Dear trolls: Whether you want to believe it or not, USF stood tall against Memphis

Hurricane Milton forced Green, Gold and Bold to the sidelines for the last several days as Casa Henderson had no power or Wi-Fi. But I'm back, and I have something to say: There’s just no pleasing some people.

Let’s just say it upfront: Considering everything, if USF had beaten Memphis on Saturday, it would arguably have been the greatest win in program history.

I think most people understand that. But some of the message board trolls didn’t see it that way. They ripped the coaching, some of the players, the game plan, and tried to sound like they had all the answers.

That couldn’t be more ridiculous.

I usually ignore the noise because I covered big-time sports for most of my life and understand that the people “in the room” as the saying goes know more about what’s going on than I do. I learn by watching and asking questions, but it didn’t take a PhD in football to understand the Bulls had little chance of coming away from that game with a win.

Sometimes the coach is to blame, but this isn’t one of them.

Honestly, it was a fine achievement to stay as close as they did.

Think about it. Because of Hurricane Milton, the Bulls relocated to Orlando on the Tuesday before Memphis was coming to town. The Hurricane was as bad (or worse) than anyone could have imagined, and the USF players with families in the Tampa Bay area had to be concerned.

The game was moved from Friday to Saturday, and then moved from Tampa to Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Oh, and any hope that injured quarterback Byrum Brown might play was dashed in the pregame, leaving the game in the hands of backup QB Bryce Archie.

Meanwhile, the greatest uncertainty Memphis had was whether to fly to Tampa or Orlando.

Given all that, the Bulls’ 24-3 loss – actually, closer than I thought it would be – was predictable and probably unavoidable.

As I mentioned upfront, the hurricane knocked out power and Wi-Fi at my house, but I had a battery-powered radio that tuned in clearly to long-time USF play-by-play man Jim Louk, Sam Barrington, and Joey Johnston. Through what they saw and reported, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

Actually, after Memphis struck for two quick touchdowns, the USF defense bowed up and made life difficult on one of the top offenses in the American Athletic Conference. That was encouraging.

Forcing Memphis to punt a season-high seven times was encouraging.

However, the mistakes and self-inflicted wounds at the worst times were more than the depleted Bulls could overcome.

There was a roughing the passer penalty that wiped out a USF interception. Archie is not the most accurate passer, but he was also victimized by drops – including one by Shawn Atkins – that would have kept drives going.

They rushed for only 24 yards, continuing a three-game trend that has crippled their offense.

Time of possession was lopsided in the Tigers’ favor. Memphis kept the ball 41:38 while USF had it just 18:22.

It added up to a third straight loss and dropped the Bulls to 0-2 in the conference.

Where to now that we know they’ll have to wait another year for that elusive first league championship?

A win Saturday over UAB would be a good place to start. Not only is it homecoming, but it’s also the week when USF breaks ground for its on-campus stadium. That would get the vibes pointing in the right direction, whereas a loss would make it difficult to become bowl-eligible.

This season has had a few ups – staying on Alabama’s heels for 54 minutes and leading Miami for most of the first half definitely qualify. But, as head coach Alex Golesh always says, those were moral victories and don’t count.

There’s no getting around it, though. Starting with the second half of the Miami game, the last three games have been gloomy for a season that began with such hope. But six games remain and the Bulls likely will be favored in all of them but the one against Navy.

Folks, the season’s not over yet and the program is in good hands.