The USF Bulls have put another blowout win into the history books, but not without letting it be interesting in the first half. Though ECU never led, they did get within a touchdown several times before the Bulls ran away with the game.
After winning the coin toss, USF chose to kickoff rather than receive to begin the game. ECU took that kickoff at their seven yard line, but were not able to convert a first down, punting to their 39. A short return by Trevon Sands set the Bulls up with a short field on the ECU 35. It took a few first downs, but D’Ernest Johnson punched through with a one yard touchdown run with 11:09 left in the first quarter.
ECU would quickly respond with a scoring drive of their own. Jake Verity’s 28 yard field goal was set up in part by a 44 yard catch and run from Thomas Sirk to Jimmy Williams, setting up first and ten on the USF 13 yard line. The score with 8:49 remaining in the first quarter was 7-3.
Just two plays later, USF quarterback, Quinton Flowers, scrambled 16 yards for a touchdown to put the Bulls up 14-3. His score was setup by his own 44 yard run from the ECU 16 yard line on the previous play.
The Pirates would respond with a scoring drive of their own. This one, like several others, was made possible by a big penalty. ECU had begun at their 25, but fell back to their 21 before punting 44 yards to the USF 35. That punt was negated by a roughing the kicker penalty, giving the Pirates first down on their own 36 yard line. The next play was a 21 yard pass to Quay Johnson, down to the 43 of USF. It was a 31 yard pass to Davon Grayson that scored the first ECU touchdown of the game with 4:14 left in the first quarter, bringing the Pirates within four points, 14-10.
The following USF drive would stop at their own 34 yard line, forcing them to punt. That punt gave the Pirates the ball on their own 32. Completed a 13 yard pass to Grayson first down. Tyshon Dye ran for two yards, setting up second down. Sirk attempted a pass towards the middle of the field, but was intercepted by USF linebacker, Auggie Sanchez, who returned it 43 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bulls up 21-10.
ECU was unable to convert a first down on the following drive, punting the ball back to USF on their 45 yard line. A 35 yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling got the Bulls deep in ECU territory, but Flowers and Johnson would get tangled up in a handoff fake, with both players going down in the exchange. They settled for a 37 yard field goal off the foot of Emilio Nadelman to go up 24-10 with 12:13 left in the first half.
The next Pirate drive began at their own 25 yard line. On second down with ten to go, Sirk connected with Derrell Scott for a 29 yard completion to the USF 46. The next play was an incomplete pass, negated by a holding penalty on USF, when Mazzi Wilkins held the jersey of the intended receiver, who was well short of the reception. Sirk found Grayson for an 11 yard pass and then followed up with two quarterback runs of 10 and 13 yards to the end zone. With just under ten minutes left in the half, ECU trailed 24-17.
USF took the kickoff at their own 25 yard line, the result of a touchback. On the first play of the possession, Valdes-Scantling took a jet sweep 75 yards for another Bulls touchdown. Just 12 seconds after the Pirates got within a touchdown, USF had doubled their lead to 31-17.
The two teams would trade field position on the next two drives. Beginning with just over five minutes left in the half, ECU would take possession at their own 40 yard line. That field position came courtesy of a 31 yard punt by USF to the ECU 25, negated in part by a 15 yard personal foul penalty. That penalty was the result of an inexplicable hard hit by USF’s Trevon Sands that leveled the ECU kick return man, who was nowhere near the out-of-bounds punt. The Pirates drove down to the USF two yard line and called a timeout with four seconds left in the half. The next play was a two yard pass from Sirk to Steve Bagget as time expired, making the halftime score 31-24. That touchdown play actually began after the play clock time had expired, but this went unnoticed by the officials prior to ruling the touchdown and extra point valid.
The Bulls received the second half kickoff and turned the possession into quick points. On second down on the USF 37, Flowers completed a pass to Darnell Salomon for 33 yards, setting up first down at the ECU 30. Three plays later, it was Tyre McCants on the receiving end of a Flowers 16 yard touchdown pass. With 11:48 on the third quarter clock, USF led 38-24.
Two plays into the following ECU possession, Sirk connected with Grayson for a 44 yard catch and run down to the USF 29 yard line. A defensive holding penalty by USF gave the Pirates the ball at the USF 23 yard line, two plays later. Sirk would seal the deal himself, scoring on a one yard run with 6:31 left in the third quarter to close the scoring gap to 38-31, USF. That would end the scoring for the Pirates, but not for the Bulls.
The Bulls would answer on the next drive. Valdes-Scantling took a four yard pass by Flowers into the end zone to push USF up to 45-31. That touchdown was set up by a 14 yard pass to Valdes-Scantling, a 14 yard rush by Darius Tice, and a 17 yard pass to McCants.
A 28 yard field goal by Nadelman would put USF up 48-31 at the end of the third quarter. That field goal was the result of a very short field provided by a punt that was blocked out bounds at the ECU 18.
In the fourth quarter, Tice would score on a one yard touchdown run and Johnson would do the same on a 10 yard rush to put up the final 61-31 score. A failed fourth down conversion by ECU set up the Tice touchdown drive on the ECU 33 yard line. Johnson’s scoring drive was the result of a touchdown saving interception by Mazzi Wilkins. That drive also featured a 41 yard run up the middle by Johnson to the Pirates 34 yard line. After Johnson’s touchdown, an unsportsmanlike penalty of 15 yards against Valdes-Scantling led to the failure of the extra point try by Nadelman.
The game fits into the USF cat-and-mouse pattern of the 2017 season. While never really being threatened by their opponents, they seem to take their time dispatching them before running away late. Flowers, perhaps the biggest reason they’ve never been threatened, set the new all-time record for rushing yards from quarterbacks from the state of Florida during the game, displacing former Florida Gator, Tim Tebow. Flowers rushed for 93 yards and touchdown and threw for 160 yards and two more scores.
The Bulls just missed having two 100 yard rushers for the third straight game. Johnson piled up 111 yards to go with is two touchdowns. Valdes-Scantling was third on the team with 80 yards, most of which came off the one jet sweep touchdown play. Tice, who splits carries with Johnson, had just 65 yards on the ground with one touchdown. As a team, USF rushed for 390 yards. Valdes-Scantling led the team in receiving, with 94 yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, USF maintains their national lead in interceptions, with 14.
For the Pirates, Sirk had a solid game, passing for 302 yards and rushing for 87 more. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more. He was intercepted twice. Aside from Sirk, ECU didn’t run the ball, accumulating just 108 total rushing yards for the team. Grayson led ECU receivers with 101 yards and a touchdown. Johnson and Williams each had 48 yards receiving.
ECU falls to 1-4 (1-1) on the season, having lost to two ranked teams in FBS. Their next test will be a noon matchup at home against Temple in one week.
USF maintains their nation-leading streak of 22 games scoring 30 points or more as they move to 5-0 (2-0). The longest streak in NCAA history is 23 games at 30 points or more, set by Oregon in 2011-12. They also set a program record 10 straight wins. They’ll have a bye week this week and host Cincinnati on 10/14.