USF played without its top four receivers, struggled to 158 yards of offense
LOUISVILLE, KY, SEPT. 24, 2022– USF football (1-3) finished off a tough non-conference slate Saturday with a 41-3 loss at Louisville (2-2) in Cardinals Stadium.
Playing without its top four receivers with Xavier Weaver, Jimmy Horn Jr., Khafre Brown and Ajou Ajou all out with injury, the USF offense struggled to move the ball and Louisville took advantage. The Cardinals scored touchdowns on four straight possessions – three coming on touchdown runs from Malik Cunningham – to take a 28-0 lead to half time.
Cunningham finished with 113 yards rushing and three touchdowns on nine carries and passed for 186 yards and a touchdown for Louisville. The Cardinals posted 542 yards of offense while holding the hamstrung USF offense to 158 yards and 48 yards rushing a week after the Bulls posted 286 yards on the ground at Florida.
Louisville struck first scoring on its second possession, after punting on its first, as Cunningham got loose for a 40-yard run. They extended their lead to 14-0 on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Cunningham to Jaelin Carter on their next possession.
The Bulls offense took the field and picked up a big 3rd down-and-long on an 18-yard completion from Bohanon to Omarion Dollison and another big 3rd-and-long with a seven-yard Bohanon run to move the Bulls to midfield. Bohanon just missed on a long touchdown pass that went off a diving Dollison’s hands in the endzone. Scott elected to go for it on 4th-and-9 from the UL44. A defensive false start penalty made it 4th-and-4, and Bohanon hit Yusuf Terry for an 8-yard gain and a first down, but the Bulls fumbled and turned the ball over on the next play from scrimmage.
Louisville took over on its own 32 and moved the ball 68 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 35-yard run by Cunningham to take a 21-0 lead with 10:53 left in the first half.
USF went three-and-out on its next possession and Louisville drove 81 yards in five plays, scoring on an 8-yard touchdown run from Cunningham to give the Cardinals a 28-0 lead.
The Bulls got a 37-yard field goal from Spencer Shrader in the second half and Louisville tacked on two field goals and a touchdown.
KEY STATS
• The USF offense was held to 48 yards rushing while Louisville went for 283 on the ground.
• USF’s limited offense was held to 11 first downs and 158 total yards.
NOTABLES
• LB DJ Gordon forced his second career fumble and first at USF. He led USF with nine tackles and three tackles for loss and added a forced fumble.
• LB Antonio Grier posted eight tackles on the day before leaving early in the second half with injury.
• S TJ Robinson posted a career-best eight tackles
QUOTABLE
“We’ve got to own it. It was a bad day, and that’s what it was. If I felt that was who this team was, I’d be a lot more concerned than I am now.”
“Really the challenge for our coaching staff and our players is who we’re going to be. We’re 0-0 in the conference.”
– Head Coach Jeff Scott
UP NEXT
USF returns to Raymond James Stadium for the Bulls’ American Athletic Conference opener vs. ECU in a 7:00 p.m. kick on ESPN+.
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.
Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
– #GoBulls –
