The USF Bulls could not stop a driving Miami Hurricane team in the final minutes, losing 6-3 in a battle of stout defenses. The drive was capped off with a 36-yard kick from Miami kicker Jake Wieclaw.
The Bulls were held to 249 yards of total offense (133 passing and 116 rushing) while the Hurricanes produced 316 (259 passing and 57 rushing). The game also marks the lowest combined point total in USF program history.
“It’s our responsibility to put points on the board, have some consistency and help your defense out,” said offensive coordinator Todd Fitch. “Both defenses played their hearts out, obviously.”
USF quarterback B.J. Daniels completed 11 of 18 passes for 97 yards and an interception and ran for 21 yards on 9 carries before leaving the game in the third quarter with a right shoulder injury. Backup Bobby Eveld completed 5 of 9 passes for 36 yards in his relief. Running backs Darrell Scott and Demetris Murray combined for 87 yards on 19 carries. Andre Davis led Bulls receivers with 4 catches for 42 yards.
“We had some things we had some drives, but we couldn’t finish them,” Fitch said. “It was a frustrating night.”
Miami quarterback Jacory Harris completed 27 of 35 for 259 yards while running back Lamar Miller ran for 50 yards on 20 carries. Travis Benjamin caught 4 passes for 45 yards. The USF defense sacked Harris six times.
“You’ve got to credit Miami,” said defensive coordinator Mark Snyder. “[Harris] made some plays. They’re a good football team. Coach Golden and his team deserve a lot of credit. They made plays when they had to make plays. We didn’t count on having any negative yardage plays because the [offensive line] is so big. We were able to get to Jacory a little bit and it kept us in the game for a little while.”
Both punters received a lot of work. USF punter Justin Brockhaus-Khan kicked 9 times for 304 yards averaging 33.8 yards and placing the ball inside the Miami 20, 6 times. Miami punter Dalton Botts kicked 8 times for 347 yards with an average of 43.4 yards and placing the ball inside the USF 20, 3 times.
“It was a 12-round, toe-to-toe, staying in the center of the ring were two great defenses battling each other,” said head coach Skip Holtz. “It was a hard-hitting game. It lived up to everything that an in-state rivalry game should live up to with two teams competing their tail off. I feel our defense played an outstanding football game tonight. Unfortunately offensively, we weren’t able to move the ball much in the second half when B.J. went out. We couldn’t get any consistency rolling out at that point.”
Both offenses sputtered throughout the game rarely getting into field goal range. The only scoring exchange took place late in the first quarter, when Miami drove the ball 77 yards on 16 plays for Wieclaw to kick a 26-yard field goal to put the Canes ahead 3-0.
The Bulls responded on the following drive into the second quarter as Scott and Daniels lead the Bulls on a 10-play, 49 yard drive to allow Maikon Bonani to kick a 42-yard field goal to tie it at 3 with 13:48 left to play until the half.
Miami had a chance to take the lead in the third quarter at the 10:41 mark when they drove 57 yards on 12 plays to set up Wieclaw for a 41-yard field goal, but he missed. A prevalent theme for USF throughout the game was the numerous times their drives stalled in and around midfield forcing punts.
Miami would put the nail in the coffin when they got the ball midway through the fourth quarter at 7:08 mark when they started at their own 20. They drove 61-yards to the USF 19 chipping away at the Bulls defense and consuming the clock before putting the game in Wieclaw’s hands. As the clock winded down to two seconds, Miami called a timeout. USF followed up with two timeouts of their own before Wieclaw put the game away.
The (5-5) Bulls will continue their homestand against the Louisville Cardinals on Friday, Nov. 25.
