by Carter Brantley
With a scary matchup in Tuscaloosa looming next week, USF managed to avoid getting ahead of themselves and secure a 48-3 victory over Bethune-Cookman Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium.
The first half ended with a 31-3 score. Byrum Brown managed to run all over the Bethune-Cookman defense, with 78 yards on 6 carries, punctuated by a huge first-half, 42-yard rushing TD in the 1st quarter.
A big interception from star linebacker Jhalyn Shuler set up a rushing TD from running back Kelley Joiner, Jr. (who punched in an additional TD in the 3rd quarter, setting a career-high for TDs in a game) later in the quarter, with the Bulls adding a couple more TDs on the ground from Ta’Ron Keith and Nay’Quan Wright in the 2nd quarter. The linebacker was injured on the play but was fortunately able to walk off on his own, despite what was seemingly a frightening injury at first.
John Cannon finished off the half with a long 53-yard field goal to answer the lone score of Bethune-Cookman, both coming within the final minute of the 1st half.
USF managed nearly 300 yards of total offense while limiting Bethune-Cookman to under 50 yards in that first half, with most of the starters sitting for the entirety of the 4th quarter and a portion of the 3rd.
Bryce Archie managed to score the final TD of the game, relieving Brown and throwing to Michael Brown-Stephens at the end of the 3rd quarter to finish off the scoring.
The most interesting aspect of what was otherwise a relatively unremarkable matchup was USF’s running back usage, with what was seemingly an audition for the 3 aforementioned backs that scored TDs in the 1st half.
While it’s going to be a wonderful problem to have with 3 starting-caliber backs fighting for carries, it’ll be interesting to see how the team ends up deciding who gets the lion’s share, especially as their ever-important conference games start in the middle of the season.
Some say position clogs are a social construct, and injuries and under-performance happen, so perhaps the issue will work itself out, but until then it’d be exciting to see some fun 2-back formations with any combination of the 3 taking snaps together alongside the star Mr. Brown.
The Bulls hit the road to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide next Saturday afternoon, their biggest test of the season. USF could certainly make things interesting as an underdog, but the expectation is for Bama to be able to make the game a bit less entertaining than Bulls fans would probably like.
