Sunday, 3 a.m.
For Alex Golesh, there is more work to do.
There is no argument that Golesh, coach of the USF Bulls, has elevated his team in his two seasons. But Saturday put a qualifier on the progress.
The Bulls lost to Rice.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Rice.
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The Bulls dropped a 35-28 game to the Owls Saturday, showing that it isn’t just the good teams (Alabama, Miami, Tulane, Memphis) that beat the Bulls. For years, Rice has been among the worst college programs in the nation.
Saturday, however, the Owls ran up 590 yards and jumped to a 27-7 halftime lead in chewing up the Bulls. Rice kept the ball for more than 38 minutes of the game.
Rice.
10th in the ACC.
10 straight losing seasons.
Winners of only three games.
Against USF, however, Rice was a dynamo. Quarterback E.J. Warner threw for 430 yards (294 in the first half). In all, the Owls had 559 yards.
The Bulls were already playing with back Bryce Archie, who threw for 227 yards. He was replaced by Israel Carter, who thew for two touchdowns.
For the Bulls, Sean Atkins caught seven passes for 110 yards. Keshaun Singleton caught seven for 107 yards.
USF is bowl eligible.
Syracuse 42, Miami 38: The Hurricanes were omitted great shape for the college football playoffs.
Two losses later, the path isn’t as clear.
The Hurricanes, ranked sixth in the nation, blew a 21-0 lead against the Orangemen.
Cam Ward had 349 yards passing for Miami. Xavier Restrepo caught nine passes for 148 yards. Jacolby George caught six for 121 yards.
For Syracuse, Kyle McCord passed for 380 yards.
With the loss, Miami will not play in next week’s ACC title game.
Florida 31, FSU 11: This time, Florida did FSU a favor. It finally put the Seminoles out of their misery.
Florida won its seventh game Saturday night.. FSU fell to 2-10.
Gators' quarterback DJ. Lagway threw for two touchdowns, and the Gators rushed for 235 ystfd. Montrell Johnson had 99 yards on the ground,
It was 17-3 after three periods. But FSU struggled offensively all night, gaining jsut 239 yards of total offense.