Improving Bulls Head To New Orleans
USF (2-8; 1-5 American) at Tulane (1-9; 0-6 American)
Saturday, Nov. 20 • 12:00 P.M. • New Orleans, La., • Yulman Stadium (30,000)
SURFACE: Artificial
TV: ESPN+: Jack Benjamin (p-by-p) & Brian Kinchen (analyst)
RADIO: 95.3 FM WDAE
AUDIO STREAM: iHeartRadio - Bulls Unlimited1
SERIES: Tied, 1-1
IN TAMPA: Tulane leads, 1-0
IN NEW ORLEANS: USF leads, 1-0
LAST: Tulane won, 41-15, in Tampa in 2018
STREAK: Lost 7 straight road conference games, last win coming Oct. 26, 2019 at ECU (45-20)
GAME NOTES
By Joey Johnston
USF coach Jeff Scott has a pointed message for his players this week: It's time.
Time to win.
The ever-improving Bulls (2-8, 1-5 AAC) are being painted as a dangerous team of the future by national commentators. But they want to finish this season with a flourish. And it needs to start in Saturday afternoon's American Athletic Conference game against the Tulane Green Wave (1-9, 0-6 AAC) at Yulman Stadium.
"Everybody feels internally and even on the outside that we're really making some strides and gaining momentum,'' Scott said. "Well, we're going to find out this week."
"We're not going to be able to hide behind (playing a team in) the top 20 rankings or the No. 5 team. Now this is definitely a very capable Tulane team. But we need to go and find a way to get a good road victory before we come back to Tampa.''
The Bulls finish in Orlando on Black Friday against the UCF Knights in the annual "War On I-4'' rivalry game. It's a tantalizing thought: USF potentially winding up their season with a two-game win streak, prevailing on the road for the first time since 2019, then defeating their rivals.
"The challenge I gave our team Monday is it has been five years (2016) since our program finished with two consecutive wins to end the season,'' Scott said. "That's the opportunity in front of us.
"That would be a great exclamation point to put on this season of improvement. It would give us a lot of momentum going into recruiting and our offseason. It would give our seniors a chance to leave on a really positive note.''
Then Scott shifted to the task at hand.
"You can't win your final two if we don't win the one against Tulane,'' Scott said. "All of our focus is on that.''
Statistically, USF vs. Tulane is about as even a matchup as you'll find.
* USF is ninth in AAC total offense (360.5 yards per game) and Tulane is eighth (368.5).
* USF is 11th in AAC total defense (488.1) and Tulane is 10th (446.7).
* USF is eighth in scoring offense (25.1 points per game) and Tulane is seventh (25.8).
* USF is ninth in scoring defense (35.4) and Tulane is 10th (36.1).
Both teams have faced four opponents currently ranked in the Associated Press top 25 — USF has faced NC State, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati; Tulane has faced Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Houston and Cincinnati.
Scott remembers watching Tulane's season-opener from his USF office. The Green Wave were forced to move their game against No. 2 Oklahoma from New Orleans to Norman, Okla., due to Hurricane Ida's damage in Louisiana. Still, Tulane had the final possession and fell short of a massive upset as Oklahoma held on for a 40-35 victory.
After defeating Morgan State, Tulane has since dropped eight straight games. But the Green Wave lost 14-10 at UCF after limiting the Knights to 277 yards. Last week, they were beaten by Tulsa 20-13 in overtime after Tulane place-kicker Merek Glover missed a game-winning 26-yard field-goal attempt with four seconds to play.
"Don't buy the lie,'' Scott said. "Just like we feel we're a better team than our record states, I can promise you, this team right here (Tulane), it feels the same way. I think they definitely are (better than their record indicates). Tulane was close to knocking off UCF and Tulsa.
"We're trying to develop a mindset where it doesn't matter if you're playing Cincinnati or a middle-school team. We want the same mental approach. That shouldn't change.''
It sounds like USF's players have taken note.
"We only worry about us,'' Bulls junior linebacker Dwayne Boyles said. "It doesn't matter who we play. If we play to our standard, we know we'll come out with a victory. Sadly, we haven't been doing that. But I definitely see it moving in the right direction."
Bulls Bits
The 80-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Jimmy Horn against Cincinnati was the longest play from scrimmage by a USF freshman in the program's 25-season football history. … After being shut out in the opener against NC State and scoring 20 points against Florida, USF is averaging 31 points in the seven games started by freshman quarterback Timmy McClain. In the four games McClain has started since the Oct. 9 bye week, USF is averaging 33.8 points. Freshman Katravis Marsh played the whole way Oct. 28 at East Carolina when McClain was injured and the Bulls were held to 14 points in a rain storm. … Jaren Mangham has 15 rushing touchdowns to tie Marlon Mack (2016) and pull to within three of the USF single-season record (18 by Quinton Flowers in 2016). He is tied for 13th all-time in rushing touchdowns by a Football Bowl Subdivision player in the state of Florida and needs two to break into the top 10 (a list that includes Tim Tebow, Dalvin Cook, Willis McGahee and Edgerrin James). The state FBS single-season record for rushing touchdowns is 32 by Florida Atlantic's Devin Singletary in 2017.
