USF FOOTBALL: Bulls Fall In Battle with No. 2 Cincinnati

Bearcats give up most points on the season, but keep College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 44-28 victory

TAMPA, FLA., NOV. 12, 2021– The USF football team (2-8; 1-5 American) faced the highest-ranked foe ever to face the Bulls in Raymond James Stadium on Friday night and No. 2-ranked Cincinnati (10-0; 6-0 American) kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive holding off the late charging Bulls for a 45-28 victory.

USF produced 21 points and 309 yards in the second half and had the ball with the lead cut to 10 and 3:08 to play. The Bulls 28 points was the most given up on the season by a Bearcats’ defense that entered the game ranked No. 3 in the nation allowing just 14.9 points per game.

The Bearcats improved to 19-1 over the last two seasons behind senior quarterback Desmond Ridder who passed for 304 yards and two touchdowns and added 65 yards rushing, including a 13-yard touchdown run.

Bulls running back Jaren Mangham posted his sixth multiple rushing touchdown game of the season, recording his 14th and 15th touchdowns on the year to tie Marlon Mack (2016) for No. 2 on the USF season chart and three behind Quinton Flowers season record of 18 set in 2016.

Freshman Jimmy Horn Jr. posted a career-best 108 yards receiving on five catches, including an electrifying 80-yard touchdown on a short slant route. Freshman quarterback Timmy McClain passed for 245 yards and a touchdown and added a 13-yard touchdown run, but was also intercepted twice by one of the top pass defenses in the nation. Linebacker Antonio Grier posted a career high in tackles for the second straight game to lead USF with 14.

Trailing 31-7 in the third quarter, the Bulls’ offense found its footing in the second half behind big plays from freshman receiver Horn and strong play from freshman quarterback McClain.

After McClain drove the Bulls 75 yards in 12 plays for the USF’s second touchdown of the game to cut the Cincinnati lead, Horns’ 80-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter, the eighth-longest in program history and the Bulls’ longest play on the season by 33 yards, cut it even further to 31-21.

Cincinnati responded with a 73-yard drive in eight plays capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ridder to push the lead back to 17, 38-21, with 14:00 to play.

Omarion Dollison fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Cincinnati recovered on the Bulls 20. The Bearcats drove to the USF 5 and had first and goal when the Bulls defense stood its ground. Cincinnati was held out of the endzone on three plays and USF forced a fumble on 4th and 1 that was recovered by linebacker Dwayne Boyles at the 2.

McClain then drove the Bulls 98 yards in 16 plays to cut the lead to 38-28 with 6:14 to play. McClain was dynamic on the drive, running 22 yards for a first down, hitting Xavier Weaver with a 13-yard strike, scrambling and then finding Holden Willis with a 32-yard completion and finally finishing the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

The Bulls’ defense forced a Bearcats’ punt on the next possession and USF had the ball on its own 7-yard line down 10 with 3:08 to play. USF moved the ball 30 yards before a McClain pass over the middle was tipped and intercepted.

Cincinnati then slammed the door with a 55-yard touchdown run by Myles Montgomery.

USF got two early turnovers in the first quarter and put the first points on the board.

After USF drove to the UC 39 and punted on its opening drive, the Bearcats fumbled on their opening offensive play as Dwayne Boyles forced the ball out from UC’s Michael Young and Daquan Evans recovered on the UC 13.

On its first play, USF attempted a direct snap to running back Kelley Joiner who handed off to quarterback Timmy McClain, but the exchange was fumbled and UC recovered.

This time the Bearcats ran two plays before Ridder was picked off by Bulls’ cornerback Christian Williams who returned it 61 yards to the UC 2. Jaren Mangham plunged in a play later with his 14th rushing touchdown of the season and USF led 7-0.

Cincinnati then scored on its next three possessions of the half, driving 75, 73 and 34-yards for touchdowns and added a late 46-yard drive for a field goal to take a 24-7 halftime lead. Ridder was 18-of-21 for 170 yards passing and a touchdown and ran in for a 13-yard score as Cincinnati led in offensive yards 260-39 at the break.

Cincinnati built its largest lead of the night when it took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 81 yards in eight plays to increase its lead to 31-7.

Quotable – Jeff Scott

“Congratulations to Coach Fickell and Cincinnati. They’ve got a really good team. They’ve worked extremely hard to get from where they were four years ago to where they are now. They’ve done a great job.”

“I think, unfortunately for us, that we just dug too big of a hole there in the first half. We had an opportunity in the first quarter. We got off to a great start, ending the first half tied at 7-7. In the second quarter, we just couldn’t get enough going on offense and couldn’t stop them on defense. The guys were disappointed at halftime. We put a lot into this game and we really expected to go out and play better in the first half than we did. I just asked our guys, ‘how are you going to respond?’”

“All I can do is watch and grade the response, and our offense went out and scored on a 75-yard drive after really not doing anything in the first half, then went 80 yards for another touchdown. My biggest takeaway is that, while I’m disappointed we didn’t win the game, ultimately, the room for error is very small when you’re playing a top-five team like we played today. We knew that and we made too many mistakes. What I’m going to take from this game is that our guys have their backs against the wall on first-and-goal at the three, where they’re up 17 so a touchdown pretty much puts the game away, against the number two team in the country, and our guys fought for four straight plays, held them out and got the ball on the two-yard line, and the offense went 98 yards against the number three defense in the country.”

Key Stats
309 – After being held to 35 yards in the first half, USF posted 309 in the second.

15 – Jaren Mangham posted two touchdowns on the night to bring his season total to 15, tied with Marlon Mack for No. 2 on the USF season chart and three behind Quinton Flowers’ record of 18. It marked Mangham’s sixth game with two or more rushing touchdowns on the season.

3-4 – USF forced three turnovers but also turned the ball over four times with two fumbles and two interceptions.


Notables

• WR Jimmy Horn Jr. posted a career-best 108 yards receiving including an 80-yard touchdown reception that stands as the eighth-longest in program history.

• CB Christian Williams recorded his first career interception and returned it 61 yards

• LB Dwayne Boyles forced his first career fumble and Daquan Evan recovered his first career fumble on the Bearcats’ opening offensive play of the game.

• LB Antonio Grier led the Bulls in tackles for the second straight game and posted a career-high for the second straight game with 14 tackles on the night.

Up Next
USF will hit the road for its final two games of the season, starting next Saturday at Tulane. That game is set for a noon (ET) kickoff and will be televised on ESPN+.

Tickets for USF home games can be purchased by calling or texting 1-800-GoBulls or visiting USFBullstix.com or Ticketmaster.

ABOUT USF FOOTBALL

The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and will celebrate its 25th season in 2021 (22nd at the FBS level). USF has posted 15 winning seasons and is the fastest program in the state of Florida to reach 150 all-time wins. Bulls have earned 14 All-America selections, 29 first-team all-conference selections, and 30 USF players have been selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl game appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program-record six-straight from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and 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.

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