Brian Battie Rushes for 1,000 on the Season, USF Football Loses 48-42 to Tulsa

Nov 19, 2022 - 6:10 AM

The South Florida Bulls fell 48-42 to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Friday night at Tulsa. USF falls to 1-10 on the year, and 0-2 under interim head coach Daniel Da Prato after former head coach Jeff Scott was fired after the Temple loss.

The bright spots for the Bulls were glaring. Running back Brian Battie needed 127 yards to hit the 1,000 yard rushing mark on the season. He rushed for 169 yards to finish with 1,042 yards on the year. He’s the first USF running back to crack 1,000 since Jordan Cronkrite rushed for 1,121 yards in 2018.

True freshman quarterback Byrum Brown made his first career start for the Bulls showed why the coaching staff had so much faith him dating back to spring practice. Brown finished the night 21-for-25 for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He added 76 yards and score on the ground.

While offense looked good all night despite being on their third string QB, the defense continued to be the worst worst in all of college football. They allowed 573 yards of total offense to Tulsa, including 220 rushing yards to running back Deneric Prince.

The Bulls took an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but that was quickly spoiled by two untimely turnovers by Sean Atkins on a muffed punt and a poor snap by center Brad Cecil on a wildcat play.

That was the difference as the Bulls couldn’t make up those lost possessions.

USF will face Central Florida next Saturday to end the dreadful season at home.

Notables

• WR Sean Atkins finished with nine catches and 115 yards and a touchdown.
• TE Chris Mottillo caught his first career touchdown
• WR Xavier Weaver did not play tonight.
• The USF offense averaged 7.6 YPP, but the defense allowed 7.8 YPP