For 50 minutes, the Alabama Crimson Tide struggled to put away the USF Bulls.
Then, just like last season at Raymond James Stadium, the Bulls began hurting themselves with poor defensive play.
Not being able to get stops when needed helped Alabama coast in the fourth quarter to a 42-17 win over the Bulls.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe proved to be the best player on the field as he ran for two scores and passed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns in the Alabama win.
Surprisingly, the Bulls were within one at the end of the third quarter, trailing 14-13.
Then, all of a sudden, it fell apart for the Bulls defense, as Alabama would score 28 points in the fourth quarter to make the final 42-17.
Bulls Played Well For 50 Minutes
In the first 50 minutes of the game, the Bulls played well and were neck and with Alabama, who came in ranked No. 4 in the country.
USF will not win these games until they can play football for 60 minutes.
To summarize, Alex Golesh said the last ten minutes were absolute garbage.
“We did for three and half quarters exactly what we needed to do defensively,” Golesh said.
And then, in the final seven and a half minutes, the defense collapsed.
The Bulls’ defense sacked Jalen Milroe three times and had six tackles for loss.
Passing Game Has To Be Better
Another significant factor in the loss was the passing game.
When you have wide receivers that have gotten separation and are open and a step or two behind the defender, you must hit the receiver and complete the pass.
That falls on Byrum Brown.
As good as Brown is and as dynamic as he is as a playmaker, USF will not become an elite program until they can get consistent quarterback play.
Brown would complete 15/35 passes for 103 yards and zero touchdowns.
Brown was also the leading rusher for the Bulls, as he ran for 108 yards on 23 carries.
This game proved that the Bulls can play with any team in the country. They have to learn how to finish these games off. If you can’t finish, it’s going to be challenging to win games.
The Bulls were in the red zone four times and came away with just one touchdown, settling for field goals on three occasions.
Bulls Defense Played Like Champions For Three Quarters
The Bulls’ defensive effort was solid for three quarters.
They held Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe to two yards rushing and 199 yards passing for the game. They also sacked Milroe three times.
They forced seven Alabama punts and held the Tide to 5/13 on third-down conversions.
Through three quarters, the Tide had just 189 yards of offense before torching the Bull’s defense for 193 yards in the fourth quarter to finish with 393.
Mac Harris was the Bulls’ defensive player of the game, with 1.5 sacks and 10 tackles.
This game’s final score was not a true indication of how close the game was.
The Bulls cannot let this game define their season. Last season, they played Alabama and had the Tide on upset alert until late in the second half when Alabama pulled ahead.
After that loss, last season at Raymond James, the Bull’s defense plunged into the abyss for most of the season before being able to right itself at the end of the season.
This is a good Bull’s defense. Just learning how to finish and play with that first-quarter energy the entire four quarters will get good results for the Bulls.
The Bulls are back on the road this weekend, playing a road game at Southern Mississippi.
Kickoff is at 7 PM on Saturday.