USF Bulls hold of late surge of Green Wave, beat Tulane, 34-28
It was a classic case of two halves when the USF Bulls beat the Tulane Green Wave, 34-28 on Saturday night. USF was dominant in the first half and seemed to take their foot off the pedal midway through the third quarter, when they had a 34-7 lead over Tulane. That lead wasn’t enough to defeat the Tulane spirit and they took advantage of the softened defense and USF’s apparent contentment to run out the clock.
The Bulls scored on their first possession of the game, after denying Tulane of the opportunity to do the same on the opening drive. USF quarterback, Quinton Flowers opened the scoring up with a 21 yard touchdown run that was set up by a 13 yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and a prior 14 yard run by Flowers. Tulane managed to use up 11:58 of the first quarter, making this the only USF possession of the first quarter.
With six minutes to go before halftime, USF scored again on a 45 yard run by Darius Tice. They began the drive on their own 43 yard line, the result of a failed fourth down conversion attempt by Tulane. A ten yard run by Valdes-Scantling and 12 yard scramble by Flowers put the Bulls it Tulane territory. The extra point was blocked Tulane’s Donnie Lewis. With 5:18 left in the second quarter, USF led 13-0.
Two plays later, Tulane finally found the end zone on a 73 yard pass from Jonathan Banks to Terren Encalade. Less than a minute after the last USF touchdown, the Green Wave trailed 13-7.
Later in the third quarter, the Bulls would score again. This time, it was a 38 yard pass from Flowers to Darnel Salomon. That touchdown was made possible in part by a 13 yard scramble by Flowers and a ten yard pass to E’Ernest Johnson. The Bulls would ride a 20-7 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, USF wasted no time in trying to put the game out of reach for Tulane. On first down, Tice rushed 43 yards to the Tulane 30 yard line. Two plays later, Flowers connected with Valdes-Scantling for a for a 28 yard touchdown. That put the bulls up 27-7.
Two drives later, the Bulls scored again on a two yard run by Johnson. A 25 yard run by Flowers, an 11 yard run by Johnson, and a 14 yard reception by Elkanah Dillon set up the short touchdown run. With 7:35 left in the third quarter, it was USF winning, 34-7.
Later in the third, the momentum shifted. USF had taken possession on their own 20 yard line and had marched down the field to the Tulane 43 yard line. On third down with 13 to go, Flowers attempted a pass to Temi Alaka, which was intercepted by Jaylon Monroe at the Tulane 21 and returned by Donnie Lewis to the Tulane 37 yard line. A 15 yard face mask penalty against USF’s Auggie Sanchez gave the Green Wave the ball at their 44. On second down, Sherman Badie broke free and ran 36 yards for the second Tulane touchdown of the game. The score was 34-14 with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter.
Tulane attempted an onside kick after their score, trying to capitalize on their momentum, since the interception. The attempt failed, giving USF the ball in Tulane territory. They quickly moved down to the Tulane 30 before having the drive stall on two incomplete passes to Dillon and Alaka. USF field goal kicker, who had made 13 in a row, missed the field goal, wide ride.
Two possessions later, Banks would connect with Dontrell Hilliard on a slant route for a 24 yard touchdown. Prior passes of 17 yards to Darnell Mooney, 38 yards to Hilliard, and 19 yards to Jabril Clewis set up the Hilliard touchdown. With 7:39 to go in the fourth quarter, the score was now USF 34, Tulane 21.
USF’s coaching staff did not appear to feel threatened, content to just run out the clock. They called six consecutive plays handing the ball off to Johnson and a seventh time to Trevon Sands, which netted a two yard loss. That got them inside the Tulane ten yard line, where a personal foul against Brian Atterbury sent the Bulls backwards down the field. With second and goal from the Tulane 25 yard line, they attempted to pass on the next two downs. Those passes were incomplete, bringing out the field goal unit. Emilio Nadelman, whose streak of 13 successful field goals was broken on the last attempt, had his kick blocked and recovered by Tulane on their own 29 yard line.
The combination of a 57 yard run by Hilliard and an illegal block penalty against Tulane gave them the ball on the USF 16 yard line. From there, it was an easy 16 yard run for Hilliard to bring the final score to 34-28.
USF quickly marched the field on their next drive but opted to set up in victory formation on the Tulane 9 yard line for three downs, running out the clock. The short field was made possible by a 30 yard run by Tice on a third and three from the Tulane 39.
All in all, it was a very ugly win for USF. It was a game they should have dominated from start to finish, but they seemed to become disinterested in the second half, making the score a lot closer than it should be an possibly threatening their national standing in the process. The time of possession favored Tulane 33-23 and possibly contributed to a softer defense, but the Bulls overall seemed uninspired late in the game.
Hilliard rushed for 140 yard and a score against what had been a top ten rushing defense. Badie rushed for 50 more and another score. Banks passed for 221 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Flowers ran for more yards than he passed, 145 versus 127, but passed for 2 touchdowns and ran for one. Tice contributed for 138 yards on the ground and a score and Johnson followed up in third place with 84 yards and a touchdown.
Tulane drop to 3-4 (1-2) with the loss. They visit #25 Memphis on Friday, October 27th in a game televised by CBS Sports Network.
USF is an undefeated 7-0 for the first time in program history, maintaining the nation leading 12 game win streak, and set a new NCAA record for 24 straight games scoring 30 points or more. They will host Houston on Saturday, October 28th. That game can be viewed on ESPNU.