AI narration · about 4 min
USF leaves the exit crowd with regrets
There is leaving yourself some work to do, and then there is trailing Army 24-14 with 5:06 remaining. USF chose the stressful option. Apparently, a comfortable finish wasn't on the menu.
The Bulls scored twice down the stretch to steal a 28-24 victory from the Black Knights, turning a game that was slipping away into a very good reason to stay planted until the clock runs out.
For Pinellas fans watching in St. Pete, Clearwater, Dunedin or out by the beaches, this was the danger of asking for the check too early. At the next tailgate, everybody gets to claim they never doubted. Sure. We'll allow it.
The actual comeback needed more than belief, though. It needed Michael Van Buren Jr., a defensive stop and Joshua Porter arriving with the payoff.
Van Buren handles the emergency
Van Buren accounted for all four USF touchdowns: two passing, two rushing. That's not a supporting role. That's carrying the production while everybody else checks the emergency exits.
With 3:13 left, his 24-yard touchdown run cut Army's lead to 24-21. Suddenly, the Bulls didn't need a miracle. They needed the ball back.
The defense delivered a quick stop. Easy to squeeze that into a sentence; harder to overstate its importance. Without it, the comeback is just a nice touchdown attached to a frustrating loss.
Instead, Van Buren got another chance and made it count. His 38-yard touchdown pass to Porter with 23 seconds remaining put USF ahead, 28-24. Porter finished with three catches for 67 yards and the touchdown that gets remembered long after the rest of the box score becomes trivia.
Van Buren finished 19 of 30 for 239 passing yards and two touchdowns, adding 45 yards and two scores on five carries. The numbers are strong. The timing was better.
How Army nearly shut the door
USF struck first when Van Buren found B. Rodgers for a 7-yard touchdown at 11:00 in the opening quarter. A 7-0 lead was a pleasant start. Army had other plans for the middle of the game.
Cale Hellums threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Zach Mundell and a 4-yard score to Godspower Nwawuihe in the second quarter, sending the Black Knights into halftime ahead 14-7.
Van Buren's 18-yard touchdown run tied it at 14-14 in the third. Then Army took control again: a 27-yard field goal from D. Jones, followed by Nwawuihe's 10-yard touchdown run. With 5:06 left, the margin was 10 points and USF's room for mistakes had pretty much disappeared.
Army finished with 219 rushing yards on 51 attempts. That was real work for the Bulls' defense, not background noise. Ayden Jackson led USF with 10 tackles, and Zavier Hamilton contributed a sack. Van Buren owns the headline, but the defense earned its place in the story by getting him back on the field.
The tape
Final
Total yards
Passing yards
Rushing yards
Third downs
Fourth downs
Winning score
The full ESPN box score has the rest.
A win worth talking about
No need to turn this into a grand proclamation about the program's future. Beating Army on the road after trailing by 10 that late is plenty to chew on without ordering a side of destiny.
USF found the end zone, got the stop and found the end zone again. That's the substance beneath the celebration. The Bulls didn't merely make the finish interesting; they finished the job.
From the St. Pete watch party to the Clearwater couch, that's a recap worth repeating. Just don't pretend your blood pressure enjoyed it.
Our Tampa Bay sports coverage is presented by the Bud Light Sports Zone.
Comments
Want to join the conversation?
Sign in to comment
