LB Dwayne Boyles posts a career-high 15 tackles in 45-31 loss
TAMPA, Oct. 15, 2022– The USF football (1-6; 0-3 AAC) was battling with conference-leading Tulane (6-1; 3-0 AAC) in a 17-17 game in the third quarter when the Green Wave exploded for 14 straight points in a 62-second burst and went on to claim a 45-31 victory on the Bulls’ homecoming.
USF played the bulk of the game without starting quarterback Gerry Bohanon who left with an injury with just over 6:30 left to play in the second quarter, adding to the Bulls already significant injury woes. The Bulls still had the game tied at 17 late in the third quarter when things changed quickly.
Linebacker Dwayne Boyles continued his strong play, leading USF in tackles for the third straight game as he posted a career-best 15 to go with a sack, two tackles for loss and a big forced fumble. Playing in relief of Bohanon, Katravis Marsh completed 7-of-15 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns, but had a key third quarter fumble deep in USF territory. Jimmy Horn Jr. caught five passes for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Tulane kicked an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead. On the Bulls’ second possession, USF turned the ball over on the its own 35 on a Kelley Joiner fumble, but the defense came up with a big stop and a missed Green Wave field goal resulted in no points.
USF capitalized on the momentum from the stop as Bohanon drove the Bulls 79 yards, using a big 44-yard pass to Horn Jr., gaining a big first down with his legs and then sealing the deal with an 8-yard touchdown pass back to Horn Jr. to take the lead 7-3.
Tulane responded by going 75 yards on nine plays for a touchdown capped by a 5-yard quarterback keeper by Michael Pratt to retake the lead 10-7.
With the Bulls not backing down, Bohanon matched Pratt’s effort and drove USF 75 yards, running for a 33–yard touchdown to put the Bulls back on top, 14-10.
On the next Tulane possession, the Bulls defense stood tall and forced Tulane to punt, continuing the momentum.
With USF driving with about six and a half minutes left in the second quarter, Bohanon injured his right throwing shoulder after a run and did not return. Backup quarterback Marsh took over after Bohanon started 7-of-8 for 109 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards and a touchdown, leaving the game with a four-point USF lead.
With the use of two timeouts and five and a half minutes, Tulane moved to the USF11. The Bulls’ defense pressured the Green Wave into an intentional grounding with 12 seconds left in the half. To avoid the 10 second run-off, Tulane took their final timeout. The Green Wave went for the touchdown instead of a field goal and took a 17-14 lead into halftime when Pratt hit Shea Wyatt for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 3 seconds in the half.
On Tulane’s opening drive of the second half, they drove to the USF20. Instead of kicking the field goal on fourth down, they went for it and Tramel Loganbatted down the pass for a turnover on downs.
The Bulls then drove 45 yards on six plays and Spencer Shrader kicked a 23-yard field goal to tie the game 17-17 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter. The next 62 seconds changed everything.
On the ensuing drive, Tulane’s Tyjae Spears responded with a 75-yard touchdown run on Tulane’s first play from scrimmage. When the Bulls received the ball, Marsh fumbled it on the USF six-yard line on the Bulls second play from scrimmage. The Green Wave capitalized on their first play when Spears rushed for a six–yard touchdown to extend the Tulane lead to 14 points, 31-17.
The USF defense dug in and Boyles forced a fumble on the Tulane 18-yard line that was recovered byJatorian Hansford. Marsh completed his second career touchdown pass with a 17-yard toss to Weaver to close the gap to 24-31 at the end of the third quarter.
The Green Wave marched down the field in less than two minutes for a 16-yard touchdown pass from Pratt to Dea Dea McDougle to push the lead back to 14, 38-24.
The Bulls were unable to respond this time. Tulane drive down the field again going seven plays and 54 yards to stretch the lead to 44-24 with less than 10 minutes to go in the game.
Marsh completed a career long 73-yard touchdown pass to Dequan Stanley for his first touchdown late in the fourth quarter to make the score 45-31.
KEY STATS
• USF’s 31 points on the day were the most given up by Tulane on the year. The Green Wave entered the game ranked No. 7 in the nation giving up 13 points per game.
• Tulane posted 564 yards on the day with quarterback Michael Pratt passing for 329 yards and two touchdowns.
• Tulane scored 14 straight points in a 62 second span in the third quarter to seize control of what was a 17-17 ball game.
NOTABLES
• LB Dwayne Boyles increased his career tackle total to 267, placing him 10th all-time at USF passing Anthony Henry (254, 1997-2000) and Sam Barrington (28, 2009-2012).
• Boyles posted a career-high in tackles with 15 and added two tackles for losses, a sack an and a forced fumble. It marked his third straight double-digit tackle game and third straight game leading the team in tackles.
• WR Xavier Weaver increased his career total to 1,470 receiving yards, placing him 7th all-time on the USF receiving chart, passing Huey Whittaker (2001-03). Weaver now has 99 career receptions and is four short of entering the top 10 all-time on that chart.
QUOTABLES
“It feels like where we are as a team, we always have to play perfect.”
“There’s points [defensively], I think we had a lot of negative yardage plays – we’re just not good enough to make some of the mistakes we’re making in those chunk plays.”
Head Coach Jeff Scott
UP NEXT
USF has a bye week next week before returning to action on Sat., Oct. 29 vs. the University of Houston at TEDUC stadium in Houston.
Season tickets • Single-game tickets • Group tickets (10+): call 1-800-GoBulls
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and celebrated its 25th season in 2021 while breaking ground on a $22 million Indoor Performance Facility. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections, including 2021 consensus All-American Brian Battie, and 31 first-team all-conference selections. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and most recently making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. The Bulls posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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