USF Bulls: A Step In The Right Direction vs the Florida Gators

Read Time:3 Minute, 37 Second

Looking down at the field before kickoff the view was awesome. It was partly cloudy because it had rained earlier. The USF Bulls were looking for their first win against a ranked opponent since 2016. This was a hostile environment for the Bulls to play in. There were many more seats and butts in the seats than there were at Raymond James Stadium. I was looking for the Bulls to move forward. Last week against the Howard Bisons’ they struggled at times. They would not have the luxury against the Florida Gators. The game last year in Tampa was a blowout. Fans were hoping that would not happen again. The good part was seeing some green and gold within the crowd. At the end that is what the USF faithful want to see, improvement. The last time they played a team similar to Florida they got beat 50-21 by the BYU Cougars.

The USF Bulls went with what was said on Twitter as an “Ice Storm.” They were in all-white uniforms including helmets. They received many boos as they came out of the visiting locker room. The Bulls received the opening kickoff after the Gators won the coin toss and deferred. This was the best opening drive I had seen this year for USF until Xavier Weaver fumbled the ball, leading to a Bulls turnover. The USF defense held the Gators to just a field goal. Florida led early 3-0. It looked to me like the USF Bulls offense was timid and cautious. On USF’s second drive, they mixed up the run and pass and scored a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. \

To start the second quarter, a problem plaguing the Bulls happened again. They had an issue with containment and it bit them in the butt again as Montrell Johnson Jr. had a 62-yard run and gave the Gators a 10-7 lead. I like that head coach Jeff Scott rolled the dice going for it on fourth down and one. Brain Battie ran the ball for 51 yards and it paid off. The drive stalled near the goal line but it resulted in three points and at that time the game was tied at 10. After a bone head penalty, the Gators capitalized with a touchdown and took a 17-10 lead. Gerry Bohannan made a mistake and threw an interception that resulted in a pick-six. That was the second one he threw this year. The other came in game one against the BYU Cougars. This gave the Gators the lead 24-10. The Bulls played their best first half of the 2022 season.

The first half had some penalties against the USF Bulls that were questionable prompting Head coach Jeff Scott to talk to the officials. At the end of the first half, the Florida Gators lead the game 24-13. On the Gators’ opening drive of the second half, Anthony Richardson threw an interception. He threw two of them last week in their game against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Bulls capitalized with a Bohanon rushing touchdown and on top of that got a two-point conversion to pull within a field goal 24-21. That is the way that the third quarter ended. The Bulls held the Gators to no points in the third quarter. They scored midway through the fourth quarter and took the lead 28-24. The USF defense came up with a big play with another interception. But afterwards, Bohanon was rushed and threw his second interception of the game.

The Gators took the turnover and got a rushing touchdown by Trevor Etienne to put the Gators back on top 31-28. The Bulls drove down and attempted a 48-yard field goal that was no good. That wrapped up the game and a win for the Florida Gators. This was an outstanding game for the USF Bulls. This is a game that they can build on. I can see them getting better after this game. They will head to Louisville next week to play the Cardinals. The Bulls have a shot at a win after the way they played against the Florida Gators. The final score in this one was 31-28 in favor of the Gators.