South Florida vs San Jose State: Live highlights, top performers and more

Saturday evening’s South Florida vs San Jose State was one of the first games of the season and looked bad for the Bulls early on.

Losing Willie Taggart looked to be a major disappointment for South Florida in the offseason, but the Bulls added Charlie Strong after he was let go by Texas. The former Louisville turned Longhorn head coach was beloved by players in Austin, but he didn’t win enough in his short stint.

Unfair or not, he was cut loose by Texas and inherited a talented South Florida team. Heck, this Bulls team could be even better than the teams he had at Texas. Add that to his elite recruiting and he could make the Bulls one of top Group of Five teams in the past few years.

Opening the season against San Jose State seemed to be a nice opportunity to record a first win under Strong’s rule, but the Bulls got off to a shaky start.

In fact, the Spartans of San Jose State raced out to a 16-0 lead. The Bulls looked to be in trouble in San Jose early on, but luckily there was plenty of time to come back. In fact, South Florida stormed back to take a 42-16 lead on 42 consecutive points.

Quinton Flowers started slowly, accounting for three total yards in the first quarterback, but he eased into the game and shook the rust off in the final three frames.

Overall, it was a nice come-from-behind win for South Florida although the Bulls should have never fallen behind early on.

Let’s take a look at the top players and highlights from Saturday evening’s contest.

Three Stars

1. Quinton Flowers: The Heisman candidate was solid for the Bulls despite struggling early. He didn’t have a single passing yard in the first quarter, but engineered a comeback, finishing with 212 passing yards and two scores along with 70 rushing yards and another touchdown.

2. D’Ernest Johnson: Although the Bulls’ starting running back didn’t finish with over 100 rushing yards, he did have a solid game. In fact, he finished with 99 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, wearing down the Spartans.

3. Bailey Gaither: The Spartans’ sophomore receiver had a nice opening game, catching two touchdown passes for San Jose State. He had six catches for 100 yards.

Highlights

Next: College Football: Top 50 breakout candidates for 2017

What’s Next?

South Florida will get an easier matchup next week against the Stony Brook Seawolves at home. That should be a layup before the schedule gets a bit tougher. San Jose State, on the other hand, will host Cal Poly on Saturday. That, too, is an easier matchup.