USF Offense Looks for More Road Success Saturday at UMass
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USF GAME NOTES
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, OCT. 3, 2018 – After recharging its motor during the bye week, USF's high-powered offense is looking to continue its trend of lighting up opponents' scoreboards.
USF (4-0) begins an eight-week stretch of games with a non-conference stop at UMass 3:30 p.m. Saturday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Using an up-tempo approach on offense, USF has averaged 40.6 points per game in its past 13 outings away from Tampa.
"Execution – that's always going to be the key, and just being really focused on ourselves. Control what we can control, really play hard and really play together," offensive coordinator
Sterlin Gilbert said. "When you're on the road in that kind of environment, those are the things you've got to do."
USF seeks its sixth straight victory against a non-conference opponent away from Tampa after handing Big Ten foe Illinois a 25-19 loss in the Bulls' first road game of the season at Soldier Field on Sept. 15. USF leads the nation with 34 straight 20-plus point games and the bye week really allowed the Bulls to fine-tune all aspects of the offense.
"Every week there's no satisfaction, it's about improvement," Gilbert said. "Last week, it allowed us to do that when you're not getting ready for a game on Saturday. You can slow it down a little bit, go back to some fundamental and technique stuff and really hone in at each position, get real specific with things. Then you press that point and go execute at practice, which we've done."
Taking advantage of extra time between games could lead to another explosive performance away from Raymond James Stadium. UMass (2-4) is giving up an average of 42.7 points per game this season and 52.5 points in losses. The Minutemen surrendered 664 total yards (394 rushing) and four touchdowns on the ground in a 58-42 loss at Ohio last Saturday.
UMass currently ranks 114
th nationally in total defense (483.8 ypg) but is tied for 23
rd with nine takeaways this season after picking off a pass last week.
"They've got some guys on the edge, a couple corners that make some really big plays," Gilbert said. "When you pressure people up like they do and play man coverage, you're wanting to get home on those pressures and wanting kind of erratic throws from the quarterback, which they've been able to create some of that."
The man that really makes the UMass defense go is graduate linebacker Bryton Barr, who leads the nation with 13.7 tackles per game and has one of his team's nine takeaways.
"It all starts with him on defense," Gilbert said.
USF Defense Must Have Its 'Bases Covered' This Week
UMass has gotten off to a slow start in the win column, but the USF defense isn't looking past the Minutemen offense because it's capable of producing lots of fireworks.
Heading into Saturday, UMass is averaging 35.3 points per game and has scored 42 points or more three times this season, including each of the past two outings.
"It's always tough to win on the road and we know they're going to have a very, very good game plan for us," said senior cornerback
Ronnie Hoggins (Coconut Creek, Fla.). "We've got to pack our defense and be ready to go."
Like Gilbert's group, USF's defense used the bye week to evaluate the first quarter of the season and improve areas of focus heading into the program's first-ever game against UMass.
"Obviously we wanted to get better in our run defense," coordinator
Brian Jean-Mary said. "We've given up some plays here in the first four games. We've played four pretty run-heavy teams."
Jean-Mary said the Bulls must have all their "bases covered" against UMass, which attacks opponents in a number of ways. Against Ohio last week, the Minutemen threw for 410 yards and five touchdowns. They are also averaging 4.4 yards per carry and rushed for 282 yards in a season-opening win over Duquesne.
"I think it's a very balanced offense, a very unique offense. They attack you in a lot of different ways," Jean-Mary said. "You see some games where they rush for a lot of yards and some games where they throw for a lot of yards, like they did last week versus Ohio."
Airing it out against USF isn't easy with the Bulls ranking 13
th nationally in pass defense (162.3 ypg) and fourth in pass efficiency defense (94.43). Five different Bulls have intercepted passes this season while USF has collected at least one pick in three of four games. Individually, sophomore cornerback
Mike Hampton (Tampa) leads The American with 2.0 passes defended per game, good for fifth nationally.
"He's a guy that's about his business and he's going to handle his business well," Hoggins said. "He's probably the best cover guy that we have right now."
Bulls Bits
MILESTONE WATCH: After becoming the fastest Florida FBS team to reach 150 program wins, USF needs one more victory to match the program's top four-year win total of 34 from 2006-09. The Bulls have a 33-9 record (78.5 percent success rate) since 2015, when starters like cornerback Ronnie Hoggins (Coconut Creek, Fla.) and right guard William Atterbury (Clearwater) entered the program. "It's big for this USF community," Hoggins said. "We're doing something great here and it's great to be a part of it." Like Hoggins, Atterbury thought highly of USF's potential when he was recruited by the Bulls. "There was something special about the coaching staff, about the players here and about this area," he said. "I think we were definitely geared up for success."
HOGGINS IS MONEY AT NICKEL: The most experienced Bull on defense with 32 career starts, Ronnie Hoggins has adjusted well to his new role as USF's nickel back. The senior has two double-digit tackle performances this season and ranks third on the team with 27 total stops. Despite being listed at 5-feet-8 and 177 pounds, Hoggins plays much bigger than his size and it shows now that he's motoring around closer to the line. "My body is holding up well," he said. "Just staying in the 'garage,' the training room, and just staying healthy, that's the biggest thing. If you can stay healthy, you can have a great career."- SUCCESS AFTER A BYE: USF has won seven straight games with more than a week to prepare and you have to go all the way back to the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl to find a post bye week loss by the Bulls. USF is 3-0 after a bye week under head coach Charlie Strong.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
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