Defense Builds on Solid Performances, Offense Looks to Elevate Play In Return to Ray Jay
NEXT GAME: South Carolina State (2-0) at USF (0-2)
DAY/TIME: Saturday/6 p.m.
LOCATION: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
TV/RADIO: ESPN3/USF Radio Network (1250-AM), Bulls Unlimited
SERIES: First meeting
GAME NOTES: USF
TICKETS: USFBullsTix.com
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, SEPT. 11, 2019 – USF's offense is tinkering with its lineup and speeding things up in an effort to get coordinator
Kerwin Bell's #PlayFastScoreFaster system up to speed on Saturday.
"We're trying to get these guys going and get them moving a little faster. That's one thing about this system, there's so many detailed things," Bell said Wednesday. "In between plays, they've got to line up in the right spots and things like that. We're trying to get them to quit thinking and start going out there and playing fast and react to everything."
As Bell has pointed out in the past, it took a little while for his offense that utilizes a pro-style passing attack with spread concepts to get rolling at his past stop. Valdosta State led Division II with 52.0 points per game and won a national championship last season, his third as head coach of the program, but Bell thinks the Bulls aren't far off from making major progress.
"Plays are there," he said. "When you watch them on film, they're there. We're just not executing very well."
Bell has been encouraged by USF's "really good week" of practice, where a lot of work is being put in to put the Bulls in the best position possible.
Senior
Blake Barnett (Corona, Calif.), who started the first two games, and redshirt freshman
Jordan McCloud (Tampa), who played in both games, are competing for the first-team quarterback job. The both are getting reps have and have risen to the challenge with head coach
Charlie Strong evaluating who will take the field Saturday as the starting QB.
"They're both playing really well in practice," Bell said. "Jordan is really pushing Blake and Blake has really picked up his game this week in practice."
No matter which quarterback takes snaps against South Carolina State, Bell knows the Bulls must improve in other areas to succeed on Saturday.
"It's more than just that," he said. "We've got to get the running game going."
Positive plays on first down have been hindered by breakdowns at the line, which also is being addressed in practice this week. Bell said senior
William Atterbury (Clearwater, Fla.) is going back to his old spot at right guard (23 starts from 2017-18) while sophomore
Donovan Jennings (Tampa) is returning to left tackle, where he started four games last season.
"Billy, really with his footwork, he's really fundamentally sound in there, so when we do run plays inside, we're not missing people and we're not leaving people free," Bell said. "I think it's going to help us be a lot more solid making that move."
In addition to that switch, junior
Jarrett Hopple (Suffolk, Va.) is competing in practice with senior starter
Marcus Norman (Sebastian, Fla.) at right tackle.
No matter their positions in the offense, the Bulls are working overtime, especially Bell who has been at the Selmon Center "all night," to make fans proud in the program's return to Raymond James Stadium on Saturday.
"We've all got to come together and let's go play a really good football game. Gain some confidence, have an open week and let's go get this going," Bell said. "There's talent there, there's enough people to get it going."
Defense Looking to Build on Solid Performance
USF's defense bounced back from the season opener against No. 14 Wisconsin with a solid performance last Saturday in Atlanta.
The Bulls surrendered just 257 yards to Georgia Tech, a 345-yard improvement from their 2018 game, and shut out the Yellow Jackets in the second half while forcing consecutive turnovers.
"We made some more plays. I thought we were more assignment sound. Guys that were in position to make plays for the most part did," coordinator
Brian Jean-Mary said. "In the second half, most of the plays they got on us were because of a penalty, or a missed tackle. Those are things we can fix. You feel like we progressed a little."
The Bulls sure were busy in the backfield, racking up 13 tackles for loss and climbing to third nationally in the stat category with 12.0 TFLs per game. At this point, 12 different Bulls have already registered a TFL through two games.
"Anytime you can disrupt the offense and keep them off schedule, you feel like that gives you the advantage on defense," Jean-Mary said.
USF will look to create more havoc Saturday against SC State, which is off to a 2-0 start after a 34-0 victory over Lane College last week. Like Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs have mobile quarterbacks, especially Game 1 starter Tyrece Nick, who rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in a 28-13 win over Wofford.
"When you have a quarterback as dynamic as he is, they want to spread you out from sideline to sideline and give him a lot of run-pass options," Jean-Mary said. "That's a big part of what they do. They have some option tendencies, very similar to GT."
When he took to the air against Wofford, Nick completed 12 of 26 passes (1 TD, 1 INT) for 201 yards with an arm that could "throw it a country mile," according to USF's third-year defensive coordinator.
"He can throw it pretty far, so we're going to have to be on our Ps and Qs in the secondary, not just in the front seven stopping the run," Jean-Mary said.
BULLS BITS
MIMS IN THE MIDDLE: Impressive senior starting middle linebacker Patrick Macon (Memphis, Tenn.) must sit out Saturday's first half due to a targeting penalty against Georgia Tech. Lining up in his place will be sophomore Andrew Mims (St. Johns, Fla.). "He's played a little bit in the first two games and has done well. We're very, very confident in him," coordinator Brian Jean-Mary said. "Obviously, we'll have some other guys that have been playing the weakside linebacker spot, they've been repping this week at the middle also."
KEGLER STEPPING UP: Junior defensive tackle Kevin Kegler (Madison, Fla.) was a huge help in USF's big push up front against Georgia Tech, totaling a career high 2.5 tackles for loss. "He played a lot as a freshman and started most of the year last year and he's going into his third year," Jean-Mary said. "You expected him to turn the page and the returns have been really good these first two games." Kegler is now tied for second on the team with 3.5 TFLs this season and Jean-Mary expects production to continue. "We think the world of him. We think he can be even better with some of the skill sets that he has," he said. "He's really progressed."
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
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– #GoBulls –
