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USF routs Cincinnati, stays in contention for AAC title

 
South Florida Bulls linebacker Zack Bullock (52) prepares to play Cincinnati Bearcats at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Friday, November 20, 2015.
South Florida Bulls linebacker Zack Bullock (52) prepares to play Cincinnati Bearcats at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Friday, November 20, 2015.
Published Nov. 21, 2015

TAMPA — Two autumns ago, a woefully undermanned USF team managed 26 points against Cincinnati without an offensive touchdown.

Friday night, on the same field, the Bulls managed to double that figure against the Bearcats without blinking.

And so continued the breakneck evolution of Willie Taggart's program, which in seven weeks has transformed the Bulls' American Athletic Conference title hopes from laughable to legitimate. Very legitimate.

Any doubt of that was shed in short order on senior night, when the Bulls staged the most impressive opening half in school history en route to a 65-27 nationally televised embarrassment of Cincinnati (6-5, 3-4).

"It was phenomenal," senior tight end Sean Price said.

The Bulls (7-4, 5-2) need only a Thanksgiving night victory at winless UCF combined with a Temple loss in one of its last two contests (against Memphis and UConn) to capture the conference's East Division and earn a berth in the inaugural AAC title game.

Speaking of scoreboard watching, the announced Raymond James Stadium crowd of 26,522 was forced to do it frequently Friday, if only to keep up.

USF's 51 first-half points were a school record, and its 65 were a record for a conference game. The Bulls scored on eight of their first nine drives, including seven touchdowns, and converted all eight of their third-down attempts before intermission.

"I look up and was like, 'Man, I don't think I've ever been a part of anything like this,' " Taggart said. "But that's college football.

"Our guys went out and put a complete game together. I shouldn't say complete; we didn't finish like we necessarily wanted to there in the second half. … We came out in attack mode from the beginning, and our guys didn't let up."

Barely 16 minutes in, the Bulls had a 34-0 lead. By that point, sophomore quarterback Quinton Flowers had thrown for a season-high three touchdowns (he finished with four) and the defense had forced a season-high-tying four turnovers (it finished with six).

The fourth turnover was cornerback Deatrick Nichols' interception of Bearcats backup quarterback Hayden Moore that he returned 29 yards for a touchdown with 13:48 to play in the half, giving USF a 34-0 lead.

"It blew my mind," said tailback Marlon Mack (11 carries, 106 yards, two touchdowns), who established a USF record with his seventh 100-yard effort of the year. "But I knew with our defense getting those turnovers and locking down … I just knew if they did that and our offense excels, that's what's going to happen."

But back to the beginning, the very beginning.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Flowers pump-faked and found wide receiver Rodney Adams isolated near the left hash for a 67-yard touchdown. Emilio Nadelman's point-after try was blocked.

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"We practiced that play all week, and that was the result we wanted from it," Taggart said. "It really set the tone for what we wanted to do offensively and got us going."

On the Bearcats' sixth play, senior defensive end Eric Lee got a strip sack of Moore — on Moore's first snap of the night — and senior defensive back Jamie Byrd recovered the ball. Three plays later, Flowers found Price alone in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.

Byrd intercepted Cincinnati starter Gunner Kiel on the next possession. Three plays after that, Mack dashed 48 yards to the Bearcats' 5-yard line, setting up Flowers' 1-yard touchdown pass to Plant High alumnus Jordan Reed on a receiver screen.

The half ended as auspiciously as it began, with Nadelman nailing a career-best 49-yard field goal to give USF a 51-3 lead. In between, Price had two touchdown catches (one more than he totaled in his first three years), the defense had three interceptions (including one by safety Devin Abraham) and USF had 388 total yards.

Cincinnati, fourth nationally in total offense entering the game, had 189.

"We knew they were going to try to attack our bubble (screens)," said Flowers, who found receivers behind the Bearcats' coverage on three of his four touchdown passes.

"We've got guys that can run. We've got Rodney Adams, we've got Marlon Mack, those guys that can move. So once they saw a couple of bubbles, they shot up, and we got a chance to take a shot downfield."

The Bearcats made it a tad more respectable with scores on their first three drives of the second half. The third, a 54-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Jefferson High alumnus Chris Moore, gave the latter Cincinnati's record for career scoring catches (26).

Otherwise, the Bulls had the monopoly on records — and swagger — on the most surreal of USF senior nights.

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.