After last week’s loss, Charlie Strong said the USF Bulls still had all of their goals in front of them. The Bulls just had to go out and capture those goals. On Saturday, South Florida responded in about the best way possible. Quinton Flowers had over 500 yards of total offense and got to the 100 touchdown mark in his career in the 37-20 victory over UConn.
The 1st quarter looked like it would be a replay of last week early on with multiple punts, but the Bulls didn’t let that trend go on for very long. It looked like Quinton Flowers had the 98th touchdown of his career on a 16-yard run, but after the play was reviewed it was ruled he was down inside the 1-yard line. That call was a blessing for D’Ernest Johnson he jumped over the line on the very next play for the 7-0 lead. USF was driving again late in the quarter, but Flowers was intercepted after throwing the ball back across the field. His defense had his back though. They continued to create havoc in the backfield as they tallied 3 sacks on Huskies quarterback, Bryant Shirreffs.
The 2nd quarter got off to a quick start for the Bulls. Flowers and the offense were clicking and went right down the field. The drive was capped when Q got his 98th career touchdown by finding a wide open Mitchell Wilcox in the endzone. UConn answered that USF touchdown with their best drive of the day. The 12-play 58-yard drive was capped with a 4th and goal touchdown pass from Shirreffs to Tommy Myers. The Bulls answered right back though and made it a 10-point lead with Emilio Nadelman’s 38-yard field goal. The Huskies looked like they might cut into the lead before the half, but a dropped pass led to a Deatrick Nichols interception.
USF got the ball to start the 3rd quarter and picked up right where they left off in the 2nd quarter. The Bulls offense was once again firing on all cylinders, but sputtered a little bit in the redzone. Nadelman’s leg made sure the drive wasn’t fruitless when he was good from 25 yards out. 3 wouldn’t be all the Bulls would get on their next drive. Flowers and company went 76 yards on 10 plays in just 3:27. D’Ernest Johnson was on the receiving end of Flowers’ 2nd touchdown pass of the day. The next drive would be history making and it just took 1 play. Flowers connected with Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 95-yard touchdown pass. That touchdown was number 100 for Flowers’ career.
UConn cut into the Bulls’ lead on their 1st possession of the final quarter. Kevin Mensah’s 23-yard touchdown run made it a 20 point game. The teams went back and forth for the rest of the quarter, but that 95-yard touchdown pass at the end of the 3rd was really the dagger against the Huskies. Flowers ended his day with 385 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. The quarterback also added 131 yards on the ground in the 37-20 victory.
The Bulls will be off next Saturday, but will return to Raymond James Stadium on November 16th. USF will host Tulsa on that Thursday evening. Kickoff on senior night is scheduled for 7:30.