South Florida at UTSA: Game preview, prediction
TAMPA, Fla., (Nov. 17, 2023) - South Florida (5-5; 3-3 AAC) travels to the Alamodome on Friday to take on UTSA (7-3; 6-0 AAC) in the first ever meeting between the two American Athletic Conference programs. A win would be the third road victory of the season for USF.
Kickoff in San Antonio, Texas is slated for 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
With their win over Temple last week, the Bulls are now just one victory away from bowl eligibility in first-year head coach Alex Golesh’s inaugural season.
They have made it happen with a dynamic offense and the dual threat abilities of redshirt freshman quarterback Byrum Brown.
The 19-year-old signal caller has thrown for 2,538 yards and 18 touchdowns while adding another 892 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground and is on pace to break school records in total yards and passing.
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UTSA OFFENSE
This offense has come alive during their win streak, scoring at least 34 points each game and averaging 435 total yards.
They have done so by starting fast, holding a 6-0 record this year when they score first and going 1-3 when their opponents do.
Quarterback Frank Harris leads the way, with the redshirt senior passing for 1,897 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging 237 yards per game. Harris, playing in his fifth season for the Roadrunners, holds 38 school records and has started the fourth most games among active quarterbacks.
Harris’ favorite target in 2023 has been senior receiver Joshua Cephus, catching 67 passes for 803 yards and eight touchdowns. He has also caught a pass in 49 straight games. Look for UTSA to target him early and often against one of the worst passing defenses in America.
The Roadrunners also boast a balanced rush attack behind Kevorian Barnes, Robert Henry and Rocko Griffin, with each back scoring at least four touchdowns and averaging over 40 yards a game this season.
After creating four turnovers last week, the Bulls defense showed that it can force opponents into making mistakes. USF will try to replicate that success this week against a team that has turned the ball over 14 times this season.
UTSA DEFENSE
This defense is one that knows how to put opposing teams under pressure, recording the third most sacks (38) and the eighth most tackles for loss (79) in the country. The Roadrunners have a ton of depth at defensive line, and they utilize that depth often to keep lineman fresh.
This presents an enormous challenge to a USF offensive line that has yet to find its groove, as they have given up 38 sacks on the year.
Sophomore outside linebacker Trey Moore is a standout player for this unit, setting a new UTSA record with 14 sacks this season, only one shy of the AAC record.
“They play hard, they’re built well up front, have skills guys that play hard on defense, fly around and certainly gonna be really good challenge for us… This is a really good test week 11 of the season to see where we are as a program and how we stack up,” said Golesh in his weekly Tuesday presser.
Look for the Bulls to air it out again Friday against a secondary that allows an average of 236 pass yards a game.
JACK’S SUMMARY
The first key to this game for South Florida will be to start fast and get up early to avoid fighting to get back into the game late, something this team has experience with in 2023. The Roadrunners are a team that looks to go up early and settle into their offense, so the Bulls will need to turn this game into a shootout to get UTSA out of the rhythm they have been in over the last six contests.
The other key for the Bulls will be to take care of the football. Forcing takeaways has been a big part of the turnaround for the UTSA defense, gaining 13 turnovers since week seven.
My prediction is that USF will keep it a lot closer than many think, but ultimately lose to an extremely talented team 45-31.