Gerry Bohanon injured in USF’s loss to Tulane

TAMPA — Against an ever-mounting list of injuries, USF again came up short Saturday, losing 45-31 to Tulane at Raymond James Stadium and adding further doubt to a season rife with frustration.

Playing their first home game since Sept. 10, exactly 35 days that included the disruption of Hurricane Ian, the Bulls struggled with a slew of backups on the field.

The most notable substitute was sophomore quarterback Katravis Marsh, who took over with 6 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second quarter when starter Gerry Bohanon left with an injury to his right throwing shoulder.

Bohanon’s name can be added to the list of 21 scholarship players who have missed time this season due to injury, including 15 who were missing Saturday.

Before Bohanon went out, the Baylor transfer was looking sharper than he had all season, completing seven of his first eight passes for 109 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Horn.

Bohanon also had rushed five times for 59 yards and, most importantly, had USF with the ball and holding the lead, 14-10.

The play in which he was injured was an innocuous-looking dive to the USF 18-yard line, but it seemed to suck some life from the stadium.

Third-year USF coach Jeff Scott said an X-ray taken at halftime showed no broken bones, but further evaluation will be needed in the coming days.

A possible upside for Bohanon and the Bulls (1-6, 0-3 in the American Athletic Conference) is that they are entering a bye week, giving the coaches a chance to evaluate and their players an opportunity to heal.

“As coaches and players, we can’t stop playing because we have a bunch of injuries,” said Scott, who is 4-24 after taking over at USF in 2019. “I’ve never been around anything like this, this many injuries.

“But at the same time, we have to be able to move on. That’s why you rep two and three groups every week to get them ready for their opportunities. Hopefully, we’ll get some guys healthy and improve in the second half of the season.”

The Bulls still had the game within reach at the half, trailing only 17-14, and they tied it at 17 with 4:52 left in the third quarter.

Just over a minute later, however, Tulane (6-1, 3-0) had scored two touchdowns, the first on a 75-yard run by Tyjae Spears (18 carries, 151 yards) and the second on a 6-yard rush by Spears, following a fumble by Marsh.

Suddenly, Tulane led 31-17.

USF cut the gap to 31-24 just before the end of the third quarter on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Weaver. Yet, once again USF’s defense — the group hampered most by injuries (including missing starting linebacker Antonio Grier and backup DJ Gordon) — couldn’t stop the Green Wave.

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In the end, the Bulls’ defense gave up 561 total yards, marking the fourth time this season they have allowed more than 500 in a game. The unit came into Saturday’s game ranked 125th out of 130 Division I-A teams, allowing an average of 475.2 yards a game.

USF linebacker Dwayne Boyles was one of Saturday’s bright spots on defense, collecting 15 tackles, including a sack that led to a forced fumble recovered by the Bulls at the Tulane 18-yard line at the end of the third quarter.

Offensively, the Bulls’ brightest light was arguably Horn, who had five catches for 98 yards.

Marsh finished with seven completions in 15 attempts for 150 yards and two touchdowns but missed several open receivers.

USF center Brad Cecil, who came back from an abdominal injury that sidelined him during last week’s close loss at Cincinnati, said that no matter the depth of frustration, the team is keeping the faith.

“I know maybe a lot of people are blasting our coaches, but I have total confidence in our coaches,” Cecil said. “It’s not a coaches-versus-players thing or anything like that. The coaches haven’t lost us. There is no divide. The coaches are putting us in position to make the plays. We just have to execute the plays better.

“... I’m tired of losing, and I’m tired of feeling this way after games. We all are. But now we can use this week to heal up and get back out to practice and get better.”

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