecticut offense responded to the big play made by their defense. On the first play of the drive, quarterback Brandon Shirreffs completed a pass to running back Arkeel Newsome, who took it 70 yards for a touchdown. At this point, USF led 14-10.
On the very next offensive drive for USF, wide receiver Rodney Adams fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Melifonwu, to give Connecticut great field position on USF 26 yard line. The Connecticut offense responded once again and Newsome powered into the end zone for a four yard touchdown. Connecticut led USF 17-14 for their only lead of the game.
Midway through the 3rd quarter, the USF offense scored for the first time in the second half on an eight yard rushing TD by Flowers. At that point, USF led Connecticut 21-14 and they did not relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. The USF defense shut down the Connecticut offense for the majority of the rest of the game and the offense scored on four of their next five drives. USF head coach Willie Taggart spoke after the game about the job the team did respond to adversity.
“Great win for the Bulls. Could’ve played a lot better, you hear that every week, but our guys found a way to win the ball game. I think what we’ve seen in our football team, a team that don’t flinch when things get tough, they keep playing. We don’t want to continue to play like that, we’re so much better.” He also added, “It’s a bad thing to have four turnovers but I guess it’s a good thing we can still score 42 points and win the ball game.”
Quarterback Quinton Flowers led the way offensively for USF with 16 carries for 160 yards and three touchdowns and he also completed 23 of 37 passes for 213 yards, two interceptions and two touchdowns. Running back Marlon Mack had 16 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown. He also had six catches for 75 yards. With the combined 200 plus yards rushed for by Flowers and Mack, they have extended USF’s nation leading streak of games with 200-yards rushing to 12 games.
Connecticut was led by quarterback Brandon Shirreffs, who completed 22 of 39 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Arkeel Newsome also aided the team as he had 226 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. The Connecticut offense played fairly well but they may have been able to have a better game if it wasn’t for the efforts of the leader of the USF defense, linebacker Auggie Sanchez.
Sanchez had 11 tackles and three of the five sacks the USF defense got. He was flying all over the field searching for wherever the ball was and was full of energy. “He played big tonight” Taggart said. “He played like a leader is supposed to, he was all over the field. I think the thing I was more impressed with was his enthusiasm that he was playing with. He was flying around, jumping around having fun and when Auggie plays that way, the rest of the guys respond.”
With this win over Connecticut, USF is now bowl-eligible. Taggart spoke about being bowl-eligible this early on in the season. “It’s great to be bowl-eligible, not only because it means we’re winning some ball games this time of [the] year, but we’re after something much bigger than bowl eligibility.”
Next week, USF travels to Philadelphia to face off against the Temple Owls. This may be a difficult game for USF as the game is on a Friday, giving them a short week to prepare for Temple. In addition, while USF should be pleased that they defeated Connecticut, they will need to clean up their turnover problem. Temple has a much better offense than Connecticut and will most likely capitalize on any turnovers USF has. Right now, USF leads the East division of the American Athletic Conference so in order to continue on the bigger goals they have, they cannot afford to slip up this week as their schedule only gets tougher.
This game was a tale of two halves. By the end of the first half, amidst a downpour of rain, tepid support from the crowd, USF led Connecticut 14-3 but the game felt much closer than it actually was. Both teams had played pretty sloppily in the first half and there was no indication that that would change in the second half. It did change somewhat in the third quarter.
On USF’s opening drive of the quarter, USF quarterback Quinton Flowers launched a deep pass down the field and it was intercepted by Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu. The Connecticut offense responded to the big play made by their defense. On the first play of the drive, quarterback Brandon Shirreffs completed a pass to running back Arkeel Newsome, who took it 70 yards for a touchdown. At this point, USF led 14-10.
On the very next offensive drive for USF, wide receiver Rodney Adams fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Melifonwu, to give Connecticut great field position on USF 26 yard line. The Connecticut offense responded once again and Newsome powered into the end zone for a four yard touchdown. Connecticut led USF 17-14 for their only lead of the game.
Midway through the 3rd quarter, the USF offense scored for the first time in the second half on an eight yard rushing TD by Flowers. At that point, USF led Connecticut 21-14 and they did not relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. The USF defense shut down the Connecticut offense for the majority of the rest of the game and the offense scored on four of their next five drives. USF head coach Willie Taggart spoke after the game about the job the team did respond to adversity.
“Great win for the Bulls. Could’ve played a lot better, you hear that every week, but our guys found a way to win the ball game. I think what we’ve seen in our football team, a team that don’t flinch when things get tough, they keep playing. We don’t want to continue to play like that, we’re so much better.” He also added, “It’s a bad thing to have four turnovers but I guess it’s a good thing we can still score 42 points and win the ball game.”
Quarterback Quinton Flowers led the way offensively for USF with 16 carries for 160 yards and three touchdowns and he also completed 23 of 37 passes for 213 yards, two interceptions and two touchdowns. Running back Marlon Mack had 16 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown. He also had six catches for 75 yards. With the combined 200 plus yards rushed for by Flowers and Mack, they have extended USF’s nation leading streak of games with 200-yards rushing to 12 games.
Connecticut was led by quarterback Brandon Shirreffs, who completed 22 of 39 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Arkeel Newsome also aided the team as he had 226 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. The Connecticut offense played fairly well but they may have been able to have a better game if it wasn’t for the efforts of the leader of the USF defense, linebacker Auggie Sanchez.
Sanchez had 11 tackles and three of the five sacks the USF defense got. He was flying all over the field searching for wherever the ball was and was full of energy. “He played big tonight” Taggart said. “He played like a leader is supposed to, he was all over the field. I think the thing I was more impressed with was his enthusiasm that he was playing with. He was flying around, jumping around having fun and when Auggie plays that way, the rest of the guys respond.”
With this win over Connecticut, USF is now bowl-eligible. Taggart spoke about being bowl-eligible this early on in the season. “It’s great to be bowl-eligible, not only because it means we’re winning some ball games this time of [the] year, but we’re after something much bigger than bowl eligibility.”
Next week, USF travels to Philadelphia to face off against the Temple Owls. This may be a difficult game for USF as the game is on a Friday, giving them a short week to prepare for Temple. In addition, while USF should be pleased that they defeated Connecticut, they will need to clean up their turnover problem. Temple has a much better offense than Connecticut and will most likely capitalize on any turnovers USF has. Right now, USF leads the East division of the American Athletic Conference so in order to continue on the bigger goals they have, they cannot afford to slip up this week as their schedule only gets tougher.