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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, OCT. 21, 2014 – Willie Taggart always talks about steps a young program like USF needs to take to win consistently and Taggart saw his Bulls make a huge leap in the right direction last Saturday.
Aggressive and electric play on both sides of the ball helped the Bulls put together the biggest comeback in program history when they erased a 20-point deficit in the second half of a 38-30 victory at Tulsa.
Taggart was paying close attention to everything that went into the turnaround and stood proudly at Tuesday's press conference podium as he gave his assessment of the team.
“A lot of it was our mentality on the sideline. When we were down I didn't see our kids put their heads down,” he said. “I'm always looking for it because I know we're in trouble once we get that. I didn't get that even when we were down. That let me know we had a chance.”
Marlon Mack roared out of the gates with a 54-yard touchdown run before Mike White and American Offensive Player of the Week Andre Davis connected on three dazzling scoring plays. Chuck Bresnahan's defense also did what it had to do to get the ball back to a suddenly red-hot offense.
“They stayed mentally focused on the job at hand and they kept believing,” Taggart said. “I think that's the biggest gift any football player can have is belief and those guys believed.”
And while USF kept the faith in the plan and each other, several Bulls showed the confidence Taggart has been looking for as the second half progressed.
“They really played up to their potential and kind of took ownership in the huddle from an offensive standpoint. Guys started asking for plays, they wanted them, saying, 'Hey coach, what do you think about this?'” Taggart said. “These guys are doing that and it's like, 'Wow. We hadn't had that before.' If you want it we're going to give it to you and now you've got to take care of it. Sure enough those guys took care of their business and that was great to see.”
USF's next order of business is preparing for Friday's 7 p.m. battle with Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium and Taggart is anxious to see if the Bulls can take another step forward against a tough foe.
“They're a winning football team, a team that was picked to win this conference,” said Taggart of Cincinnati. “They're playing better right now and it's going to be a big-time challenge for our guys, but we're excited about that challenge to go up there.”
White Gets the Game Ball
Mike White was rewarded with the game ball after shaking off a tough first half against Tulsa.
The sophomore quarterback started off with a costly interception in the first quarter and ended up having a chat with Taggart during halftime as the Bulls were facing a 27-7 deficit.
“If he would have put his head down and pouted I probably wouldn't have put him back in,” Taggart said.
Instead White gave his coach a fiery look that convinced Taggart to give him a shot at redemption.
“I like that. I want our quarterback to be that way,” Taggart said.
White wound up putting together the best performance of his USF career by throwing three touchdown passes and racking up 211 of his 272 passing yards in the second half. White leads The American and ranks sixth in the FBS with an average of 15.57 yards per completion.
“He's putting the ball to where our receivers can run with the ball after the catch and that's been huge for us,” Taggart said. “But that's come with experience and understanding what's going on.”
White showed great awareness at the beginning of the comeback by checking out of a called play when he saw something in the defense the Bulls could take advantage of and the result was a 54-yard touchdown run by Mack.
“We were in a bad play and Mike told Sean Price to come get on (the left side) and he changed the play. We always tell them, 'Whenever in doubt, run power,'” Taggart said. “He changed to power and sure enough (Mack) breaks out for a long run. They were doing what they were taught to do and did it with confidence.”
“You audible to any run play, you're kind of holding your breath because you know Marlon can break it and it just so happened to happen on that one,” White said with a smile.
Taggart's First Win as a Bull Was Against Cincinnati
The Bulls put the first win of the Taggart era is in the books thanks to an all-around effort in last season's matchup with Cincinnati.
Marvin Kloss kicked four field goals while USF scored touchdowns on special teams and defense in a 26-20 victory before a crowd of 31,077 at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 5, 2013.
Safety Nate Godwin, playing as a true freshman, started the scoring with a play he'll never forget, a 75-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown 2 minutes, 3 seconds into the action.
“That was probably one of the greatest moments since I've been here. (Mike McFarland) blocked it and it fell into my hands and I just ran down the sideline,” Godwin said. “I didn't know if anybody was going to catch me, I just ran as fast as I could. I scored and that play I think changed my freshman year all the way around. It made me believe, 'You know what Nate? You can do this.'”
Godwin finished fourth on the team with 49 total tackles last season (12 games, nine starts). The sophomore has continued his solid production this season, ranking second on the squad with 51 total tackles and 39 solo stops.
USF-Cincy at Paul Brown Stadium
This year's USF-Cincinnati matchup will take place at the home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bearcats are playing all their 2014 home games at Paul Brown Stadium while Nippert Stadium is undergoing an $86-million renovation and expansion project.
This will be the Bulls' 13th Friday night game after improving to 7-5 in those contests with a 17-14 win over UConn earlier this season on Sept. 19.
Get to Know Cincinnati
Cincinnati (3-3, 1-1) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 41-3 victory over SMU in Dallas on Oct. 18. The Bearcats' previous three losses were to Ohio State, Memphis and Miami.
Tommy Tuberville is in his second season with the program after going 9-4 in his debut and guiding Cincinnati to a Belk Bowl berth.
Quarterback Gunner Kiel leads the American Athletic Conference with 19 touchdown passes. The sophomore is averaging 308.8 passing yards per game while completing 59.4 percent of his attempts with six interceptions. Kiel transferred to Cincinnati in spring 2013 after redshirting at Notre Dame as a true freshman.
Cincinnati's defense leads The American with 3.0 sacks per game, but the Bearcats are giving up 242.3 yards per game on the ground.
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.
