Zier: USF should be able to get past Temple loss

South Florida can build on this. Yes, Saturday's 39-37 loss at Temple was difficult to accept and yes, it definitely had a negative impact mentally. But the Bulls should be able to get past this with no real damage. The key here will be for USF Coach Jeff Scott to make sure the players gain confidence from what they did right and don't dwell on what went wrong.

If this were Clemson, or Alabama or any other good team, this would have to be viewed in a different light. You can't play this way and win, and there would be reason for alarm. But you have to be cognizant of where the USF program is right now. This is a team that is still trying to find a way forward, that needs to find ways to believe in itself and while the Bulls made a lot of mistakes, they also did a lot of things right. That's where the focus needs to be.

Which is not to say that USF should get a pass. The Bulls definitely need to clean some things up, and perhaps one of the most difficult issues for the players to get over mentally will be the fact that they looked to have this game under control with a 31-20 lead late in the third quarter and then watched it slip away.

But USF must move on. There were things it can — and must — do better, but in many ways, this was as well as USF has played all year. Despite the fumbles, which admittedly had a critical impact on the outcome, the offense showed it has potential. In particular, its ability to go down the field and score in the final minutes of the game, giving USF a shot at tying the score and forcing overtime, is encouraging. There was no margin for error here, and the Bulls handled the situation well.

And while there were defensive lapses, particularly Temple's game-clinching 81-yard touchdown drive which essentially sealed the outcome in the fourth quarter, the defense rose to the occasion on a number of times. It held Temple to a field goal when the Owls had a first down at the USF 4. It blocked another field goal attempt just before the half. And it held Temple to another field goal after it had taken over at the Bulls' 12.

These are the kinds of things that, if you eliminate the mistakes, can win you football games. So even though it was a loss, the Temple game can be a light at the end of the tunnel for this team, can show these players that they have the potential to win, that what they are doing will work if they execute properly.

Although he was clearly disappointed by the loss, Scott seems to understand this. He has said, and he knows, this program cannot be turned around overnight. You need little victories to get you to your eventual goal, and in many ways, there were several little victories in this defeat.

Scott said as much in a Zoom teleconference after the game. "I really felt like, for the first time in the last four games, our guys came out to play to win the game," Scott commented. "Our guys came out with a different mindset, a different attitude. They literally laid everything they had on the line. I don't like the result at all but I was pleased with our guys," Scott continued. "Not many 1-3 teams come out and play with the effort and intensity our guys played with today (Saturday).

"We made some critical mistakes you can't make in that type of close ballgame," Scott said. "Unfortunately, It just comes down to a couple plays and we made some critical errors in all three phases of the game, and you can't win when you do that. So hopefully, this is a step in the right direction," he added.

It is not going to get any easier for this team. If the Bulls start to doubt themselves now, if they stop believing in what they're doing and what they're trying to accomplish, it's over. But even though it's a loss, this game can be a springboard for this team. Now, it knows it can dive into the deep water and survive.