TAMPA — Willie Taggart was only the second-snazziest representative of USF football at Friday night's post-game news conference. The coach's dark blazer, green-and-white designer tie and crisp white dress shirt had nothing on Mike White.
His green pants and jersey were damp, but hardly dirty. To Bulls fans weary of seeing their quarterback bedecked in grass stains and air casts, this new look bore the pristine quality of a prom-night tux.
"I was back there (in the pocket) eating my lunch," White said in the wake of the Bulls' 17-14 victory against Connecticut, which sacked him only once. "My big boys up front, man, they made me so proud."
As fashion statements go, the Bulls made the boldest one of Taggart's 16-game tenure. Which is to say, they prevailed in exactly the fashion their coach has envisioned for this program: ball control, a bruising run game, and brute-force assertiveness up front.
In their most complete effort in the past season and a half, the Bulls (2-2, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) controlled the ball for more than 39 minutes, churned out 271 total yards on a waterlogged night, never fumbled and committed one first-half penalty.
For good measure, the defense held UConn to 145 total yards and no third-down conversions on nine tries, and punter Mattias Ciabatti had a career night, pinning five of his six punts inside the 20.
"He was punting the ball like it was dry," Taggart said.
But the offense — finally performing the way Taggart drew it up — was arguably the most encouraging facet in a game that drew an actual Raymond James Stadium audience of 11,599 (according to the Tampa Sports Authority).
"I think one thing about us that's so good is we can kind of go and we can throw the ball, but we can also pound the ball all game like we did today, and kind of make the throws when we need to," said White, who finished 10-for-18 for 113 yards, one TD and a pick-six that first bounced off his receiver's chest.
"We rode the back of our o-line and they performed."
Six days after being embarrassed by N.C. State, which held the Bulls to 159 yards and sacked White three times, the line outperformed the Huskies' seasoned, stout front seven. Nine Huskies defensive starters, in fact, were fourth- or fifth-year players. The other two were redshirt sophomores.
"They stepped up," Taggart said. "All week those guys were excited and motivated and locked in to do a good job. I challenged those guys to come out and play well, play up to their potential, and I felt like we did."
The resurgence coincided with the return of junior left guard Thor Jozwiak from a two-game absence (shoulder, toe injuries). Frequently running to Jozwiak's side, freshman Marlon Mack (31 carries, 103 yards, one TD) became the first player to run for 100 yards on UConn this season.
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Explore all your optionsAdditionally, the game's most pivotal play — White's 30-yard TD strike to Rodney Adams on fourth and 10 — featured arguably the best few seconds of protection White has enjoyed in his nine games as Bulls starter.
"In our position meeting (Monday), we just sat down together, no coaches," Jozwiak said. "And we got on the whiteboard and we just talked and we wanted to establish what we could do to get better and really play physical and have that attitude and establish a mind-set up front in order to get a victory."
The result: a resounding fashion statement, and a few bold ones to boot.
"We want to establish a grinding mentality," Jozwiak said. "It's a mind-set, and it's a mind-set you're going to see from the front five for the rest of the year, I promise you that."
Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.