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POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, OCT. 11, 2014 – Senior wide receiver Andre Davis set a school receiving record and USF took a 17-7 lead into halftime but couldn't hold off No. 19 East Carolina in a 28-17, homecoming loss Saturday night before a crowd of 31,567 at Raymond James Stadium.
“What we have to continue to improve on as a football team is finishing ballgames,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “When you have people down you've got to keep them down and I think that's part of (where) our football program has to improve the most.”
Thanks to a big first half, Davis broke the USF all-time receiving yards record after missing the past four games with a bruised sternum. Davis caught six passes for 124 yards and set the tone for USF's productive first half with a 51-yard touchdown reception that helped give the Bulls a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. Davis is now the USF career leader with 1,710 receiving yards after the record was previously held by Carlton Mitchell, who racked up 1,648 yards from 2007-09. Davis also tied the USF record with his fifth career 100-plus yard receiving game and logged his 11th career receiving touchdown, good for fourth all-time.
“It was great to have his leadership out there, his playmaking ability, and I think we saw in the first half what he was able to do,” said Taggart of Davis, who caught four passes for 90 yards in the first two quarters.
Davis returned to action for the first time since the season opener against Western Carolina on Aug. 30 and the Tampa native made an instant impact. Davis' 51-yard touchdown catch down the middle of the field on a nice toss from White gave the Bulls the lead on their first drive of the game. An effective rushing attack initially powered the drive as freshman Marlon Mack rushed for 17 yards and two first downs and Darius Tice set up White's big pass play to Davis with an 11-yard run that took the Bulls to the 49-yard line.
ECU punted twice before tying the game up with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Shane Carden to Breon Allen with 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but that was all the USF defense gave up during a solid first half. The Pirates came in averaging 3.1 punts per game and wound up punting four times in the first two quarters. ECU finished with five total punts.
While the ECU offense stayed out of sync, USF's offense kept building momentum as the first half progressed. Davis became USF's all-time leader in receiving yards midway through the second quarter with a 25-yard catch that brought the Bulls to the ECU 38. Mack (Sarasota) capped off the nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run that helped give the Bulls a 14-7 advantage with 7:49 remaining before halftime.
It marked Mack's fifth touchdown of the season and USF's 11th, which tied the Bulls' total from 2013. USF has eight rushing touchdowns this season, which is twice as many as the Bulls scored on the ground last season. Mack finished with a team-leading 61 yards on 15 carries.
ECU had the ball with less than 2 minutes remaining in the opening half and the Bulls halted the drive with their 13th turnover of the season. Sophomore Johnny Ward (Moultrie, Ga.) intercepted his second pass of the season at the USF 36 and the Bulls took advantage of the clutch takeaway. Mack started things off with a 16-yard run and senior Marvin Kloss (Naples, Fla.) spotted USF a 17-7 lead with a 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds to go before the break. The Groza Award Watch List member has made at least one field goal in eight consecutive games.
USF outgained ECU, 226-180, in the first half while White remained on target through the air. The sophomore started 10-for-16 for 143 yards, which was a season high. Mack led the ground attack with 11 rushes for 54 yards.
“We moved the ball well in the first half and honestly I think it had a lot to do with the student turnout,” White said. “Them getting loud, it kind of got us going. We listened to our game plan, we trusted it.”
Carden started 9-for-15 for 103 yards and the Heisman hopeful was sacked three times in the opening half. The Pirates converted just once on third down on seven tries while the Bulls started with more than a 5-minute advantage in time of possession.
Despite the slow start, ECU bounced back on its opening drive of the second half with a 24-yard touchdown run from Marquez Grayson that helped cut the deficit to 17-14 with 5:40 to play in the third quarter.
The Pirates (5-1, 2-0) took their first lead of the game with 11:42 remaining in the fourth quarter when Allen registered a 4-yard touchdown run. ECU extended its lead to 28-17 with a 20-yard touchdown run by Anthony Scott with 6:28 remaining.
The Bulls' offense was unable to stay in the groove it got into in the first half partially because of dropped passes and mistakes. USF was penalized eight times for 59 yards with mishaps taking place on key plays on offense after the break.
“That's the No. 19 team in the nation and we can't expect ourselves to go out there, shoot ourselves in the foot and expect to win the ballgame,” Davis said.
Carden finished 24-for-33 through the air for 250 yards, which was well below the senior's average of 375.8 yards per game. The Pirates passed for a season-low 257 yards and their streak of three consecutive games with 500-plus total yards was snapped after they finished with 481 yards against the Bulls, 100 below their season average.
Allen rushed for 124 yards on 18 carries to help ECU finish with 231 yards on the ground after totaling 77 yards in the first half.
“We didn't do a good job of stopping the run and if I was disappointed in anything it was that,” Taggart said.
White passed for a season-high 257 yards after setting season highs in completions (21) and passing attempts (41).
“We were moving the ball the entire (second) half, we just couldn't finish,” White said.
USF (2-4, 1-1) will look to bounce back Saturday, Oct. 18 at Tulsa. Kickoff in Oklahoma is set for noon (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNews. USF finishes its two-game road trip at Cincinnati on Friday, Oct. 24 before returning to Raymond James Stadium to host Houston on Saturday, Nov. 1. Purchase tickets for USF-Houston and the Bulls' home finale against UCF on Nov. 28 HERE.
USF football single game tickets, mini-plans and season tickets are available on-line at GoUSFBulls.com, by calling 1-800-GoBulls, or in person at the Sun Dome Gate A Ticket Office. Season Ticket Members may renew their tickets on-line today.
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