The warning signs had been there since last Saturday’s game at Bowling Green.
Saturday night, those warning signs finally caught up with the USF Bulls. And for the second game in a row, USF couldn’t sustain much offensively as they fell to the Temple Owls, 17-13.
An offense that has struggled to find its rhythm left no room for mistakes. Costly penalties and a late defensive breakdown contributed to the Bulls’ loss to Temple.
The Owls handed USF its first loss of the season, while Temple notched its second win of the season to improve to 2-4.
USF fell to 4-1 after watching a fourth-quarter lead disappear on a 96-yard touchdown drive.
The Bulls fought. Their defense gave them chances. But another uneven night on offense left fans frustrated and head coach Brian Hartline searching for answers.
“I think the routine plays need to be routine,” Hartline said.
At the heart of the loss was that too many little things went wrong, and USF could not make enough big plays to overcome them.
Another slow night for the offense
The Bulls opened with a chance to take control.
The defense forced a three-and-out on Temple’s first possession, giving the Bulls the ball at their own 35-yard line.
USF moved to the Temple 17 before the drive stalled.
Nico Gramatica’s 35-yard field goal gave the Bulls a 3-0 lead with 9:06 left in the first quarter.
Then the offense disappeared.
USF struggled to build on that opening drive. The Bulls would finish the half with just five first downs and 108 yards of offense.
D.J. Crowther, who had been so effective in recent weeks, managed only 16 rushing yards at 2.0 yards per carry.
Temple tied the game on a 34-yard field goal with 14:16 left in the second quarter.
Gramatica later missed from 52 yards, leaving the score at 3-3.
With 45 seconds remaining before halftime, Temple quarterback Ajani Sheppard found JoJo Bermudez for a 24-yard touchdown, and Temple took a 10-3 lead at the half.
The Owls were not much better offensively than USF, managing just 113 yards of offense in the half, but went to the locker room ahead, while boos from frustrated fans greeted the Bulls.
For the second straight week, USF’s offense gave its fans plenty of reason to worry.
Hartline pointed to dropped passes, alignment mistakes, and trouble turning strong practices into strong games.
He also said receivers weren’t getting open quickly enough against Temple’s man coverage, adding pressure on the quarterback and offensive line.
“The execution hasn’t been great,” Hartline said.
Quarterback Michael Van Buren accepted his share of the blame. He said the offense has to bring its practice work into games and sustain momentum once it gets moving.
Van Buren also declined to blame the offensive line changes. He expressed confidence in whoever lines up in front of him.
Crowther gives the Bulls life
USF finally put together the kind of drive it needed and the drive that the fans had been waiting for after halftime.
The Bulls marched 75 yards in 14 plays, finishing with Crowther’s 1-yard touchdown run at the 8:33 mark of the third quarter. The score tied the game at 10-10 and finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about.
Van Buren said the touchdown lifted the offense, but the Bulls needed to carry that momentum into the possessions that followed.
Hartline praised Crowther’s hard running and suggested he could earn more opportunities. Still, the coach said USF needs to find the right balance between its running and passing games.
When the offense falls behind early in a possession, everything becomes harder.
A penalty, a dropped pass, or a short gain can leave the Bulls needing a huge play to keep a drive alive.
A goal-line takeaway keeps USF in it
The defense delivered one of the night’s biggest plays late in the third quarter.
With Temple threatening to score, Sheppard fumbled near the goal line. Linebacker C.J. Hicks recovered the ball in the end zone with 4:08 remaining, giving USF possession at its own 20.
It was a huge momentum swing, and instead of surrendering a touchdown, the Bulls had another chance to take the lead.
Gramatica later connected from 49 yards out early in the fourth quarter, putting USF ahead 13-10.
Linebacker Grayson “Pup” Howard, who returned from injury, praised the effort behind the takeaway.
The defense had kept USF in the game all night, but the next 96-yard drive would change things for the Bulls.
96 yards that changed the night
After a Luke Goater 56-yard punt, Temple took over at its own 4-yard line.
That should have been a chance for USF to force a punt and give its offense good field position. Instead, the Owls drove the length of the field.
Two USF penalties helped extend the 10-play, 96-yard march, and Sheppard finished it with a 34-yard touchdown run, giving Temple a 17-13 lead with 3:08 left.
USF got the ball back but could not get anything going offensively.
Hartline said the Bulls have to do a better job taking advantage when opponents are pinned deep. Those situations should create momentum for USF. Too often, opponents have escaped.
Howard said the defense must improve its communication, execution, and ability to finish possessions.
“We can’t relax,” Howard said.
Hicks pointed to the challenge of containing Sheppard, who could escape pressure and extend plays with his legs. He also said USF has to finish on third down after making stops on first and second down.
The final drive was painful because the Bulls had Temple where they wanted it. Then they let the Owls out.
No time to let this loss linger
Hartline called the penalties a discipline issue and made clear that the coaches share responsibility for fixing the mistakes.
“We are definitely our own worst enemy on the field,” he said.
He also said receiver play and play selection would receive close attention. Better practices must lead to better results, and jobs remain open to competition.
USF has little time to look at the tape. The Bulls travel to Texas to face UTSA in a nationally televised game Thursday night.
Howard described the team’s 12-hour rule for moving past a win or loss, and Hicks stressed watching the film, correcting mistakes, and turning toward the next opponent.
One loss does not erase a 4-0 start. It does, however, make the offensive problems harder to ignore.
The Bulls cannot keep asking their defense to carry them in every game. They cannot keep wasting drives with mistakes before the ball is even snapped.
And they cannot expect one good touchdown drive to make up for long stretches of stalled offense.
Thursday, USF needs to show it learned something from this loss and try to beat a good opponent in UTSA.