Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times
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Well, the 2022 USF Bulls football season had something that has not occurred since 2015. It would be delayed by weather. There were many lightning strikes in the area and each time there was one it would reset game time back another 25 minutes. Despite that, USF and BYU fans stayed in the stadium. From my vantage point, many fans were wearing blue and white. The game finally kicked off at 6:35 pm. The USF Bulls were wearing special uniforms. They threw it back old school and wore green tops and gold bottoms. What made the uniform special was on the back of the helmet it said “Tampa Bay.” On the uniform under the players’ names was a state of Florida emblem. The emblem was colored green, and the Tampa Bay area was highlighted in gold. This was to show that they are happy to be part of the Tampa Bay area. Head coach Jeff Scott is hoping that the Tampa Bay area will show up. No matter who shows up it was not the best start for the USF Bulls.
BYU came out in their spread offense and had a 75-yard run that resulted in a touchdown. That brought the BYU faithful to their feet very quickly. What it showed was that the Bulls’ defense was not ready. The offense did not help their cause either as they came out and sputtered. On the second offensive series quarterback, Gary Bohanon Jr. threw an interception that resulted in a touchdown for BYU. USF found themselves down midway through the first quarter by 21 points. So, to me, that started the question was this team ready?
The USF Bulls fans booed the team at the end of the first quarter. Near the end of the quarter, the Bulls had a fourth down and a short one but instead decided to punt. I question why Jeff Scott decided to do that when the team look so out of sorts. By the end of the first quarter, the scoreboard read 28-0.
By the end of the first half, they trailed 38-7. The Bulls did give some sort of hope to the fans as they score a one-yard rushing touchdown on the back of Jared Mangham.
USF won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. They would need an outstanding second half to make a comeback. They were overmatched, and we all knew it was going to be that way.
The second half of the game started with a bang just like the first one did. The USF Bulls returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown. It was returned by Jimmy Horn Jr. The total yardage of the return was 89 yards. This would be the closest that the Bulls would be to the Cougars. The kick return brought them within 24 points. Once again, the Bulls’ offense looked out of sync, and midway through the third quarter BYU scored on a safety. On the ensuing kickoff, the Cougars didn’t waste much time. Once again made the USF Bulls’ defense look awful. This time a 52-yard run occurred. The USF offense showed some life again achieving a nine-yard touchdown run by Brian Battie. The run occurred late in the third quarter. The Bulls did not score in the final quarter, but the Cougars did.
The final score was 50-21.
From my perspective, USF has some work to do. The offense had issues and at times Bohanon stared down his receivers. That is never a good thing, and he was lucky he only threw one interception. The Bulls wide receivers dropped many balls in key moments. This does not make an offense look efficient. The defense failed to keep containment on the BYU offense. The Cougars had so many big plays that ate up many yards.
This is a bold prediction if this happens next week against Howard then head coach Jeff Scott will be on a very short leash. But I believe the USF Bulls will clean it up and put up a better game against Howard and get their first win in 2022. The Bulls have a long way to go to be at the level they need to be to compete with the top programs in the country.
Author Profile
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Bradley Walker serves as the Director of Operations for NGSC Sports, bringing extensive experience across collegiate, professional, and amateur athletics. His coverage spans USF Athletics, including football, baseball, lacrosse, and softball, as well as University of Tampa baseball.
Bradley also provides coverage of minor league baseball with the Clearwater Threshers and Major League Baseball with the Tampa Bay Rays. On the national stage, he covers college football bowl games and conference championship matchups, along with premier golf events across the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and LPGA Tour.
In addition to his reporting work, Bradley is the play-by-play announcer for Pinellas Park High School Patriots football, lending his voice and insight to Friday night lights.
He is also an active podcast host and contributor, serving as a co-host on the P&W Sports Report and hosting The Walker Report, where he delivers in-depth sports analysis, interviews, and coverage across multiple levels of competition.
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