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USF quarterback, Quinton Flowers, had a career day, amassing more than 500 yards of total offense to help his USF Bulls rebound from their loss last week to Houston and defeat the UConn Huskies, 37-20, in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score.

It was a quiet first quarter, mostly a game of field position in which the Huskies were forced to punt three times.  The only score of the period came on a one yard run by D’Ernest Johnson after a 16 yard touchdown run by Quinton Flowers was overturned after official review.  That score came on the Bulls second possession of the game.

USF would open the second quarter with another scoring drive.  On second down on the Bulls’ 18 yard line, Flowers rushed 21 yards to the USF 39.   The next two plays were passes of 26 yards to Marquz Valdes-Scantling and 19 yards to Tyre McCants to set them up with first down on the UConn 16.  Facing 3rd and 6 on the 12, Flowers pulled the handoff and launched it to Mitchell Wilcox, who was running open in the end zone.  With 12:40 left in the first half, it was USF 14, UConn 0.

UConn quarterback, Bryant Shirreffs, got things going on the following drive.  Shirreffs connected with Hergy Mayala on third down to move the ball from the USF 48 to the 28 yard line.  On the next play, a 15 yard gain was negated by an illegal formation penalty.  With first and 15 to go on the USF 33, Shirreffs found Keyion Dixon for a 15 yard completion, setting up first down on the Bulls’ 18.  A 12 yard run by Kevin Mensah got the Huskies to the 2 yard line and Shirreffs capped off the drive with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Tommy Myers.  With 7:10 remaining in the second quarter, the score was 14-7.

USF would respond on the following drive with a 38 yard field goal by Emilio Nadelman.  That score was made possible by pass completions of 12 and 38 yards to Darnel Saloman and McCants, respectively.  The Bulls would have one more possession before halftime, taking over on their own 11 yard line with 41 seconds to go.  They opted to run out the clock and go to the locker room with a ten point lead, 17-10.

In the second half, the Bulls wasted no time changing up the scoreboard.  Their first possession resulted in a 25 yard field goal by Emilio Nadelman, putting them up 20-7.  Big gains of 16 and 15 yards on a passes to Temi Alaka and a 12 yard pass to Darnell Saloman put them in field goal range.

On the following drive, UConn would move from their own 21 yard line deep into USF territory, before stalling out at the USF 24.  They faced a 4th and 1 and opted to try and convert.  The conversion failed, turning the ball over on downs. 

USF took advantage.  On second down and eight to go on their own 26, Flowers completes a pass to McCants, who takes 21 yards to the USF 47 yard line.  Flowers would then run for ten yards and then 19 more, putting the Bulls inside the UConn 20.  Two plays later, it was Johnson on the receiving end of a Flowers’ touchdown catch, given USF a 27-7 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

On their next possession, UConn was forced to punt.  A personal foul penalty against USF gave them first down on their own five yard line. That wouldn’t be a problem, though, as Valdes-Scantling took a Flowers’ pass 95 yards for a touchdown.  One play, 13 seconds long, and the USF lead grew to 34-7.

Then, the fourth quarter began.  As they have on several occasion, they allowed their opponent back into the game.  On the kickoff following their last touchdown, USF’s Nate Ferguson drew a personal foul penalty after the play was over.  That penalty was added to the kick placement, giving UConn the ball on their own 42 yard line.  Two plays later, another Bull, Jaymon Thomas, was flagged for a personal foul penalty, moving the line of scrimmage to the USF 25.  Mensah ran for 23 yards for the next UConn touchdown.  With 14:07 remaining in the game, the score was 34-14.

Emilio Nadelman would kick a 51 yard field goal on the next USF drive, making the score 37-14.  The big play contributing to the score was a 20 yard scramble by Flowers on third and 13. 

UConn was feeling confident with the ease of scoring their last touchdown.  A good kickoff return gave them the ball on their own 31 yard line.  On 2nd and 4 from the USF 48, six plays later, David Pindell completed a pass to Maso Donaldson for 21 yards, moving them down to the USF 26.  Four plays later, it was Pindell rushing 10 yards for a touchdown.  They opted to go for a two point conversion, but that failed with an interception.  With that, the final score of 37-20 was achieved. 

For the Huskkies, Kevin Mensah had a solid day, rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown.  Shirreffs carried the ball surprisingly well, racking up 55 yards for the second best total on the team. Mayala led receivers with 45 yards on four catches.

Flowers had a career record day, passing for 385 yards and three touchdowns and running for 131 yards.  That 516 yard combined mark is not just his career high, but it is a new USF program record.  He has also amassed more than 100 career touchdowns at USF.  Darius Tice, who had the same number of carries as Flowers, 16, was second on the team running the ball, carrying for 63 yards.  Catching the ball, Marquez Valdes-Scantling had 152 yards on six catches with one score.  McCants also had a good day, with 89 yards of receiving. 

Two weeks ago, USF was ranked as high as 16 in the AP Poll and undefeated at 7-0.  After a big loss like last week at Houston, it is natural to wonder how the team will respond.  Head coach, Charlie Strong, said he was happy with way his team responded.

“You don’t ever want one loss to lead to another,” said Strong. “You don’t want a team to beat us twice.  To come out and play the way we played tonight, this evening, was really great.”

The Huskies have another challenge in their next game, when they will visit #18 UCF.  After the loss, they are 3-6 (2-4).  Becoming bowl eligible is a longshot for them, now.

USF hopes to bounce back in the national polls, currently being the highest vote-getter not ranked in the top 25.  They will host 2-8 Tulsa on 11/16, after a bye week. 

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