Bulls get 100-yard games from Mangham and Joiner while defense limits Temple to just 35 plays and 48 yards rushing
TAMPA, FLA., OCT. 23, 2021– The USF football team (2-5; 1-2 AAC) used a dominating rushing attack, control of the line of scrimmage and its best defensive effort of the season to roll past Temple (3-4; 1-2 AAC), 34-14, Saturday on a beautiful night at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bulls posted 421 yards on the ground to log the best rushing performance in school history as Jaren Mangham and Kelley Joiner Jr. both ran for over 100-yards and career bests. Mangham logged 152 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries while Joiner ran for 126 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
Meanwhile, the Bulls defense limited Temple to just eight first downs, 48 yards rushing and 231 total yards on just 35 plays on the night as the Bulls dominated the ball logging a 44:35 to 15:25 advantage in time of possession while running 94 plays.
The tone that tonight would be different ending for the Bulls was set early.
After driving to the Temple 5 on the Bulls first possession, USF failed to score due to a snap over the holder’s head on a 27-yard field goal attempt. Temple recovered the long snap and dashed the other way, but. USF tight End Chris Carter had other plans and ran Owl Keyshawn Paul down from behind dragging him down at the USF 5 and saving a touchdown. Four plays later, Christian Williams, returning after missing games with injury, deflected an Owls pass and Mekhi LaPointe intercepted it in the endzone to prevent a Temple score and early lead.
The Bulls would score on their next six straight drives from the first quarter through the third quarter to produce a 34-14 lead and their first conference win since Oct. 26, 2019.
USF dominated early, posting a 14-0 lead behind strong running from Mangham and Joiner and a defense that got an interception and forced a punt while allowing Temple just 27 yards in its first two possessions.
The Bulls posted long drives on each of their first three possessions, going 65, 80 and 93 yards. The 65-yard opening drive did not produce points, but the Bulls finished off the other two with a 1-yard Mangham touchdown plunge and a 4-yard pass from Timmy McClain to Demarcus Gregory for the first touchdown reception of his career.
Temple struck back late in the first half when D’Wan Mathis hit Randle Jones for a 70-yard touchdown strike on the first play of their third possession.
Undaunted, USF took the ball and marched 66 yards for a 26-yard field goal from Spencer Shrader with 19 seconds left in the half that sent the Bulls to the locker room with a 17-7 lead.
Temple received the kickoff to begin the second half and marched 75 yards for a touchdown to cut the Bulls lead to three, 17-14. It was all USF from there.
Katravis Marsh started the second half at quarterback for the Bulls, as McClain suffered an ankle injury at the end of the first half. Marsh drove the Bulls 43 yards for a field goal on his first possession, with Shrader capping the drive with a career-long 52-yard field goal to make it 20-14.
The Bulls defense forced a three-and-out on Temple’s next drive and USF had the opportunity to put some distance between itself and the Owls. It did so, again using strong running from Mangham and Joiner to drive 67 yards in nine plays. Joiner capped the drive with a 2-yard plunge that staked the Bulls to a 27-14 lead with 2:41 to play in the third quarter.
After holding Temple to -1 yard rushing in the first half, the Bulls defense was equally stiff in the second half forcing three punts and gaining an interception, this one from Antonio Grier, on Temple’s last four possessions.
The Bulls put the game on ice with nine play, 73-yard drive to start the fourth quarter, with Mangham again finishing it off with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
Grier posted and interception in his second straight game and added a sack among his three tackles, which ranked second on the team to Dwayne Boyles’ six.
Quotable – Head Coach Jeff Scott
“First thing that I want to say, I really want to thank our fans that were here tonight, all the students and all the fans. I know it’s been a tough start to the season and I know it’s a challenge to come out and not have the success. To see when we drove in all the fans that were here supporting us. That really encouraged me. It’s easy to show up and have a bunch of people here when you’re winning and everything is going good, but when you’re struggling and trying to find a way, the fans that were here tonight, that’s just really a blessing to myself, our staff and our players.”
‘One of the first things I told our players in the locker room after the game is that I’m proud of them, but I’m really not surprised. I’m really not. I expected them to play this way today because of the way they’ve stuck together.”
“The play of the game to me was early in the first quarter when Chris Carter (made the tackle on the fumble recovery). That was just the play of the game right there. Again, it’s a great example of an event happens, what’s your response going to be? You can’t control the event that just happened, but your response is going to dictate the outcome. The old E plus R equals O. To see Chris Carter run that guy, who looked like a fast guy to me, down, as I was watching that I was thinking: this is the heart of this team right here.”
Key Stats
421 – USF set a program rushing record breaking the mark of 416 yards set at Memphis on Nov. 12, 2016.
94-35 – USF ran 94 plays to Temple’s 35 and held a dominating advantage in time of possession, 44:35 to 15:25. The Bulls’ time of possession smashed the previous program record by nearly 4 minutes. Temples’ 35 plays run are the fewest ever run by a USF opponent breaking the mark of 46.
34-8 – USF posted 34 first downs to Temple’s 8.
Notables
• RB Jaren Mangham logged a career high 152 yards rushing and posted at least one rushing touchdown in his sixth straight game. He had two on the night to give him 12 on the year.
• RB Kelley Joiner ran for a career-best 126 yards and one touchdown.
• Spencer Shrader made field goals of 52 and 26 yards to remain a perfect 9-of-9 on the year.
Up Next
USF hits the road for its lone road game in its next three contests as it travels to ECU for a Thursday night primetime game on ESPN. That game against the Pirates is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The Bulls are 9-2 all-time vs. ECU and are 5-0 in Greenville, N.C.
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.
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– #GoBulls –
