It is rare to think of a win in any sport as being disappointing. If there is such a thing as a disappointing win, then this was it, based on remarks from USF's coaching staff. Tonight’s matchup between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the USF Bulls was a will of dueling defenses and field goal kickers, which the Bulls won convincingly, 33-3.
The first quarter of the game was uneventful, with just six total drives yielding a field goal for each team. USF was first on the board with a 39 yard field goal on their first drive of the game. The Bearcats answered with a 30 yarder two possessions later to tie the game at 3-3 with 3:19 left in the first quarter.
Slow starts are not uncommon for the Bulls and they got things moving better in the second period of play. They began the quarter with a 28 yard field goal to go up 6-3. Cincinnati would have a shot to tie it again on their next drive, but Ryan Jones missed from 39, wide right. USF took their turn in the field goal game on their next possession, going ahead 9-3 on a 21 yard kick from Emilio Nadelman with 7:12 left in the half.
The first touchdown of the game came on an 11 yard rush by USF running back, Darius Tice. The run was set up by a 12 yard rush by Deangelo Antoine, a 12 yard pass completion from Quinton Flowers to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and a 37 yard pass to Temi Alaka. With 2:24 left in the first half, USF led 16-3.
On the final drive of the half, Cincinnati had driven the ball out near midfield, to their 45 yard line. With time running out, Bearcat quarterback, Hayden Moore, connected with Thomas Geddis for an eight yard gain. Officials found USF’s Deadrin Senat offsides, awarding the penalty to Cincinnati. The officials announced that one untimed play would be allowed because of the penalty. Moore’s last chance to score before halftime would be intercepted by USF linebacker, Auggie Sanchez, and returned 65 yards for a touchdown. The halftime score was 23-3, Bulls.
A short punt and six yard return by D’Ernest Johnson gave the Bulls their second possession of the third quarter at the USF 41 yard line. USF would grind down the field with 15 short yardage plays to cap off the drive with a one yard touchdown run by Flowers. They would increase their lead to 30-3.
There was no other scoring in the game until the beginning of the fourth quarter, when Nadelman made a 24 yard field goal to go up 33-3. That possession was set up by a fumble by Moore, who was sacked by Juwuan Brown for a nine yard loss. Brown recovered the fumble on the Cincinnati 32 yard line. Flowers and Tice rushed for 16 and 7 yards, respectively to set up the short field goal.
In postgame comments, USF head coach, Charlie Strong sounded almost angry by the performance of his team. “It’s great that we got the win, got to number six, 6-0, but it wasn’t good enough” he said. “We can play much better than what we’re playing. We gotta execute. Too many penalties. When you play a good football team, you’re gonna get beat.”
The Bulls were penalized 14 times for 137 yards, nearly 40 yards more than Cincinnati, who had 98 yards of penalties.
“We can improve. We can get much better,” said Strong. “We haven’t arrived yet. I think that is sometimes what we think. We have to start thinking ahead for a different direction.”
The Bulls outgained the Bearcats, 402 to 273 on offense and prevented Cincinnati from breaking 100 yards rushing. Cincinnati’s top rusher, Michael Warren, had just 47 yards rushing. Their starting quarterback, Moore, passed for just 147 yards.
The Bulls were quiet on offense, as well, with 12 points coming from field goals and seven coming off of Sanchez’ pick-six. No USF rusher broke 100 yards, a rare event, this season. Flowers was the top rusher for the Bulls, with 85 yards. He also passed for 187 yards.
Next up for Cincinnati is a home game against SMU. The Bearcats drop to 2-5 (0-3) with the loss.
USF moves to 6-0, becomes bowl eligible for the third straight year, and ties the NCAA record for number of games scoring 30 points or more. The Bulls will visit Tulane on 10-21.
