After suffering their fifth loss of the 2014 season, a 34-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats that was never really close, one question has been ringing in my head: can the USF Bulls put together enough on offense to win three more games?
The quick answer at this point seems to be a resounding “no”. They managed just 17 points (14 of which came in the fourth quarter) against a Bearcats outfit that was surrendering twice that per game. They’ve only topped 20 points twice this year: in the opener against FCS Western Carolina and against the 1-6 Tulsa Golden Hurricane, who are surrendering over 40 points per game.
Digging a little deeper, it’s no wonder why this is happening: both the rushing and the passing game rank in the triple-digits (the running game is ranked 102nd in the nation, the passing game 109th). We were all pulled in by an opening-week performance by freshman Marlon Mack, a 275-yard, four-touchdown performance that led us to believe that maybe the offense would be okay.
Since then, the passing game’s ineptitude has come to encompass the rushing attack. Really, it’s hard to fault Mack and the ground game when there’s no credible threat of a passing game to be found. To say that incumbent starter Mike White has been atrocious this year would be putting it nicely. He’s thrown for just 1,182 yards, good for eighth in The American among starters.
Of those who qualified under the completion percentage stats, he’s dead last in the conference at 48.8 percent and is just one of two quarterbacks (Tulane’s Tanner Lee is the other) to be completing less than 51 percent of their passes. And of the starters, only SMU’s Garrett Krstich has fewer than White’s six touchdown passes.
White’s accuracy has obviously been the biggest issue and it’s shown no improvement over the course of the year. Not that the line has been keeping him totally clean, but he hasn’t exactly running for his life every time he drops back. He’s got a talented group of receivers to throw to, and he just can’t find them consistently.
White is a liability that has crippled this offense and limited them to a reasonable ceiling of 17 or so points. Unfortunately, the defense isn’t in a place where they can consistently shut opponents down and with Houston, Memphis and UCF left on the schedule, it seems as though the offense will be keeping the Bulls from going bowling.
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