It's a Victory Rewind of the sights, sound bites, stats, highlights and learning experiences from USF's 24-21 non-conference road triumph against the Connecticut Huskies, while easing into the bye week and beginning the look ahead to the Nov. 4 road game against the Memphis Tigers as American Athletic Conference play resumes for USF's home stretch.
The Big Play
With 2:15 remaining — and USF trying to keep UConn out of range for a game-tying field-goal attempt or a go-ahead score — Huskies quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson scrambled for a first down at the UConn 46-yard line. But Roberson was hit from behind by USF linebacker Mac Harris, who forced a fumble that was recovered by nickel back Daquan Evans. That allowed USF to essentially ice away the game.
Game Balls
• Running back Nay'Quan Wright had career highs of 26 carries 186 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 4:02 to play. It marked the most yards rushing for an AAC player this season. Wright earned AAC Weekly Honor Roll recognition for his performance.
• Safety Jaelen Stokes had seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery and an interception (along with another pick that was negated by penalty).
• Wide receiver Michael Brown-Stephens had a career-high nine receptions for 92 yards (including four catches for 44 yards on USF's final two touchdown drives).
• Linebacker Mac Harris, who moved into the starting line-up after an injury to DJ Gordon, had seven tackles, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
Notable Numbers
2 — Number of USF road victories this season (after the program had lost 19 straight games away from Raymond James Stadium). The single-season program record for road victories is four, achieved in 2007, 2016 and 2017. The Bulls last posted two in 2019.
5 — The number of times that a USF football team has won after rallying from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit.
• In 2012, the Bulls were down 31-20 at Nevada and prevailed 32-31.
• In 2014 at SMU, the Bulls were down 13-0 and won 14-13. • There were two big-time rallies in 2018 — coming from 19-7 down against Illinois (at Chicago's Soldier Field) to win 25-19, then erasing a 24-10 deficit at Tulsa enroute to a 25-24 victory.
• Saturday, the Bulls were down 21-10 at UConn with 12:45 to play and rallied for a 24-21 win.
8-for-10 — Quarterback Byrum Brown's passing on USF's final two touchdown drives, including 4-for-4 for 54 yards, 12 yards rushing and the rushing touchdown on the drive that cut the lead to 21-17.
9 — Consecutive USF victories against UConn. The Huskies last beat the Bulls in 2011.
51 — Receptions this season for wide receiver Sean Atkins, who's chasing the single-season record of 67 (Rodney Adams, 2016). Additionally, Atkins has 550 receiving yards (the USF record is 879, set in 2017 by Marquez Valdes-Scantling).
90 — Length in yards of USF's go-ahead touchdown drive, which required nine plays and two minutes, 56 seconds. It was the second-longest drive for the Bulls on the season.
Back On Track
The Bulls broke a two-game losing streak and moved to 4-4 heading into their bye week following a 24-21 come-from-behind victory against the Connecticut Huskies at chilly, damp, windy (but not rainy) Rentschler Field.
Trailing 21-10 in the fourth quarter, Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown engineered touchdown drives of 75 and 90 yards, getting the go-ahead score on Nay'Quan Wright's 4-yard run with 4:02 remaining.
When USF's defense recovered a fumble with 2:15 remaining, the Bulls could finally exhale a bit after the tense game where all the little things added up to a lot.
"The biggest challenge going in was defensively to play harder for longer than UConn and I think we did that,'' head coach Alex Golesh said. "Offensively, I think we were lackluster for three quarters before we finally put some things together.
"Among a lot of noise (following USF's two-game losing streak), we're continuing to build a program that the city of Tampa can really be proud of and continue to support. The foundation is slowly but surely being laid for the type of program we want — which is tough, aggressive and one that plays harder for longer than our opponents.''
What does such a performance mean at this point of USF's season?
"It just means that we're learning what it looks like to work, what it looks like to answer (challenges),'' Golesh said. "And when you get challenged, what it looks like to play the next play.''
Wright's career performance included touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards. On a day when explosive passing plays were hard to find — his longest completion was 18 yards — Brown was 27-of-39 for 203 yards, marking a career high in completions. He rushed for 61 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown.
The Wright Stuff
Wright, a transfer from Florida, has back-to-back 100-yard rushing games and now stands as USF's leading rusher (590 to Brown's 573). He had a 41-yard run on the game's first play from scrimmage and a 47-yard scamper that set up USF's go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.=
Head coach Alex Golesh said Wright's productive play is a direct result of improved practice habits and a commitment to being a team leader. Wright's fervor recently reached a point where Golesh had to calm him down and tell him NOT to play on the kickoff coverage team after an active offensive series.
"Nay'Quan is that physical, tough presence we've needed,'' Golesh said. "You get transfers that come in and it takes a minute for those guys to figure out where they fit in. Nay'Quan has really good leadership ability, but to lead, you have to work and show that work capacity in every single thing you do before you can lead.
"Leadership is hard. And I think it's really hard to lead if you're not producing. Nay'Quan is practicing hard and he has learned to do the hard stuff during the week, so on Saturday, it's not that hard. I think there was a turn (in Wright's practice habits) about three or four weeks ago. He took that challenge. And now he is really seeing it pay off.''
Wright said his priority now is finishing fast and building upon the momentum that USF has established.
"Just being patient and not losing faith, man, that's the key,'' Wright said. "This thing has definitely been tough. I've gone through injuries in my career. But I kept believing and now all my coaches and teammates are believing in me.
"I would definitely say the last four weeks have been my best weeks of practice. The coaches have been telling me to pick it up. It all starts in practice. I want to be the guy who everyone can count on.''
Wright said he gained additional inspiration from a Friday night lesson with Rev. David Lane, the USF team chaplain. It revolved around two words.
Be Still.
"Be still (mentally), no matter what's going on,'' Wright said. "Keep swinging. When things haven't been going your way and you're in a 60-minute dogfight, keep swinging. Don't flinch. Don't worry. Keep your mind calm and keep swinging. I think we were able to do that.''
Defensive Turnaround
After surrendering 112 points and 16 touchdowns (one on special teams) during USF's two-game losing streak, the defense emphasized fundamentals, technique and a return to early season form during a focused week of practice. Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando stressed pursuit, flying to the ball and playing with a fearless edge.
Mission accomplished.
USF's defense limited UConn to 368 yards while forcing four turnovers. By no means was it perfect, but the defense played winning football, keeping UConn within range and setting the stage for the late heroics of USF's offense.
Harris and Jhalyn Shuler (eight tackles, one sack) were particularly effective at linebacker, while Stokes played the game of his life at safety.
"I think the story of the game is the defense having ginormous focus, getting off the field when it really needed to and giving the offense the opportunity for those two drives (in the fourth quarter),'' Golesh said. "Time and time again, the defense answered and it was a good display of complimentary football.''
Stokes said the USF defense was determined to reverse its fortunes.
"We just wanted to get back to (being) us,'' Stokes said. "Even though we put the last two games on film and it's going to stay there forever, we know that it wasn't our best two games. Personally, I played the worst two games of my career. It was about getting back to our defensive play and playing for the brother next to you. We got that done.''
Behind The Curtain
A few observations on game elements that didn't get the primary headlines:
* Trailing 21-17 with 6:58 remaining, USF took over on its 10-yard line. It quickly faced third-and-8 and Golesh called a time out one second before the play clock expired. Brown hung in the pocket and was a heartbeat away from getting dumped on a sack, but he delivered a strike that tight end Weston Wolff turned into a leaping 17-yard first-down reception. Huge play — and one that might be easily forgotten on USF's 90-yard go-ahead touchdown drive.
* With a chilly, damp Northeastern atmosphere, field position was extremely important. USF punter Andrew Stokes averaged 46.7 on three attempts — with two inside-the-20, no return yardage and a 60-yarder that flipped the field.
* Due to injuries, the Bulls played with three offensive linemen — tackle Derek Bowman, plus guards Cole Best and Cole Skinner (a true freshman) — who were not in USF's opening-day starting lineup. The O-line held up quite well, allowing just one sack and helping the Bulls to a 5.3-yard average on rushing attempts.
Next Up: Memphis
On Nov. 4, the Bulls (4-4, 2-2 AAC) will travel to face the Memphis Tigers (5-2, 2-1 AAC), whose losses have come to No. 16 Missouri (34-27) and No. 22 Tulane (31-21).
Memphis is coming off a 45-21 road victory against UAB — breaking open a 21-21 game at halftime by scoring 24 unanswered points — and it will travel to AAC opponent North Texas next Saturday before preparing for the Bulls.
USF is 4-7 overall against Memphis and has lost five of the last six meetings, winning 49-42 in 2016.
The Tigers are paced offensively by quarterback Seth Henigan (66.3-percent completions, 1,856 yards, 15 touchdowns, seven interceptions) and running back Blake Watson (593 yards, seven touchdowns), who's coming off a 125-yard effort at UAB.
Golesh said USF's bye week came at an ideal time.
"We can heal up and hopefully get a few more guys back (from injury),'' Golesh said. "We can get out on the road and recruit, get in front of these young guys and have our presence, which is going to be huge.
"We've got a four-game stretch, starting with Memphis on the road, which will be tough. It's another step for us in our growth. The challenge is now how we handle it. This four-game stretch is going to be really telling to show where we're headed.''
–#GoBulls–
