Bulls Preparing for 'Huge Challenge' Saturday at No. 7 Notre Dame
GAME 2 MATCHUP: USF (1-0) at No. 7/7 Notre Dame (1-0)
DAY & TIME: Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Ind.
TV: USA Network
RADIO: Over the Air: 1250 AM WHNZ &
Digital: Bulls Unlimited
SERIES: Bulls lead series, 1-0, after 23-20 win in South Bend in 2011
GAME NOTES: USF |
Notre Dame
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, SEPT. 15, 2020 – Nine years after stunning the Fighting Irish and the college football world, USF football gets a chance to do it all again in the Bulls' trip back to historic Notre Dame Stadium.
Fresh off a season-opening victory against The Citadel, first-year head coach
Jeff Scott's Bulls look to take their game to another level Saturday against No. 7 Notre Dame. The battle of the unbeatens will mark the schools' second ever meeting and first since USF's
incredible 23-20 upset win over then-No. 16 Notre Dame in 2011.
"Huge challenge for us this week, but like we've talked about, 'With challenges comes growth and comes opportunity.' We're looking forward to this opportunity," Scott said Tuesday. "It's kind of the next step for us, going on the road and playing a big-time opponent. It will tell us a lot about maybe where we are right now early in the year."
USF started the Scott era by showing its new head coach it could bring a disciplined, focused brand to Raymond James Stadium in a
27-6 victory last Saturday. For a program trying to instill a championship mentality, this Saturday will be all about believing and playing "confident" and "free" against powerhouse Notre Dame, which has won 19 straight home games.
"We're playing with house money going into this game," said Scott of USF's underdog role. "We can let loose as coaches and players and have fun and see where it all lands at the end of the game."
If the Bulls are on the right side of the scoreboard Saturday, they'll head back to Tampa with their first road win over a ranked foe since the Cinderella story moment in South Bend back in 2011.
No. 7 Notre Dame would be the highest-ranked foe USF has ever defeated on the road in the Bulls' 24-year history.
USF's last win over a top-10 foe was in 2007 at home against No. 5 West Virginia, which is the highest-ranked opponent ever beaten by the Bulls. Saturday would rank No. 2 in that category in the program's home-and-away history.
Get used to these types of national prestige games and huge opportunities, Bulls Nation.
Check out
USF's future nonconference schedules page and you'll find lots to look forward to, especially home dates in Raymond James Stadium against Florida (2021), Alabama (2023), Louisville (2024), NC State (2024), Boise State (2025), Miami (2027) and Notre Dame (TBD).
Scott mentioned a tweet he saw recently that has USF facing nonconference opponents over the next three years with 25 combined national championship wins between them.
"To have opportunities early in the year to play some of the best programs in the country, it's only gonna make you better," said Scott. "You never know, you play enough of them, then you're gonna have a chance to upset somebody."
Scott Finally Gets to Visit South Bend
Jeff Scott has been waiting quite a while for the chance to soak up the Notre Dame Stadium experience.
"Growing up, my first memory of Notre Dame and of their stadium and their environment, I think was in (1993), when Florida State played Notre Dame in South Bend," said the 39-year-old, who was 12 at the time when he watched the game on TV.
Scott's father, Brad, a longtime coach and now USF's Chief of Staff, was FSU's offensive coordinator back then and went on to help the Seminoles capture the national title at the end of the 1993 season.
Scott thought he'd finally get the chance at a South Bend trip with Clemson after previously coaching in two wins over the Irish as the Tigers' offensive coordinator. Those games that took place at home in South Carolina (2015) and at the Cotton Bowl in Texas (CFP semifinals, 2018).
Clemson is set to play at Notre Dame Stadium this season on Nov. 7, which Scott sadly realized when he accepted USF's head coaching job in 2019.
"I was very excited about that for really the last six years," he said.
Thanks to
Michael Kelly's magic, the Irish were added to USF's schedule this August and Scott gets to go to Notre Dame Stadium eight weeks earlier than he originally planned.
"Now, I am going to South Bend, I'm just taking the Bulls instead," he said. "For me, I'm fired up about it."
Bulls Rise in National Stat Rankings
USF is in great spots on the national stat sheet after a solid, all-around showing in the season-opening win over The Citadel last Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.
Boosted by two takeaways by
Glenn Spencer's defense, the Bulls are tied for the FBS lead with a plus-three turnover margin. USF's other takeaway was a fumble recovery by
Brock Nichols (Naples, Fla.) on punt coverage, helping the Bulls start in a tie for third nationally with three turnovers gained.
"That's exactly where we want to be – at the top end of that," said Scott of the turnover margin. "If we can do that, it just really helps the opportunity for success."
USF is one of just 11 FBS teams to not turn the ball over at all this season. Despite facing rainy conditions in the Bay, the Bulls protected the ball well during 64 offensive plays and nine more snaps on special teams against the feisty Bulldogs.
"For it to be a wet night, new center, new quarterbacks and all that, I felt that was probably one of the biggest positives on offense is no turnovers," Scott said.
USF also ranks No. 7 in the FBS in rushing offense after racking up 302 yards against The Citadel and averaging a nation-leading 7.7 yards per carry.
Two Bulls Named to AAC Weekly Honor Roll
Linebacker
Antonio Grier Jr. and running back
Kelley Joiner Jr. were named to
The American's weekly honor roll on Monday after standout performances against The Citadel.
Grier was a force in USF's season opener, leading the team with 10 tackles and a sack (all in first half) and forcing a fumble. The junior from Atlanta helped the Bulls shut out The Citadel in the second half and keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone throughout the entire game.
"Him and (Dwayne) Boyles have been the heartbeat there inside at the linebacker position the entire offseason and fall camp, so I was not surprised at all to see him play well this past Saturday," Scott said.
Joiner (Clermont, Fla.) registered a game-high 87 yards on eight carries (10.9 ypc). USF's starting back was pumped about his final carry, a 3-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, after really preparing mentally for his first of the season.
"I just couldn't wait for that," he said. "Pregame, it was in my head, 'My first carry, it's gotta be a big one.'"
No. 1 of the season went for very respectable 8 yards. The "big one" came on Joiner's fifth carry, a 41-yard gain in the third quarter. Close enough for the sophomore speedster.
Bulls Bits
- NOTRE DAME SERIES INFO: Saturday's clash will be the opener of USF's three-game series with the Irish. Notre Dame will visit Raymond James Stadium and the Bulls will head back to South Bend on future dates still to be determined.
DUNGY IN THE HOUSE: USF had a special visitor at practice Tuesday in former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy. The Pro Football Hall of Famer was on campus to prepare for his NBC Sports analyst role during Saturday's USF-Notre Dame game that will be broadcast on USA Network.- BULLS IN THE POLLS: USF received six votes in the AP Top 25 Week 3 rankings and got three more votes in Amway Coaches Poll. Ranked No. 7 in both of this week's polls, Notre Dame will be the 11th top-10 team to take on the Bulls in USF football history.
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
Follow @USFFootball on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
- #GoBulls –
