The USF Bulls put together their gutsiest performance of the season, but fell short in a game where the team was trailing 31-7 at one point, looking bleak for a comeback.
The ending has been the story of the year for the Bulls, finishing the season at 1-10, only being able to grab a win at home early in the year against Howard, and falling in some tight but also some blowout games.
With this win for the Knights, Coach Malzhan and his group are now clinched for next week’s American Athletic Conference Championship game against Tulane in New Orleans, with the Knights looking to grab their 5th and final AAC title as the team transitions with Houston and Cincinnati to the Big 12.
But for the Bulls, this was a fantastic performance and one they shouldn’t have their heads down on, although they lost the chance to hold the I-4 Trophy for a while.
Game Recap
The Bulls started out pretty flat on both sides of the football early in this game, with UCF getting out to a 28-0 lead.
Brown did throw an interception in his first half of action, but towards the end of the first half, the Bulls were able to turn things around and get on the board with a Byrum Brown touchdown run to put South Florida on the board for the first time.
Offensively, as a whole, the team delivered. Although the team made rookie mistakes early with the two turnovers on the night offensively, Brown was able to finish with 140 passing yards and a touchdown and ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns, responding to the two defensive takeaways that senior linebacker Dwayne Boyles racked up in the game.
Defensively, give credit to the Bulls, as Boyles helped spark a “better” (in the words of Coach Daniel Pratt) night for the defense.
Although John Rhys Plumlee would leave the game with an apparent injury, Plumlee ran all over the Bulls, rushing for 133 yards on the ground, including an easy 64-yarder in the first and two touchdowns, helping to seal the win.
As a whole, though, the South Florida Bulls played resiliently, especially late, and gave themselves a shot even with four seconds left on the game clock (the Hail Mary attempt came up just short).
Final Thoughts
Talk about a roller coaster ride of a night for the Bulls, which has been the story for the majority of the games. With highs against Florida and Cincinnati and the lowest of lows in losses with QB injuries, Scott being fired, and even a loss to Temple, this group battled all night and showed what this team has coming, whoever the coach may be.
This program does have promise beyond the “primetime” talks that have been in place.
This has been a special group, and Daniel Daprato and Byrum Brown, in what has been a crazy season, showed no fear in the late part of the season.
Now, all signs point towards 2023, when the team looks to have what will be a winnable AAC schedule as the conference prepares for its second slate of games with six teams coming in next season.
And with a schedule that includes Alabama’s visit to Tampa next season, the Bulls have a lot going on in the Bay.
We will have more USF coverage to come, with one final season recap article to go and a season recap podcast as well.