By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - Some might see the USF defense's season opening performance as domination.
The players saw it as competition.
The Bulls posted two sacks in Chattanooga's first three plays and had a Moc QB on the ground six times in a 34-13 win Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium.
"I tell teammates, 'Who can get the most today?' We all try to push each other to the next level," Giddins said.
Giddins wound up with 1.5 sacks on Chattanooga's initial stalled drive after taking advantage of the Mocs' decision to block in man protection while backed up deep in their own territory.
"As a defense, you want to set the tone early. You go out there and punch them in the mouth before they punch you in the mouth," Giddins said.
If this were a boxing match, think of Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley with the way USF controlled the battle from start to finish. Chattanooga ran through 49 plays and came up with only 151 yards while using two quarterbacks with different skills sets in an attempt to catch the Bulls on their heels.
"It was tough because you have one guy that can do one thing and other guy that can do another. I'm happy with the outcome of how we handled that," said linebacker Sam Barrington, who came up with a sack for a 13-yard loss.
Jacob Huesman, more of a traditional quarterback, was sacked three times and the Bulls also got to mobile Terrell Robinson three times a season after the SoCon Freshman of the Year racked up 417 yards running away from defenders.
"We just wanted to go out there, execute and reap the benefits of it. We did a great job with that," Barrington said.
Getting after the quarterback served as the knockout blow, but USF's ability to beat up on the Mocs in the trenches ultimately decided what unit was going to win the battle. Chattanooga used power moves, draws, pitches and QB scrambles during 45 run plays and came up with a head-scratching 49 total yards on the ground.
Do the math and that's 1.1 yards per carry, which definitely won't get it done.
"They controlled the line of scrimmage. They played a large part of this night in UTC's backfield and I think that was the difference in the game," USF head coach Skip Holtz said.
A convincing performance builds confidence, and that will come in handy next week when USF defenders chase around a Nevada offense that totaled 450 yards in a 31-24 win at Cal on Saturday.
"The key is for us to make great improvement between the first week and the second week," USF defensive coordinator Chris Cosh said.
The Bulls have a nice starting point to build off of, thanks in part to fierce competition among teammates. Giddins won this time with Barrington, Todd Chandler and Elkino Watson not far behind in the season-long sack-a-thon.
