Disclaimer: This isn’t going to be a standard “here’s what happened” recap. Anyone on the internet can do one of them and they’re all fairly boring. Instead, I plan to give a brief overview on what happened and then try to figure out just what we learned from what we saw.
A 69-minute weather delay may have taken a little of the gusto out of the event, but the USF Bulls left the home-town crowd smiling with a 36-31 victory over FCS foe Western Carolina.
Things started sour, with the Bulls falling behind 14-3 after the first quarter, boos raining down from the crowd. Game day starter Darius Tice had been removed from the starting lineup thanks to a knee injury and the offense looked anemic.
USF roared back to cut the deficit to 17-16 heading into the half before pulling away late in the fourth quarter. It was hardly the result anyone wanted (or expected), but the Bulls and their fans have to be happy with the win, putting them one step closer to returning to bowl season.
Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s get on with what we learned from Saturday’s 36-31 win.
The Marlon Mack Show
Mack was a last-minute addition to the lineup, replacing the aforementioned Tice, and completely stole the show on Saturday.
After a slow first quarter, Mack brought both the crowd and the team back with an electrifying 62-yard touchdown scamper to give the Bulls their first touchdown of the day. Not done there, Mack put the Bulls ahead for good in the third quarter, adding a 60-yard touchdown run to his resume before adding a three-yarder to start the fourth quarter. That would make for one helluva a day, right? Well Mack wasn’t even done, you impatient person, you. He would add a 56-yard touchdown run to his resume, putting the game out of reach with at 36-24 with under five minutes to go.
The final tally on the day? Mack rushed 24 times for a whopping 275 yards and four touchdowns, good for an average of 11.5 yards on the day. On 24 carries. He only matched the school single-game rushing record in his first collegiate game and carried the Bulls to victory, saving them from what could have been an embarrassing defeat.
Regardless of the condition of Tice, Mack has not only given the Bulls options at running back, but if he can continue to perform at a high level, their first true star in ages.
QB Struggles
While Mack continues to rightfully bask in the glow of his breakout night, all the questions we had about the quarterback situation in the offseason seemed to only grow larger. White was less than steady, going 9-for-26, 181 yards and one interception, failing to find a rhythm and steady protection.
For the Bulls to avoid another tough season, they’re going to need more out of White to avoid becoming one-dimensional. If opponents are expecting him on most plays, Mack (and the other running backs) can only do so well without any relief from the quarterbacks.
White will probably be watched very closely next week against Maryland and if he has another poor outing, the leash could become very, very short.
Transitional Irritation
Switching to a new defense usually comes with its issues and that was clearly the case for USF on Saturday as it switched from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense. It yielded 374 passing yards and two touchdowns to quarterback Troy Mitchell, who continued to shred the defense as the day went on.
All in all, the team struggled against a 2-10 FCS team that had lost 22 consecutive road games going into Saturday’s matchup. The talent is there and it was clear that the transition would take a little time, but this has to be setting off alarms for USF.
Maryland is coming of a 52-7 beat down of James Madison and, despite issues at quarterback, look talented enough (even without suspended wideout Levern Jacobs) to be a ton of trouble for the struggling Bulls’ defense.
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