It was a rough back half of the game for the USF Bulls Saturday as they fell to the Tulane Green Wave by a final score of 45-31.
This was a game that the Bulls battled for three quarters until the Tulane Green Wave proved to be too much to handle for this USF offense and defense.
This also was the “what if” game for South Florida, as with 6:34 to play in the 2nd quarter, Gerry Bohanon, Jr. went down with a right shoulder injury, not moving the arm at all as he was coming off the field. Bohanon would end up not finishing the game, as sophomore QB Katravis Marsh would come in to replace Bohanon in only his second appearance of the season.
Soon after the injury, the USF Bulls’ play on both offense and defense changed, as both sides made some costly mistakes and allowed 306 total yards in the second half, giving Tulane control in the late stages of the loss.
If there is anything to take out of this game in terms of positives in the late stages, it is this: this was the first game where the Bulls scored 30+ points.
Game Recap
Offensively, the USF Bulls were clicking early.
Outside of the 1st drive of the game, where the Bulls were quiet in terms of moving the ball, Bohanon effectively passed the ball downfield and made smart decisions on the ground when needed.
While his ground game did come back to bite in the 1st half with the injury, Bohanon’s ground attack was very effective and his only rushing touchdown (a shifty 33-yard touchdown) of the game very well could have been one of the key difference makers if USF was able to pull out the win.
The Bulls weren’t able to fully muster up the same momentum USF had with Bohanon under center, with Marsh making some early drive mistakes in his performance, ultimately back tracking the Bulls.
The defense was what kept the Bulls in and out of the game, though.
The defensive performance was arguably the best game by the front, giving the team many big stops throughout the course of the game versus Tulane and coming up big on some key downs. However, the secondary underperformed and allowed many open opportunities for the Tulane receiving and rushing crew that cost the Bulls.
While the defense did help take some pressure off the offense in some cases, the secondary did no favors in terms of stopping the scoring and creating setbacks for the offense.
With that being said, in the fourth quarter, USF was quite stagnant and, outside of one touchdown (the 73-yard strike to Dequan Stanley), the Bulls were basically calling it quits, if you will.
Nevermore, the team did show fight and, for all it’s worth, gave themselves a sliver of hope with all the unfortunate circumstances that came with today’s game.
Tulane Had a Balanced Attack
Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt, a Boca Raton native who attended Boca High and Deerfield Beach High School, dominated against USF. He completed 23-of-35 passes for 329 yards, two passing touchdowns, and no turnovers. Pratt also had two rushing touchdowns, making it four total on the day.
The Green Wave’s leading rusher was Tyjae Spears, who had an impressive 18 carries and 151 rushing yards along with two touchdowns.
Final Thoughts
It was a tough night for USF in their return to Raymond James Stadium after not playing a game in Tampa for 35 days.
The offense and defense both had strong first halves and the defense, to its credit, definitely showed a lot of energy, but the loss of Bohanon took away one of the biggest leaders from the offense and that definitely affected play.
On a positive note, the USF Bulls do have a bye week and now have a chance to get guys healthy, which is needed with all the injuries sustained on this team, but the team now must win out to become bowl-eligible, which at this point is a long-shot.
Hopefully, the Bohanon injury is not that serious, and the Bulls can get back to almost full speed in two weeks when they travel to Houston to take on a tough Cougars program.