We don’t need to belabor the point that Miami was not just better than USF. The Hurricanes play at a level that the Bulls can’t match – at least not yet.
The 50-15 final score that sucked the joy out of the crowd of 58,616 at Raymond James Stadium was a stark reminder that the program head coach Alex Golesh is building at USF is still a few bricks shy of a load.
Miami’s standout quarterback Cam Ward will justly get the headline after throwing for 404 yards and three touchdowns, but that wasn’t the whole story. The Bulls lost this game in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
USF hung tough in the first half, trailing by just a touchdown at the break. The second half was a different story, though, as the Hurricanes outscored the Bulls 28-0 over the final two quarters.
Miami ran for 157 yards in the second half, and that’s just big boys running over not-quite-as-big boys. USF entered the game with one of the top rushing offenses in the country, but the Hurricanes held them to 62 yards – an average of 1.9 yards per carry. The Bulls had rushed for more than 200 yards in their three previous games, including 369 last week at Southern Mississippi.
"Any coach will stand here and tell you they want more depth. We certainly have depth at
some spots. But after one true offseason to build," Golesh said. "I’m proud of where we stand as a program with what we’ve been able to do 16 games in.
"The depth up front, on both sides of the ball, issomething that can get exposed. We’ll continue to build up our guys and recruit like crazy and we’ll get to a point where we can hang in there for four full quarters."
That’s where the elite teams – and Miami is one of them – separate from the rest of the pack. They get the offensive and defensive linemen headed to the NFL on the first or second day of the draft.
This is not an indictment of USF and certainly not of Golesh. His goal of getting the Bulls to be as good as they can as fast as possible is still on track. And with American Athletic Conference play starting next Saturday when USF travels to Tulane, the Bulls have as good of a chance of winning the league as any other team.
Preseason AAC favorite Memphis lost 56-44 to Navy, while Tulane had a tough battle with Louisiana before prevailing 41-33.
While there are many positive signs about what Golesh and his staff are building, the Bulls are at least a year or two away from staying with a team like Miami for four quarters. They have the skill players and are a blast to watch when they’re clicking, but they need more beef on depth on both lines.
The Hurricanes look like the class of a watered-down ACC. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if they’re playing for a national championship in January.
The Bulls have come a long way under Golesh, but Miami just showed how much further they have to go.