Change of Pace: Defense No-Shows in USF Football’s 44-24 Loss to ECU

The East Carolina Pirates encountered no traffic, and put their ships on cruise control and coasted to an easy 44-24 win over the South Florida Bulls on Saturday night inside Raymond James Stadium.

The USF defense was nowhere to be found on Saturday, which had not been the case for most of the year. ECU rushed for well over 200 yards, and consistently converted on third downs when they needed to.

ECU scored on their first four possessions to take a 24-7 lead and never looked back. Quarterback Holten Ahlers threw three touchdowns, including a 75-yard score to CJ Johnson on a busted play.

For the first time all season quarterback play wasn’t the issue for the Bulls. Jordan McCloud was 26-for-35 for 298 yards. He turned the ball over on a fumble that led to a ECU score.

“Overall, Jordan played well. We didn’t protect well enough for him,” head coach Jeff Scott said.

Running back Johnny Ford continued to be a bright spot for the Bulls as he accounted for both USF touchdowns on the night. He finished with a team-high 136 all-purpose yards. The running game was nonexistent for the Bulls even with the offensive line who was supposed to start the year finally able to play together.

USF faces Temple next week, maybe they’ll compete in this game.

Notables:

• Linebacker Dwayne Boyles missed his third straight game. Bentlee Sanders and Mehki LaPointe were also out.
• QB Katravis Marsh was out too.
• WR Latrell Williams finished with 8 catches for 93 yards.
• USF rushed for 93 yards.