USF HC’s Reaction After Disappointing Loss to the Tide

TUSCALOOSA AL- The head coach of the University of South Florida, Alex Golesh, spoke with USF Athletics after a disappointing 42-16 loss on Saturday night against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Click here to watch Alex Golesh's post-game press conference on YouTube.

At the post-game press conference, Golesh expressed disappointment with his team's performance in the fourth quarter. He highlighted the Bulls' defense allowing 28 unanswered points from the Tide in the final quarter of the match. Golesh also mentioned the frustrations of his defense, which had played a nearly perfect game for "3 and a half quarters" before a breakdown in the last 5 minutes, resulting in 21 unanswered points surrendered to the Tide.

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USF's head coach talked about how he believed the turning point in the game was when the Bulls scored their final points, which came from a 22-yard field goal by John Cannon. This cut the Tide's eight-point lead to five with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter. Golesh stated that this was when the "bottom fell out," and the Tide then went on a scoring frenzy.

One possible explanation for the way the final quarter unfolded is that USF's offense was ineffective throughout the game. They struggled to score touchdowns when they reached the red zone, settling for two field goals. At one point, they had possession at the Crimson Tide's five-yard line but could only manage a field goal.

Alex Golesh mentioned that a major contributing factor to the offensive inefficiencies was the Bulls' struggle to convert on third down. USF only managed to convert 2 out of 18 third-down attempts during their game against the Tide on Saturday night.

Golesh explained that the team's inefficiency on third down was due to the offense's failure to gain yards on first and second down, resulting in the Bulls constantly facing third down and long situations throughout the game.

Despite the result, Golesh expressed his pride in his team, particularly his defense, for holding Jalen Milroe to under 200 passing yards and forcing 3 turnovers during the game. However, USF's offense allowed 194 rushing yards, with over 85 yards being gained in the final five minutes of the game.

Golesh discussed how the Tide is a team that can go out and win games in the fourth quarter, and how his squad is aiming to emulate that.

USF will regather and attempt to put this loss behind them, as they will have a bye week next week before taking on another top-15 opponent, the #12 Miami Hurricanes, on Saturday, September 21st at home in Raymond James Stadium.