This weekend will certainly go down as upset weekend in college football. The slate didn’t have a single match-up of ranked teams, but 3 top 10 teams fell victim to trap games. USF didn’t fall into the same trap. The Bulls started slow, but scored 20 points in the 2nd quarter. The last of those points would come from an Auggie Sanchez interception return for a touchdown on an untimed down. In the 3rd quarter South Florida would tie the record set by Oregon for consecutive games of scoring 30 or more points at 23. Ultimately the Bulls extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 11 with a 33-3 victory over conference foe, Cincinnati.
The USF offense was able to get on the board on their 1st offensive series. The defense got the Bulls good field position after forcing the Bearcats to go 3-and-out. The drive looked impressive early on, but 2 holding penalties stalled the momentum and and they had to settle for an Emilio Nadelman field goal. Cincinnati finally put a drive of their own together later in the quarter. A big screen play and run by Mike Boone had the Bearcats in the redzone, but Deatrick Nichols deflected a Hayden Moore pass on third down to force a field goal. Ryan Jones was good from 30 yards to tie the game at 3.
USF would retake the lead on the 1st play of the 2nd quarter. The Bulls drove into the redzone off the strength of Flowers passes to Deangelo Antoine and Mitchell Wilcox, but once again they were forced to settle for 3 after failing to convert a 3rd and 2. Nadelman’s kick was good from 25 to put South Florida back on top by 3. Cincinnati looked like they would tie the ballgame up, but Jones missed a field goal to keep USF in the lead. The Bulls answered with yet another impressive drive, but once again they stalled in the redzone. Nadelman came through though from 21 to extend the lead to 9-3. The goal line would finally be crossed with just over 2 minutes left in the half. Darius Tice capped a 5-play, 60-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to put the Bulls on top by 13. Cincinnati looked to cut into the lead before the half and even got a free play thanks to a Bulls’ penalty. That penalty turned out to be a good thing for South Florida. Auggie Sanchez intercepted Moore’s hail mary attempt and returned it 65-yards for a touchdown. That gave the Bulls a 20 point lead heading to the locker room.
The 3rd quarter would be record breaking for the Bulls. Flowers ran in a touchdown from the 1 on 4th and goal, but Nadelman’s extra point was more important as far as the record books are concerned. That kick gave USF 30 or more points for the 23rd straight game. That tied Oregon’s record for the longest streak of 30 or more points in the AP Poll era.
The 1st play of the final quarter would put the Bulls even further over the 30-point threshold. Nadelman’s 4th field goal of the game made it 33-3. Flowers would be replaced by Brett Kean with less than 6 minutes to go. The USF quarterback ended the night with 180 yards on 16 for 29 passing. He also ran for 80 yards on 15 attempts and a touchdown. The defense would hold the Bearcats’ offense to under 100 yards rushing and forced 2 turnovers in a stifling performance.
With the victory USF improved to 6-0 and 3-0 in conference play. Next Saturday the Bulls will face a conference test on the road. South Florida will travel to New Orleans to face Tulane (3-3). The game could be a record breaker for the Bulls if Quinton Flowers and company are able to score 30 points for the 24th straight time.