USF football intent to 'turn the page' after Navy loss damages CFP hopes
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TAMPA — South Florida football mourned losing control of its College Football Playoff destiny one last time on Nov. 17.
The next day, the Bulls returned to their indoor practice facility, intent to "turn the page."
"It's important to feel the emotion and the disappointment of a tough loss like that. But it's important not to dwell on it," starting left tackle Derek Bowman said. "We talked about, as a team, sitting in it for a second — feel it, remember what it feels like, and then turn the page. Wipe the slate, and ensure you do everything in your ability to never feel that again."
South Florida entered last weekend as the only ranked Group of Five team among the CFP committee's top-25, at No. 24. Had they won their last three regular-season contests, they would not only have appeared in the American Athletic Conference's championship game for the first time but hosted it for an automatic berth into the 12-team playoff field.
Instead, Navy spoiled the Bulls' hopes and snatched first place in the league with a 41-38 victory in Annapolis, Maryland. Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath returned from a two-week injury absence to throw for 147 yards and a touchdown, and both Alex Tecza and backup QB Braxton Woodson topped the 100-yard rushing mark with three combined scores.
"In the second half, (we) fought like crazy to get back and get going. We gave ourselves some opportunities. But not enough," USF coach Alex Golesh said. "As a whole, obviously, disappointing as all get-out. It took everybody in the program to really get out on the field on Monday to snap out of it.
"That's the challenge to us, to respond."
South Florida (7-3, 4-2 AAC) has two games remaining — a road trip to UAB at 3 p.m. Nov. 22, followed by the season finale against Rice at Raymond James Stadium. It will need to win out and benefit from lots of college football chaos in order to compete for the conference title.
Navy sits in the driver's seat and atop the AAC standings at 6-1, followed by Tulane, North Texas and East Carolina at 5-1. USF has a head-to-head victory over North Texas should it come down to a tiebreaker.
According to ESPN's Allstate Playoff Predictor, South Florida's chances to secure the G5 spot dropped to about 2%. North Texas now has the best odds at 38% among the AAC contingent, followed by Tulane at 17%.
However, the American could be shut out altogether given the emergence of Sun Belt favorite James Madison (9-1, 7-0). The Dukes, currently holding 52% CFP odds, are riding an eight-game winning streak ahead of this weekend's non-conference home date with Washington State.
"It's come up a bunch, the commitment from the schools in this conference over the last year, year-and-a-half — and when I say commitment, it's not just from a revenue-sharing, NIL standpoint, but the commitment to hiring and retaining high-end coaches," Golesh said. "Every week, when you go in and you're like, 'Man, this is a well-coached operation. What these guys do is really, really good.' And you flip the film on, and the culture's really, really good.
"Everybody's raised their game because everybody's fighting this battle of how do we get closer to what everybody wants, which is an ability go and play in the Playoff in December. You're seeing it; week in and week out, there's some really good football, there's some really good talent, there's some really good coaching. And it's coming from everywhere."
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: USF football, Alex Golesh seek response after Navy loss
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