Game 8 Preview: Bulls Face Navy for First Time
October 30, 2015 | Football
Louk has been broadcasting games for 33 years and is the resident historian in the Athletics Department hallways.
By JIM LOUK
Voice of the USF Bulls
TAMPA, OCT. 30, 2015 - This will be a special day as the Bulls visit a United States Service Academy for just the second time in program history.
On Sept. 27, 2003, the Bulls played Army at West Point, and those Bulls fans that were lucky enough to make the trip have great memories of it. Saturday, the Bulls will go to Annapolis for the first time, to play the Navy Midshipmen.
Here are a few notes to get you ready for this big game:
- When the Bulls played Army, it was the first win in Conference USA for USF. Although the Bulls later played Army again in Tampa, they never went back to West Point, as time in C-USA was short for both the Bulls and the Black Knights.
- USF has never played Air Force, and this is its first game against Navy.
- You may see some college football history Saturday, although the Bulls would like to prevent it. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds has run for 75 career touchdowns. Only one player, Wisconsin's Montee Ball, has run for more (77).
- Enjoy pass plays when you see them, because you may not see many. Navy is fifth in the FBS in rushing, USF is 14th.
- The Bulls are seeking their fourth win in a row, something they haven't done since the beginning of the 2011 season.
- Navy will be trying to get to 6-1 Saturday, something the Midshipmen haven't done since 2004.
- Mattias Ciabatti has punted 178 times in his USF career, third all-time. Ahead of him are Justin Brockhaus-Kann (180) and Brandon Baker (198). Ciabatti's 55 punts inside the 20 rank second all-time at USF.
- With 563 rushing yards, Quinton Flowers is chasing Matt Grothe (872) and B.J. Daniels (772) for the single-season quarterback rushing record at USF.
- USF's defense is averaging 8.1 tackles for loss per game. That's ninth in the FBS.
Television coverage for this game is on CBS Sports Network. We'll get started on the radio side with the pre-game at 10 a.m. and the kick will be at noon on our flagship station AM 820 in Tampa. We'll also stream the audio free of charge on GoUSFBulls.com and on the Tune In app. Since we're on the road, there's no satellite radio for our broadcast this week.
The schedule gets tougher for the Bulls starting this week, with this game followed by another on the road at East Carolina. Then it's home to play unbeaten Temple on Nov. 14. The Bulls are two wins away from bowl eligibility, and have five games to get there. Saturday will be a great opportunity to get a win closer to that goal. Hopefully we'll be bowling in December!
GO BULLS!
