The Bulls put themselves in position to win their first game since October 20th, 2018 at Houston yesterday against Georgia Tech. With a 1st and Goal from the one, the Bulls were flagged for a false start penalty, followed by two runs that fell short of the goal line, and a 3rd down fumble by running back Jordan Cronkrite before breaking the plane on what should’ve been a touchdown.
“We had our chances,” Head Coach Charlie Strong said in the postgame press conference. “We had the ball first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. We get a penalty, then we go backwards, then we turn it over. We had our chances; it was there for us. We’ve just got to convert when we have those opportunities.”
The offense showed signs of life that were nonexistent last week against Wisconsin. Blake Barnett had a 48-yard scramble midway through the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Wilcox had a career high 54-yard reception to set up the debacle on the 1-yard line in the 4th quarter. Aside from his career long rush, Barnett had a rough game going 12 of 20 passing for just 79 yards. Backup Jordan McCloud came in in relief of Barnett in the second half, completing four of five pass attempts for 90-yards and the lone touchdown by hitting Johnny Ford on a 20-yard slant.
“We just needed a change-up and we just needed to get going,” said Strong. “We weren’t four of five passing for 90-yards t moving the ball. We got enough around us where we could move the football, so we gave Jordan a chance to let him come in.”
Strong left it unclear as to whether McCloud will get the nod next week as the Bulls take on South Carolina State in Tampa. Fans would love to see the freshman back in action after he was able to move the ball effectively against the Jacket’s defense on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls need to bring their a-game on Saturday to avoid losing their ninth straight game. With a very tough stretch of conference games coming up, the Bulls need to pick up a much-needed win against the non-conference foe to get the season back on track.