This was supposed to be a get-well game for South Florida.
Alas, perhaps it was an omen of mediocre things to come.
The Bulls were nearly three-touchdown favorites over MAC bottom-scraper Kent State and they covered, but it still instead reinforced the worst fears of Bulls Nation. Yeah, USF won 29-2 to improve to 5-2 on the season, but the Homecoming crowd at Raymond James Stadium could hardly leave feeling good about what lies ahead for the Bulls.
The score was deceiving. Mistakes by the Golden Flashes, including a couple of decisions by Kent State to go for it on fourth-and-long deep in its territory contributed to USF's offensive opportunities.
"We've got to keep growing, The issues are always there," Bulls coach Brian Hartline said on the USF postgame radio show. "We've got to put it together soon. If not, we're going to see some of our goals disappear, but the rewards have great. We're just not getting what we need on game day on a consistent level."
Speaking of Ray-Jay ... the TV cameras don't lie, and they showed a significant number of empty prime seats on a night that was supposed to be a celebration of 30 years of USF football. The Bulls got very little going against a team ranked 11th in total defense in the Mid-American Conference. At one point in the first half, the Golden Flashes had run 41 plays to 14 for USF.
That speaks to the deep sighs USF fans feel after the Bulls dropped two straight after starting the season 4-0.
The Bulls didn't score their first offensive touchdown until just 54 seconds remained in the third period. Before that, USF's only touchdown came on a 96-yard fumble recovery return by C.J. Hicks, which did nothing to calm the growing suspicion about USF's offense. The Bulls were in danger of falling behind 9-0 at that point, but it turned the game around.
Since putting up 59 points against overmatched Delaware State to move to 4-0, the Bulls combined for 51 points in the next three games.
Through the first three quarters, USF's longest pass completion was 19 yards to Mudia Reuben until a 36-yard TD pass from Michael Van Buren, Jr. to Cameron Seldon early in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Bulls need to be a whole lot better as they head into American Conference games for the remainder of the season. After an open date, that starts on October 31 against rejuvenated UAB after an open date next week.
Add us as a preferred source on Google