Alex Golesh was disappointed, but he is also oozing with confidence after watching how South Florida battled the University of Alabama over the weekend at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Last week, the Crimson Tide had a ceremony to dedicate Saban Field in honor of Nick Saban and his family. The celebration turned in to high anxiety for Tide fans as South Florida made the matchup competitive. Byrum Brown and the Bulls were down 13-14 entering the fourth quarter, but it could not finish the game. Alabama made a change on the offensive line — replacing Wilkin Formby with Elijah Pritchett — and the group exploded for 28 points in the final period to capture a 42-16 victory.
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Golesh is proud of the way his team fought, but he is not one for moral victories.
He said in his postgame press conference that South Florida ‘can play with anyone’ in college football.
“For three and a half quarters, it was really good,” Golesh said.
“We have to figure out what in the world happened in the last six minutes of the game. What happened in the last six minutes of the game was really, really bad. It was garbage, looks really lopsided, and it was not. There are no moral victories. I told our guys I know we can play with anyone in the country. We have one of the best quarterbacks in the country, we have a running back room that’s as good as anyone else’s, our offensive line played their butts off, and our defense put that gold helmet all over these cats. We can play with anyone in the country. Ask them (Alabama) what they think.”
Golesh is not wrong. South Florida had Alabama in a fight for a second straight year. Brown had 108 yards rushing and the Bulls’ defense sacked Jalen Milroe three times. Alabama struggled to run the football until things got going in the fourth quarter.
If the Bulls had an adequate passing game, it may have pulled out an upset victory.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
