Anemic Bulls to miss bowl season
Therein lie two of Strong’s more plausible alibis for 2019: injuries and youth. Both were on unflattering display Saturday.
Senior tailbacks Jordan Cronkrite and Trevon Sands sat out with shoulder injuries, junior defensive tackles Kelvin Pinkney and Kevin Kegler also were sidelined by injuries, and middle linebacker Patrick Macon (ankle) was limited to a cameo.
Additionally, the image of Blake Barnett limping out for senior day in a protective boot reminded fans of how green USF remains at quarterback.
Nonetheless, the senior day pageantry was followed by a promising start, courtesy of sleek freshman Kelley Joiner Jr. (13 carries, 115 yards), the only healthy scholarship tailback available.
Joiner, who ran for 1,000 yards in only three games as a senior at Groveland’s South Lake High before breaking his leg, broke loose for 13 yards on his first run of the day. He found a seam in the A-gap on his second carry, dashing for 47 yards to set up sophomore walk-on Dave Small’s 1-yard touchdown.
The rest of the half, the Bulls managed 31 yards on 22 plays. Interceptions by KJ Sails and Daquan Evans on consecutive drives gave USF possession at Memphis’ 23 and 42, respectively, but the Bulls converted the picks into three total points.
USF finished with 170 yards, its secondlowest total of the season.
Meantime, Tigers graduate-transfer Brady White (18-for-28, 222 yards) found his normal groove following his sketchy start, directing TD drives on five of his last six possessions before being spelled by sophomore Connor Adair with a 42-10 lead.
His most memorable sequence occurred in the second quarter. Facing second-and-38 after an errant snap, White found receiver Damonte Coxie for a 20-yard gain. He then tossed a short throw across the middle to Kedarian Jones, whose defender slipped, allowing him to dash for a 50-yard TD.
“It was painful,” said Bulls linebacker Dwayne Boyles, who earned 10 tackles. “But you’ve just got to let that go.”
That bizarre conversion gave Memphis a 21-10 lead. And the pageantry had regressed to a pummeling.
“It definitely hurts for our seniors,” Sails said. “I just feel for those guys, it hurts. But we’ve got a rivalry game coming up, and I’m pretty sure that everyone is going to be jacked up about it.”