After a 19-9 victory over the Florida International University Panthers last week, the University of South Florida Bulls looked to make a statement in their conference opener against the Army Black Knights, and they did so with a 28-24 comeback victory at West Point.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, the Bulls acknowledged the importance of each possession and how important it was to take advantage of the time they had with the ball against an Army team that is known for milking the clock with its famed triple-option offense.
South Florida applied that mentality right away as it started quickly with a touchdown on its opening drive that featured quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. connecting with receiver Wyatt Sullivan for a 17-yard chunk play before finding Cameron Seldon for 31 more yards just one play later.
The drive was capped off with Van Buren Jr. finding Bryson Rodgers in the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass. After that, the South Florida offense struggled to find any rhythm for the remainder of the half as its two other drives of the half were plagued by penalties.
The Bulls only had three first-half drives because Army controlled the tempo of the game throughout the half, including two touchdown drives that spanned more than 10 plays. Army eventually responded to the Bulls’ opening touchdown with an 11-play, 90-yard drive and then followed it up with a backbreaking 19-play, 92-yard drive that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock.
Cale Hellums capped the drive off with a four-yard touchdown pass to Godspower Nwawuihe to give the Black Knights a 14-7 lead going into the half.
Nwawuihe led the charge for the Black Knights, accounting for 94 rushing yards on 20 carries. Hellums also gave the Bulls’ defense problems throughout the day, completing 9-of-10 passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns while adding 55 rushing yards on 18 carries.
After another Nwawuihe touchdown late in the fourth quarter stretched the Army lead to 24-14 with just five minutes left, the South Florida offense had a tall task after sputtering for much of the afternoon.
However, Van Buren Jr. got into a rhythm as the offense started to play with tempo and scampered for a 24-yard touchdown to cap off a 1 minute, 47-second drive to bring the Bulls back within three.
South Florida attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Black Knights, but the Bulls’ defense stood strong and forced a three-and-out to give the team an opportunity to win the game. On the ensuing punt, Army committed an uncharacteristic unnecessary roughness penalty that negated a punt that would have pinned USF deep in its own territory.
While it wasn’t the smoothest two-minute drive, the Bulls got into field goal range for kicker Nico Gramatica, but Hartline decided to keep the offense on the field for a fourth-and-6 play from the 38-yard line.
That decision paid off as Army sent a Cover 0 blitz that resulted in wide receiver Joshua Porter beating his man and catching a perfectly thrown ball from Van Buren Jr. for a 38-yard touchdown that gave South Florida the lead with 19 seconds remaining.
Hartline was asked about the decision to trust his offense and go for the win. He said, “I thought that in that situation I didn’t like the length of the kick frankly for a game-winner. I think to not give our guys an opportunity to go win the game, they’ve earned it. They’re out there cause we trust them.”
For the Bulls, this game showed that they have the potential to be legitimate contenders for the American Conference championship after some doubt remained following last week’s game against FIU.
Despite the offense struggling at times, it showed the ability to be explosive when needed, and Van Buren Jr. looked comfortable within the offense as he accounted for all four of the team’s touchdowns.
Looking ahead, South Florida will host the Delaware State University Hornets next week at Raymond James Stadium. The Bulls will look to start 3-0 for the first time since 2018, a feat that would continue a strong start to Hartline’s tenure with the program.
