by Carter Brantley
Facing off against the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the USF Bulls emerged victorious, 35-25 in a game that took over 4 hours to complete due to a myriad of penalties, injuries, and reviews.
The Bulls were without star QB Byrum Brown for a second consecutive week, casting doubt on his status for the rest of the season as he continues to be week-to-week with an ankle injury suffered in USF’s matchup with the Tulane Green Wave.
With backup Bryce Archie under center, the Bulls were able to take advantage of a struggling UAB defense, racking up 201 yards via the pass and 154 on the ground, Kelley Joiner leading the way with 94 yards on 15 carries.
UAB managed to put together an interesting offensive approach, with USF allowing 485 yards of offense, 384 coming through the air and through the air and 101 in the run game. However, it was not enough to take USF down at Raymond James Saturday evening.
Penalties and sloppy play were drive-killers for both teams throughout the afternoon, with one procedure penalty even erasing a potential momentum-shifting touchdown to speedster JeyQuan Smith in the middle of the 1st quarter and a Sean Atkins muffed punt leading to a UAB field goal.
For UAB it was a pair of turnovers that ultimately cost them the game, via a fumble and interception.
In USF history, Atkins set a new career receptions mark for the school with his 156th catch as a Bull, breaking Andre Davis’ previous record held since 2014.
USF’s next opponent, Florida Atlantic University, managed to keep up with the University of Texas San Antonio for most of the game, ending up with a 38-24 loss to the Roadrunners.
The hope is that Brown can return for that game or soon, as USF’s dynamic up-tempo offense has been slightly less effective without the dual-threat option other than this UAB matchup. Their running game which started so strong has been nonexistent due to defenses not having to respect Archie as a runner, with a severe drop off in athletic ability between Brown and Archie.
Otherwise, to supplement a weak rushing attack, head coach Alex Golesh could decide to turn to Israel Carter, who has a bit more of that dual-threat ability missing from this offense.
The starting QB role will be one that continues to be discussed moving forward, especially if Brown misses even more time against opponents USF needs to take down to remain bowl eligible.
They have a difficult matchup against a top-25 opponent in Navy, who have been playing inspired football in their revamped offense.
Hopefully USF can continue to take care of business against the teams they’re supposed to beat and secure those magic 6 wins.
