Behind Enemy Lines: South Florida at Houston
TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 27, 2022) – South Florida (1-6, 0-3 American) and Houston (4-3, 2-1 American) meet for the final time as members of the American Athletic Conference Saturday at noon in TDECU Stadium. The game will be available on ESPN2.
Houston leads the all-time series 6-2 highlighted by six consecutive victories. USF (0-6) and ECU (0-4) are the only active American programs to have not defeated Houston in league play.
The Bulls are looking to snap a six-game losing skid to Houston that dates to a 32-14 Bulls win at Houston in 2002 when the Bulls were in their second season as an FBS Independent, and a 15-game road losing streak that dates to a 45-20 victory at ECU on Oct. 28, 2019.
With that in mind, BullsInsider.com went behind enemy lines and asked Baileigh Sheffield Publisher of CougarsDen.com, about Saturday's matchup from the Houston perspective.
Houston was ranked in the Top 25 during the preseason and was picked to win the AAC Championship this year. The Cougars have won two straight after going 2-3 in their first five games. What led to the slow start?
The slow start had to do with the lack of discipline within the team and penalties. Houston at one point was a leader in penalties the players just weren’t playing at the same rate they were playing in the offseason.
Along with wide receiver Nathaniel Dell, quarterback Clayton Tune and linebacker Donovan Mutin, who else will be the key players for the Cougars on Saturday?
There was Derrick Parish one of Houston’s unstoppable defensive players who is now out for the season. The lack Parish presences could be good for USF although Houston has many other standout defenders. There is also Donavan Mutin if he’s healthy and plays, Mutin led the team last year in total tackles. Then there’s Nelson Ceaser who also leads the team in tackles and has really become a breakout star on the team. Bubba Baxa is another player to look out for in this Houston offense. Baxa kicked a 20-yard field goal in the game against Texas Tech during a second overtime.
What will it take for South Florida to slow down the potent Houston offense and to prevent Cougars defenders from making so many tackles for loss?
USF has to shut down Nathaniel Dell he’s the team’s go to the main wide-out for Houston. Tune can take a while sitting in the pocket sometimes USF defense will need to rush the passer if they want to stop Houston. As for the defense USF will just need to play smarter because that’s something Houston’s defense has a hard time doing.
This is Houston’s homecoming game. What kind of atmosphere are you expecting at TDECU Stadium given that the game has an 11 a.m. CT start?
The atmosphere of the stadium will be probably energetic because Houston is counting on this game being a win, plus it will be homecoming. Houston fans usually show up to games when the team is winning and because Houston won their game against Navy a big turnout is expected.
How do you see this game going and what is your predicted score?
Although Houston was once considered a top-25 caliber team, we haven’t seen that coming from this Houston team so far. Along with the passing defense struggles, Houston may come out short at the end of this game or on top. With Houston there is no telling would could happen these days with this veteran team.
Houston 30 USF 14