A commentary of USF football

For the second straight week, the University of South Florida football team will host a ranked opponent in Raymond James Stadium. They lost a heartbreaker in the final second of regulation when #19 Cincinnati kicked the game winning field goal as time expired. The Bulls played confidently in that game and held their own with a top 25 team. This week, they’ll have to do it again and hope they can hold on for the victory. Here’s what they need to do to earn the upset.

1. Score a ton of points. Offensive coordinator, Kerwin Bell, and head coach, Charlie Strong, need to completely untie the offense and throw everything they can at Memphis. They must not coach “conservatively” as they did against Cincinnati, opting to kick field goals five times in the game, missing four of them. They must be aggressive and score a lot of points, because Memphis will be doing the same. The Tigers rank 13th in total offense (481 ypg) and 8th in scoring offense, averaging nearly 42 points per game. The Bulls have only scored more than 40 points three times this season, against UConn, ECU, and SC State.

2. Win the turnover battle. Memphis has just one loss on the season, 30-28 to Temple. That game was one of just two games the Tigers lost the turnover battle. The other was to Tulsa, a game they barely won, 42-41. If the Bulls, who rank 22nd in turnover margin, can win the turnover battle, they at the very least should guarantee a close game, and more likely, a win.

3. Create turnovers. This might sound like a repeat of #2, but it isn’t. Former four star quarterback recruit and Memphis transfer, Brady White, has been very good this season, passing for nearly 2,900 yards, 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions. One of the things USF is good at is finding ways to pick off passes. Their 10 interceptions this season ranks them 28th in the country and that should be good enough to mess with White’s touchdown-to-interception ratio. Just like on offense, they need to take chances to make those big plays to get the win.

4. Run for three touchdowns. In each of the four wins the Bulls have secured this season, they have ran for exactly three touchdowns. No more, nor less. In all of their six losses, they scored just one rushing touchdown in total. Rushing defense happens to be a weakness for the Tigers, who rank 81st in rushing defense, allowing nearly 171 rushing yards per game.

5. Throw the ball. While Memphis is better at passing defense (45th) than rushing defense, they are allowing 210 passing yards per game. That’s substantially more than USF quarterbacks have averaged this season (126 ypg). In fact, they have not passed for 200 yards against anyone they’ve faced this year. To sweeten the pot even further, Memphis ranks just 78th in the country with seven picks, all year. There simply won’t be a better time to air it out than this game, and bowl eligibility is on the line. It’s time to play like they have to win, because they do.