By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, OCT. 14, 2016 – USF begins the second half of the 2016 season Saturday at home against UConn and these Bulls are well worth the price of admission.
Willie Taggart's prolific Gulf Coast Offense has lit up the new HD scoreboards at Raymond James Stadium with an average of 44 points per game at home. Overall, quick-striking USF ranks eighth nationally with 44.5 points per outing and coaches say there's still much room for improvement.
“We're not even close to where we should be on offense,” co-offensive coordinator T.J. Weist said. “We're anticipating and looking forward to our offense executing and playing a good game, and putting it together.”
USF will look to do just that Saturday night against a UConn defense that held Cincinnati to just nine points last week. Aside from having plenty of playmakers, what's helping USF put up videogame numbers is a mentality that's become infectious among the group.
“We talk about it often, like we have to be fiending for touchdowns,” Taggart said. “We need it, we gotta have it. That's the approach we want to take. We want to be in attack mode all the time.”
History says Saturday will be a close one with the last nine meetings being decided by an average of 4.8 points. With several program records already shattered, these Bulls are all about breaking past trends.
“Go fast and just be enamored about scoring touchdowns,” Taggart said. “Every opportunity we get, we want to score.”
On a mission for conference glory, USF (5-1, 2-0) has won its first two league games by an average of 20.5 points. Will the Bulls make close matchups with UConn a thing of the past? Or will a tough and respected opponent like UConn keep fans at Ray Jay on the edge of their seats?
Join us on Saturday night and find out for yourselves. While you're at it, wear pink and support a tremendous cause at the Bulls' Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
Here are five things to watch for in what's shaping up to be a must-see matchup under the lights.
If It's Close, Bulls Have Proven They Can Pull Through
While the Gulf Coast Offense was just heating up, USF proved it could pull out a close one at UConn last October.
Rodney Adams had his breakout game, tying a program record with three touchdown catches in a 28-20 victory that marked USF's 100th win as an FBS program.
Clinging to a 24-22 lead against ECU, USF encountered crunch time last week and proved again it can pull through. Adams hauled in a 62-yard touchdown pass with 6:06 to play and the Bulls extended their program-record conference win streak to six.
Taggart often talks about teams needing to attack adversity if they want to become champions and USF is showing it can stay on the path to greatness when the pressure is on.
A Fast Start Could Pay Dividends
USF is about to take on a team that's used to playing from behind.
Through six games, UConn has yet to score a point in the first quarter while opponents have combined to put 31 up on the board. On the other side of things, USF has scored a combined total of 31 first-quarter points in the past three games.
USF also has scored first in 14 of the past 18 games and produced a 12-6 record during the time span. If USF can set the tone with an early lead Saturday night, the result could be what Bulls fans are getting used to – a victory and another memorable celebration near the student second afterward.
Time for the Defensive Line to Shine
At 19.8 points per game, UConn is still trying to hit its stride on offense, but the Huskies have shown the ability to wear opponents down with the run game.
UConn is coming off a 202-yard rushing performance against the Bearcats with Arkeel Newsome accounting for 116 yards on 14 attempts. USF also has to keep an eye on quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, who gained 52 yards on the ground against Cincinnati and leads the team with 102 attempts.
USF wants to make a statement against the run after giving up an average of 209.8 yards on the ground up to this point. Let's see if Deadrin Senat, Bruce Hector and the defensive line can rise to the challenge this week against a stout UConn starting offensive line that averages 310 pounds across the board.
Keep the Nation-Leading Streak Going on the Ground
While UConn has been satisfactory at running the ball, USF has been spectacular.
Marlon Mack, Quinton Flowers and D'Ernest Johnson have helped the Bulls lead the nation with a streak of 11 consecutive 200-plus yard rushing games, dating back to last season. This season, USF ranks 12th nationally with 260.5 yards per game with an awesome average of 6.08 yards per carry.
Running up the streak to 12 games would be extra impressive considering how good UConn is at shutting teams down on the ground. The Huskies are 11th in the nation in rush defense, surrendering just 98.8 yards per game.
'Show Up and Show Out'
This is one of the things I think everyone that's a part of Bulls Nation wants to see.
As Coach T likes to say, “Show up and show out,” at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night. This first-place team deserves to play in front of a packed house in prime time.
“Having folks in there can add some strength to our football team,” Taggart said this week. “It adds strength to the growth of this football program and our university. We're young, but if we're going to go places we've got to continue to grow in every aspect.”
The USF Football program is in its 20th season overall and 17th at the FBS level. The Bulls have made seven bowl appearances, including every season between 2005-10, and have four bowl game victories. USF has produced 14 All-America selections, 25 NFL Draft picks and reached the No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press Poll in 2007.
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