[young22]

Report by Isaac Robinson - October 27th, 2018

Drops, flags cost the Swarm in a heartbreaker

6 drops, 10 penalties slow down Swarm O as B.J. Henderson tosses 3 scores -- USF dominates on the ground for their first win

Brandon Clark threw for 264 and 2 scores

Tampa, FL -- USF were due for a win. The now 1-7 Bulls had kept it close with then #1 Georgia among others, as they had lost 5 games by 5 or less points coming into this one, and boasted the nation's #13 passing attack. Indeed, junior Brandon Clark threw for 264 yards and 2 scores on 27/43 passing, and senior Marcus Brunner had his best game of the year with 130 yards rushing on just 18 carries. Westlake State did manage 2 interceptions which kept them in it, but it wasn't enough to overcome a whopping 6 dropped passes and 10 penalties.

It was scoreless after a quarter, with Shannon Wilkinson picking off Clark on the Bulls' second drive, but the Swarm ended up going 4 and out as a hit on Barrett Miller jarred the ball loose on 4th and 2. A 32 yard run from Brunner sparked the game's first scoring drive, with Clark finding tight end Brad Davis for 8 yards and a score.

No clue what Clark saw here

The Swarm answered back, as some good running allowed the Swarm to open up the pass game, and from the 37, B.J. Henderson found a wide open Kevin Sykes at the 15 off of play action, and the senior did the rest, finding paydirt to even things up. Punts were exchanged, and then the Bulls would score again, with another long run, this time 26 yards from backup Martin Harrell, being the play that jumpstarted the drive. This one ended in Clark keeping it himself on a zone read from a couple yards out for the score. After a 3 and out, USF managed a last second field goal before the half. Westlake State 7, USF 17.

Westlake State punted as a sack took them out of field goal range, and then a couple big gains from Carl Joyce through the air, combined with a facemask call on Leon Alexander put the Bulls inside the 5. They would only manage a field goal, as the Swarm defense came up with an impressive goal line stand to end the 3rd.

Westlake State would get themselves back into it with a 13 play, 75 yard drive capped off by Kevin Sykes' second receiving score on the day, making him the new team leader with 6 on the year. USF would go 3 and out, but so would the Swarm, as an Eric Monroe drop forced a punt. USF kicked a field goal, and the score was 23-14 in their favor.

These bad drops are why Monroe isn't at a P5 schoo

Enter B.J. Henderson. The sophomore had had a frustrating game, as he hadn't really put a foot wrong, but was just 12 of 24 thanks to his receivers dropping 6 balls, all catchable. On the first play of the drive, the Swarm ran a play-fake, sending Eric Monroe deep. USF were in cover 2, and strong safety Brendan Dawson was no match for Monroe's speed, and Henderson knew this. He dropped in a perfect pass, right in stride, and this time Monroe caught it and went the rest of the way for a 74 yard TD. Westlake State were knocking on the door, down just 2 points now.

What a play

Quote: Originally Posted by Dion Barkley

That was a 64 yard throw if you look at where he threw it from. Eric got open deep and B.J. made a throw that not every QB can make, hitting guys in stride that deep downfield.

The Swarm would take the lead just a few plays later, as Mark Landrum jumped in front of a pass and took it all the way back to the USF 7, and B.J. Henderson would run it in himself on the option.

Needing a score, USF would have to rely on the arm of Brandon Clark, but he didn't let the INT faze him. He immediately hit Brian Warren for 17 yards on a corner route, then Brunner for 16 a few plays later. Brunner ran for 13 to get the Bulls into Swarm territory, and then a short run and a couple of incompletions forced a game-deciding 4th and 7 from the Swarm 32. Clark would fire off a quick slant to Carl Joyce, who caught it and ended up gaining 15 yards. 3 plays later, Martin Harrell caught a 5 yard TD on an angle route for the go-ahead score. USF 30, Westlake State 29.

Clark finds Carl Joyce for the crucial conversion

It ended that way, as Henderson got too ambitious with 54 seconds to go, forcing a throw to Monroe. It wasn't well-placed, Monroe was double-covered anyway, and that was that. USF picked up a first down, and Clark kneeled once to end it.

Penalties really killed the Swarm in this one. The 3rd down drop from Monroe was bad, along with another drive-killing drop from Josh Roach earlier on, but the penalties did more. 6 false starts, 10 flags in total, costing the Swarm 65 yards. This is the second time this season the Swarm have had 10 flags thrown on them, the first being in week 1 against Nevada.

The run game also struggled compared to the last few weeks, as the Swarm ran for just 167 yards on 32 attempts, and it wasn't consistent at all. James Thompson averaged just 4.1 yards per carry as he was held under 100 yards for the first time in 3 games. Not only that, but most of Henderson's 89 rushing yards came when he had to improvise on a busted play.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dion Barkley

We have to do better, no doubt about it. Run game has to be able to get yards so we're not always asking B.J. to throw for a 3rd and 8, 3rd and 9. Then when he does make a good throw and it gets dropped like what happened a couple times today. Really rough loss, but this team [USF] was too good to be 0-7. They deserved that win, we didn't do enough to get it. Onto Arkansas State, they are another tough team that will punish us if we don't execute.

Westlake State are playing a team that could be a conference foe next season in the new-look AAC: Arkansas State, who sit at 6-2 behind the nation's 8th stingiest pass defense, boasting a pair of cornerbacks who will almost certainly go in the first 3 rounds of next year's NFL draft.