TAMPA, Fla. ? On the most frigid game night of the year at Raymond James Stadium, USF spent the better part of 60 minutes tantalizing its mostly downtrodden partisans.
Turned out, the Bulls were only teasing them.
Which still beats tormenting them.
Thoroughly outplayed in a sloppy opening half, No. 17 Cincinnati 9-1, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit for a 20-17 triumph against the Bulls (4-6, 2-4) before an announced crowd of 29,112.
Graduate-transfer kicker Sam Crosa hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired, setting off a raucous Cincy celebration. By contrast, four missed field goals conspired to thwart the Bulls' upset attempt. The costliest: Newsome High alumnus Spencer Shrader's 33-yarder that hit the right upright with 2:07 to play.
It set up Cincy's 11-play, 60-yard victory march, overshadowing an otherwise inspiring performance by the Bulls defense.
"There's no blame for anyone. It's just one of those losses that's a team loss," coach Charlie Strong said.
Applying steady pressure to Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder, the Bulls held Cincinnati to 46 first-half yards. The guests had twice as many punts (six) as first downs during in their first scoreless opening half since a 42-0 loss at Ohio State on Sept. 7.
Meantime, a Bulls offense that had scored only 31 first-quarter points in its first nine games scored on its opening possession.
After a 6-yard completion to Eddie McDoom on third-and-4, redshirt freshman Jordan McCloud lofted a 55-yard spiral to Randall St. Felix just as he was nailed, setting up Trevon Sands' 4-yard scoring run.
The touchdown was only USF's second in the opening quarter at Raymond James Stadium this season. By halftime, McCloud was 7-for-10 for 116 yards, complementing a rushing attack that gained 101 yards.
McCloud finished 18-for-27 for 267 yards, a touchdown and a 162.0 rating.
The only glaring first-half blemishes: missed field goals of 53, 50 and 43 yards, and some shoddy clock management after defensive tackle Kevin Kegler recovered a Ridder fumble at the Bearcats 20 with 37 seconds to go (resulting in the 43-yard miss).
Cincinnati got on the board with a 10-play, 56-yard touchdown drive early in the third, cutting its deficit to 10-7. But a USF team with its fair share of flaws brandished its fair share of fortitude.
McCloud's 49-yard completion to third-string tailback Kelley Joiner set up his 4-yard scoring pass to tight end Mitch Wilcox, increasing the Bulls' lead to 17-7.
Cincinnati rallied behind tailback Michael Warren Jr. (26 carries, 134 yards, one TD), whose 2-yard TD with 14:26 to play tied the score at 17-all. Still, USF held the Bearcats to 278 total yards, flustering Ridder into a pedestrian night (9-for-18, 78 yards).
"It's one of those games where you outplay someone and you don't come away with the victory," Strong said.
