Revved-Up USF Offense Looks to Stay in High Gear at Soldier Field
MATCHUP: USF (2-0) vs. Illinois (2-0)
WHEN: Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Soldier Field, Chicago
TV: Big Ten Network, channel listings - Dish: 590 (HD: 5445); Hopper: 405-4; DirectTV: 610-1 (SD/HD); AT&T: 694 (HD: 1694); Verizon Fios: 330; Frontier Vios: 330; Spectrum: 820 (1192 HD)
USF GAME NOTES
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, SEPT. 12, 2018 – After roaring past Georgia Tech with 21 straight fourth-quarter points, USF's high-powered offense looks to stay in high gear against another Power Five foe.
USF (2-0) hits the road for the first time this season to face Illinois (2-0) at noisy Soldier Field in Chicago, where focus will be at the forefront for the Bulls.
"Really focus on what your job is and what you're supposed to do, and go do it at a high level," said offensive coordinator
Sterlin Gilbert of his group. "Nothing over the top. Just go get on the plane and go to work like you would at home."
Home or away, business has been very good for the Bulls under Gilbert's guidance. USF has produced an average of 506.9 yards of offense per game in Gilbert's 14 outings with the program. Against Georgia Tech, the Bulls racked up 400-plus yards of offense for the 12
th straight game and passed the 40-point mark for the sixth time under Gilbert.
"Every week, we're gaining confidence," Gilbert said.
The Bulls have been spreading the wealth in the process since quarterback
Blake Barnett (Corona, Calif.) was handed the keys to Gilbert's offense in the season opener. In just two games, Barnett has thrown touchdown passes to five different receivers while 10 different Bulls have at least one catch to their credit.
"That's exciting. What it does with us is it just continues to grow and develop guys," Gilbert said. "… That's something we'll continue to do."
Sporting an 8-2 road record the past two seasons, USF and its up-tempo offense look to keep things rolling against an Illinois defense that's been "stingy," according to Gilbert. Using a 4-3 scheme and lots of man coverage, Illinois has totaled five takeaways and given up an average of 19 points during the Illini's hot start to the season.
USF generated 680 yards of offense in the first meeting with Illinois, a 47-23 win last September in Tampa, but the Bulls aren't hanging their hats on past achievements.
"Illinois is a great team," said junior receiver
Darnell Salomon (Miami). "We've just got to keep our composure, play USF football, do what we've been coached, and just go out there and give it our all."
Ball-Hawking Defense to Face Efficient Illinois Offense
USF's defense had the task of attacking Georgia Tech's productive triple-option offense last week and the Bulls get another tough test Saturday.
Since trailing, 17-3, the first half of the season opener, Illinois' multiple offense has outscored opponents, 62-21, and is averaging 258.5 rushing yards this season.
"You can see that they're much improved from last year on offense," defensive coordinator
Brian Jean-Mary said. "They've been able to move the ball in the first two games with two different quarterbacks, which is impressive in itself."
Freshman M.J. Rivers II threw a pair of touchdown passes last week against Western Illinois in place of injured starter AJ Bush Jr., who could return Saturday. No matter who plays, Illinois' quarterbacks have been efficient, combining to complete 27 of 47 passes with no interceptions on top of 178 rushing yards.
"It's going to be a challenge because they present a dual threat at quarterback with both of them, two guys that can run and pass, and the offensive line has done a great job of blocking," Jean-Mary said. "They have three running backs that can hurt you."
One way USF's defense has punished opponents this season has been by taking the ball away.
Jean-Mary's Bulls currently rank fifth nationally with four interceptions and 13
th in turnovers gained with five. Even with Georgia Tech throwing just 18 times, USF picked off two passes and came up with a huge fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
"Our goal is always to get three turnovers (per game) and we feel like that was the difference in the game on defense," Jean-Mary said.
USF intercepted three passes against Illinois last season on the way to ranking second nationally with 20 picks. The Bulls are hungry to keep their takeaway trend going strong this week against the Illini offense that's given the ball up just one time this season.
"It's a new year. We're trying to do better and upgrade," senior cornerback
Mazzi Wilkins said.
Bulls Bits
- BULLS MOVE QUICKLY: USF already has nine scoring drives this season in three minutes or less (7 TDs, 2 FG) and four in less than two minutes. The Bulls erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit last week against Georgia Tech with three touchdowns drives that took only 2:04, 2:39 and 1:34.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LID!: Happy birthday to senior linebacker Khalid McGee, who turned 21 on Wednesday. The Miami native has been a tackling machine in his first season starting at linebacker and leads the Bulls with 20 stops heading into Saturday. McGee collected a career-high 11 tackles in the season opener against Elon in his first-ever start at his new position.- CRONK, BELL HAVE SOLID DEBUTS: After missing the season opener, running backs Duran Bell Jr. (Tampa) and Jordan Cronkrite (Miami) provided a boost in their first game as Bulls. Against Georgia Tech, Bell started his redshirt freshman season with 12 rushes for 69 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown in the second half. Cronkrite averaged 4.3 yards per carry on nine attempts and caught a pass. "It was encouraging to see where they were at and to take that platform of where they're at and continue to get those guys better," offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said. "I'm excited about what happened and the things they did, just execution-wise."
- DISCIPLINED USF: Head coach Charlie Strong had the Bulls do up-downs each time a penalty was committed during fall camp. After the extra exercise, USF has committed 5.0 penalties per game this season compared to its average of 9.6 in 2017. "I thank the coaches for making us have punishments for all that. It really did help," receiver Darnell Salomon said with a smile.
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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