Nightmare for a national audience
Bulls stumble through poor performance vs. Golden Hurricane
For the first time in this pandemicseason, USF had no players unavailable for any reason — including COVID-19 — Friday night against Tulsa.
That pregame announcement regressed from uplifting to sobering as its latest nationally televised nightmare ensued.
Even fully staffed, the Bulls (1-5, 0-4 American Athletic Conference) currently are no match for a Division I-A foe with a steady pulse.
Failing to build on its recent promising offensive efforts, the Bulls fumbled and bumbled their way to a 42-13 loss to Tulsa (2-1, 2-0) before another sparse, socially distanced audience at Raymond James Stadium.
“Going into the open week, we’ve got to reevaluate everythingwe’re doing as coaches and players,” first-year coach Jeff Scott said.
“We’ve really got to get better in every area. Part of that’s on coaching; we’ve got to look at whatwe’re doing and find away to coach it and teach it better. Andthenwe’ve got to play better and execute better.”
USF enters that bye week with a five-game losing streak and a rehashed quarterback dilemma created by Scott’s musicalmanagement of the position. USF gained just 113 yards and went 1-for-7 on third down in the first half when the outcome remained mildly in question.
Third-year sophomore JordanMcCloud, declaredthe starter “going forward” less than two weeks ago by Scott, couldn’t spark his unit to seize some early breaks and was replaced by graduate transferNoahJohnson.
“I just felt like we weren’t moving the ball on offense, and I wanted some new energy,” Scott said.
Johnson eventually was replaced by North Carolina transfer Cade Fortin. Who was replaced by Johnson. Who was spelled again byMcCloud.
“Sometimes when things aren’t going well,” Scott said, “you just need to switch up who you put there behind the center.”
Back to that early Bulls momentum.
It included a 31-yard interception by freshman Daquan Evans — his second in asmanygames— and 60-yard punt return to the Tulsa 9-yard line byKJ Sails. But the Bulls totaled 17 yards on the drives following those two big plays, settling for field goals of 39 and 25 yards by Jared Sackett.
“I felt all week we prepared really well,” said USF tight end
Mitchell Brinkman, who had four receptions. “Coach [Charlie] Weis [USF’s offensive coordinator] had another great game plan, but it came down towe get the ball on the 9-yard line after a great punt return, we’ve got to finish in the end zone.
“That’s on the offense, just execution.”
By contrast, Tulsa — playing for the first time since its 34-26 upset ofUCFthreeweeks earlier — was far more efficient offensively, collecting 462 yards.
On the Golden Hurricane’s fourth offensive play, 6-foot-1 junior JuanCarlos Santana beat Bulls veteran cornerback Mike Hampton in single coverage to snag a 33-yard touchdown pass from Zach Smith. Tulsa would mount scoring drives of 73 and 80 yards in the second quarter for a 21-6 halftime lead.
Johnson provided an initial spark for the Bulls upon his insertion, completing five of six passes for 46 yards on an 11-play drive late in the first half but fumbled on a scramble up the middle on third-and-goal at the Tulsa 6.
That prompted Scott to insert Fortin to start the second half.
“That was the fourth quarterback fumble that we’ve had in the last six quarters. Just unacceptable,” Scott said. “So I wanted to put Cade in; he deserved an opportunity and a shot.”
Fortin’s 33-yard run got USF to the Tulsa 6, but hewas forced to exit after taking a vicious hit on third-and-goal. Johnson reenteredonfourthdownfromthe 4, rolled right, and found slot receiver Bryce Miller isolated in the end zone for the touchdown.
Three plays later, Tulsa 214-poundjunior Deneric Prince (15 carries, 109 yards, two TDs) took a handoffupthe middleand sprinted untouched for a 62-yard score, giving Tulsa a 28-13 lead. NFL-bound linebacker Zaven Collins (six tackles, forced fumble) then essentially sealed things when he picked off Johnson on a short throwacross the middle and returned it for a 38-yard touchdown.
“It’s just a lot of disappointment,” Brinkman said.
“We turn on the film every week, andwe knowthe opportunities that we have. We know that we’re not living up to our standard, so it’s definitely disappointing and frustrating. We have a great game plan. We take film really seriously, we have a ton of meetings … and it’s just a lack of execution on game day.”
Late game
The Miami-Virginia game Saturday night did not end in time for this edition. Read the story in our e-edition at OrlandoSentinel. or on our website.