Can Katravis Marsh lead the offense successfully (if need be) going forward?
In the postgame presser, senior offensive lineman Brad Cecil stated that the team would execute and is confident with whatever quarterback is under center, but Marsh certainly had his struggles against Tulane.
Marsh ultimately passed for 150 yards and two touchdowns, but had a very costly fumble that led to the game getting out of hand. One of the biggest issues on the depth chart going into the season was the lack of experience behind Bohanon, and that showed Saturday as Marsh just could not go blow for blow with three-year starter Michael Pratt.
This Bulls team will be limited going forward because of Marsh’s inexperience if Bohanon cannot play in the following weeks. Luckily, the Bulls are going into a bye week, and will hopefully be able to recover and heal up going into SMU week.
What needs to change about the defense?
The defense had very solid stretches, with Dwayne Broyles and Jason Vaughn having very solid performances for USF. However, in the second half, the defense had to face a large amount of time on the field (Tulane ran nearly 30 more plays than USF over the game) and really seemed to run out of gas.
The injuries continue to plague the Bulls, and the lack of depth shows in the fatigue of the team late into the game. The tackling completely fell apart in the last 25 minutes of play, and when Tulane was up, Pratt had no issues floating the ball over the heads of USF’s defensive backs.
With some healing and hard work, coming out of the bye week the defense can be more prepared for the remainder of conference play.
What do the Bulls need to attack during the bye week to beat SMU?
Looking ahead, SMU has been a very solid team this season, especially offensively. USF sits at a very tough 1-6 and needs to continue to look to have more consistent play. For example, the Bulls’ defense seemed simply caught off guard by a first play 75-yard touchdown by Tulane back Tyjae Spears.
The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde play of this team, accompanied by injuries has been the story of the campaign thus far.
USF needs to hope Bohanon and others can come back after a week of rest, but the team can also use the extra practice going into the final fine games.
The defensive backs are often fooled by rub routes and goal line fades, something that can be patched up during the next two weeks of practice. The rest of the team was plagued by the small mistakes, and all the Bulls can do is try to execute better, as there are quite a few problems to address.
Scott and this team obviously care about each other, but it still has not shown on the field, and fans are becoming weary.