A Commentary on USF football
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The University of South Florida Bulls will welcome the Brigham Young University Cougars to Raymond James Stadium for the first time on Saturday. Both teams have struggled this season, with just four wins between them. BYU has arguably played a tougher schedule, having faced three ranked teams. Despite that, this game is winnable for the hometown underdogs, if they do the right things.
1. Pound that rock. The Bulls have struggled mightily this season, running the ball. Before their last game, they had run for just 390 yards through four games, and 218 of those came against FCS level, South Carolina State. They seemed to figure it out against UConn, though, rushing for 313 yards and three touchdowns. While an asterisk might be placed by that statistic because of where UConn stands in the national football pecking order, but BYU presents another opportunity to run. The Cougars are ranked 120th in rushing defense, allowing 221 yards per game. That’s 17 spots below where UConn is, even after the Bulls put up over 300 yards against them.
2. Sack the quarterback. Much is being made in the media about the ethnic heritage of BYU’s new signal caller, Jaren Hall, and the historical significance of his start. What the Bulls need to focus on is the fact that this is the redshirt freshman’s career first start. He has only played a total of seven plays his entire career, six of which came in their loss to Toledo in relief of the injured starter, Zach Wilson. Hall was three for six in that game, with no interceptions or touchdowns. The Bulls need to capitalize on his lack of experience and keep him from getting comfortable. Some grass stains on his uniform and consistent pressure from the USF defensive line can help contain the nation’s 39th best passing offense.
3. Get in the red zone. Eighty percent of the time their opponent gets into the red zone, the Cougars allow a score. Seventy-five percent of those scores were touchdowns. BYU is only scoring 22 points per game. Get in the red zone three times, and your odds of winning are good.
4. Protect the quarterback. The Cougars are not a big sack (5) or tackles for loss (22) threat, but the USF offensive line has a bad track record this season. After giving up ten sacks against SMU, allowing both USF quarterbacks to get injured, the offensive line improved to just four sacks against UConn. But, that’s still more than UConn’s average number of sacks per game, prior to that game (2.25). The Bulls are down to just one scholarship quarterback, Jordan McCloud, who is still nursing a sprained wrist. Blake Barnett will not be available during this game due to his high ankle sprain. Backup duties will fall to Kirk Rygol, who had a completed pass for a touchdown late in the UConn game. Regardless who is taking snaps, the line needs to keep them safe.
5. Play a clean game. The Bulls have been penalized 40 times for 350 yards lost through five games. They’re the 109th most penalized team in the country. In their three losses, they had at least nine penalties in each game. In their win against SCSU, they had six penalties and in their win against UConn, they had just four. The easy conclusion is that more penalties equals less winning.
