IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Gasparilla Bowl loss ends USF’s disappointing season

Ken Cross

December 22, 2018 at 8:54 am.

Dec 20, 2018; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Marshall Thundering Herd defensive lineman Darius Hodge (44) recovers a fumble from South Florida Bulls quarterback Blake Barnett (11)  during the first quarter in the 2018 Gasparilla Bowl at Tropicana Field. Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Dec 20, 2018; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Marshall Thundering Herd defensive lineman Darius Hodge (44) recovers a fumble from South Florida Bulls quarterback Blake Barnett (11) during the first quarter in the 2018 Gasparilla Bowl at Tropicana Field. Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

A tough second half of the season ended in even tougher fashion on Thursday night when the South Florida Bulls dropped a 38-20 decision to Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

It was the culmination of two seasons of sorts as the Bulls won their first seven games in streaking into the Top 25 for three weeks. They topped out at No. 20 before a 57-36 loss at Houston in Game 8, which was the lynchpin of how the season ended.

“It’s really tough when you go out and start so well and then finish like we did,” said Coach Charlie Strong. “I hate it for the seniors who put so much into this program. You wanted to go out and win it for them.”

Strong cited the lack of execution, in particular tackling a Marshall offense that rolled up 503 yards, including 244 and five touchdowns on the ground. The Bulls defense had trouble stopping the run all season as it yielded 244 yards (124th in FBS) on the ground per game and 441 total yards (104th) per outing.

USF was obliterated with injuries on both sides of the football, especially in the secondary, which was the foreshadowing of doom in an AAC where the “Basketball on Grass” axiom fits as well as in any league in the nation.

“We have a lot of guys back and when you battle through adversity, it’s a great learning experience,” said Strong. “So now guys know how hard we have to go out and work and now you have a group of juniors who will become seniors that will provide the leadership that we are missing.”

Quarterback Blake Barnett will be back for his senior season and should be a steadying force behind a Bulls offense that lost offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert to McNeese State where he will become the head coach. Barnett missed two games due to injury, but is healthy and already looking forward to 2019.

“I think it will help not being here for just three months and still learning the offense as we were going through the season,” said Barnett. “I have full trust in Coach Strong that he is going to bring in a guy that is going to help this team play to the best of our ability.”

The Bulls trailed the Herd, 28-10, at halftime as Marshall jumped on South Florida, taking a 21-7 lead off of their powerful running game after one quarter. The Herd took advantage of a blindside sack by defensive end Darius Hodge. He stripped the ball from Barnett and then returned it 29 yards to the South Florida one-yard line.

Anthony Anderson then scored from one yard out which gave the Herd a 14-0 lead and that made it an uphill battle for the Bulls all evening.

USF closed to 31-20 on a 33-yard Barnett touchdown pass late in the third quarter; however, the Bulls defense had trouble getting off the field as they couldn’t stop a key third-and-one early in the fourth.

That led to MVP Keion Davis’ second touchdown of the night which slammed the door and handed USF its sixth loss in a row.

“You had that one drive, that third and one or two and you just don’t make the tackle and then all of a sudden they get the first down,” noted Strong. “This is when guys start pressing and you have to tell guys to just relax and play and it’s really hard because everyone wants to make a play and get off the field.”