Keys to Victory: Keep the Offense Clicking
USF (2-7; 1-4 American) vs #2/3 CINCINNATI (9-0; 5-0 American)
Friday, Nov. 12 • 6:00 P.M. • Tampa, Fla. • Raymond James Stadium (65,857)
SURFACE: Tifway Bermuda
TV: ESPN2: Jason Benetti (p-by-p), Andre Ware (analyst) & Paul Carcaterra
RADIO: 95.3 FM WDAE
AUDIO STREAM: iHeartRadio - Bulls Unlimited1
SERIES: Cincinnati leads, 11-7
IN TAMPA: USF leads, 5-4
IN CINCINNATI: UC leads, 7-2
LAST: Cincinnati won 28-7 at Cincinnati in 2020
STREAK: Cincinnati has won 3 straight
VS RANKED: 11-33, lost last 11
GAME NOTES (PDF)
By Joey Johnston
The evidence is in black-and-white statistics. USF's offense is a legitimate threat. Since the bye week, the Bulls have averaged 30.5 points per game with 12 touchdowns from scrimmage.
With freshman quarterback Timmy McClain growing on each play, a versatile stable of backs (speed and power), a deep fleet of receivers (10 players caught passes last week) and a veteran line, USF's offense has come leaps and bounds since the season-opening 45-0 defeat at NC State.
The Bulls (2-7, 1-4 AAC) are not only capable, they are scary good at times, providing plenty of optimism not only for this season's final three games, but for the 2022 season as well.
Obviously, USF's offense must play at an extremely high level for success in Friday night's matchup against the No. 2-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats (9-0, 5-0 AAC) at Raymond James Stadium (ESPN2, 6 p.m.). Cincinnati has the nation's 12th-ranked total defense and the top-ranked pass efficiency defense. It has allowed three touchdowns from scrimmage just twice in a game this season.
The Bulls must score early and often — perhaps at a similar rate as last Saturday's 54-42 defeat against the Houston Cougars.
But the offense must also control the game. Even if it can't find the end zone, it must avoid three-and-outs by establishing a running game and a passing attack that moves the sticks.
It's no secret that USF's defense, already a bit undermanned when the season began, has been victimized by the injury bug and a plethora of big plays, including a 97-yard touchdown run by Houston last week. The defense had better moments, preventing the Cougars from scoring on three consecutive second-half drives to keep USF's hopes alive.
Against Cincinnati, though, the offense will need to carry the burden.
"Offensively, we can run the ball,'' USF coach Jeff Scott said. "We can take time off the clock and strategize within the team to keep Cincinnati's offense off the field. They've got an incredible wideout, quarterback, running back, you name it … we don't want to be out there a lot of plays on defense.
"In order to pull an upset, you've got to be at your best for four quarters. We're not in a place where we can make a lot of mistakes in the second half and expect to upset some really good teams.''
Scott said the bulk of USF's defensive problems reflect the Bulls' lack of depth.
"We run out of juice, that's what I see,'' Scott said. "Our lack of depth catches up with us. I don't see mistakes where guys are covering the wrong guy. It's somebody running in the open field and we don't have the gas (to catch up).
"I can't really help that during the season. I can help that in the offseason by adding more depth.''
Overall, if USF avoids the critical mistakes and plays consistently for four quarters, Scott said he believes the Bulls will be positioned to compete against anyone — including Cincinnati.
"We don't need anyone to do any super thing or have an out-of-body experience to have a chance to win,'' Scott said. "We need to be the best version of ourselves.
"Where you can make a mistake is when you start pressing. That's what I have to tell Timmy (McClain) a little bit. We need him to drive the car. We don't need him to make the throw and the catch and make every play down the field. Do your job. We've shown for at least two quarters (in most games) that when we're executing, we can compete with anybody on the schedule. The same can be said Friday. We just have to do it for four quarters.''
The Deuce Is Loose
ESPN2 telecasts have been something of a good-luck charm historically for USF football with four of the Bulls' most significant victories occurring on the Deuce — including the wins against No. 7 West Virginia (2006), No. 17 Auburn (2007), No. 5 West Virginia (2007) and No. 11 Kansas (2008). USF's last victory against a ranked opponent — the 52-45 win against No. 22 Navy in 2016 — was also carried on ESPN2.
Powerful Matchups
USF is 1-1 against top 5-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision teams in Tampa, defeating No. 5 West Virginia 21-13 in 2007 and falling to No. 4 Florida State 30-17 in 2012.
Cincinnati is not only the highest-ranked opponent to face USF at Ray-Jay, it's the highest-ranked team ever to play a regular-season game in Tampa (the University of Tennessee was No. 3 in 1967 when it defeated the University of Tampa 38-0 in the inaugural game at the old Tampa Stadium).
The USF-Cincinnati Series
USF is 7-11 all-time against Cincinnati (18 games, making it the most-faced foe in USF's 25 seasons of football). There have been three straight defeats, including a 28-7 road loss in 2020. The Bulls had four takeaways, but threw four interceptions and could muster only 291 yards of offense.
The Bulls are 5-4 against the Bearcats in Tampa. That includes a 65-27 victory in 2015, when the Bulls built a 51-3 halftime lead.
Connections
* Cincinnati's top running back, Jerome Ford, attended Armwood High School and was a teammate of USF's Mekhi LaPointe.
* The Bearcats feature seven other Floridians, including junior safety Jaquan Sheppard of Zephyrhills High School.
* USF has no players from Ohio on its roster.
Trivia Time
USF has had annual games with Cincinnati since joining Conference USA in 2003. In that span, besides current coach Luke Fickell, the Bearcats had five other head coaches. Can you name them?
Looking Ahead
After Friday night's matchup against Cincinnati, USF will face the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans (ESPN+, noon).
The Green Wave (1-8, 0-5) have fallen on hard times since putting a major season-opening scare into the Oklahoma Sooners (OU, then ranked No. 2 nationally, won 40-35). After defeating Morgan State 69-20, Tulane has dropped seven straight games and hosts Tulsa on Saturday.
Defense has been an issue for the Green Wave, who have surrendered 707 yards (Ole Miss), 612 yards (East Carolina) and 612 yards (SMU). But they clamped down and allowed just 277 against UCF in a 14-10 defeat last Saturday.
USF is 1-1 all-time against Tulane, winning 34-28 at New Orleans in 2017, then dropping a 41-15 decision at Ray-Jay in 2018.
Trivia Answer
Since 2003, Cincinnati's permanent head football coaches have included Rick Minter, Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, Tommy Tuberville and Fickell.
