Head Coach Jeff Scott said Tuesday that the Bulls have moved on from the season-opening 50-21 defeat against the No. 25-ranked BYU Cougars, but not before acknowledging "there are a lot of things that must be cleaned up as coaches and players'' before facing the Howard Bison on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium.

"The big message to our players is that, yes, we played poorly, but that doesn't mean that we're a poor football team,'' Scott said. "I have full confidence that we're a much better team than the way we played (against BYU). It's our job this week as coaches and players to correct those mistakes.

"Either way, what we did in the opening football game was not going to define us as a team. That was four quarters. We have 44 more quarters to go (in the regular season). We put a lot into the BYU game the whole offseason and we didn't play anywhere near to our potential. We've evaluated it and now we're moving on.''

Scott's players have received the message.

"We just remain in focus,'' Bulls wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. said. "That (BYU game) was last week. We're going to fix what needs to be fixed and we will get it together. Just keep our heads up and keep playing hard.''

"It was difficult (on Saturday night) as you can tell,'' Bulls linebacker Dwayne Boyles said. "We were really confident. You've got to give credit to BYU because they are a really good team. We're going to learn from this and we're going to keep working.''

Scott said the rhythm of a season takes on its own shape — and that's usually different than a season-opener, which gets several months of focus.

"Obviously, our guys were disappointed and frustrated because we're a lot better team than what we put on tape and on the field,'' Scott said. "The only thing it proved is we're not ready to beat a top 25 team. At the end of the day, we have our entire season ahead of us. You don't get defined by the first game. You get defined with how you respond to it and how you approach each and every one of these next 11 opportunities that we have.''

Scott said the Bulls will take nothing for granted against Howard (0-2), a Football Championship Subdivision opponent.

"We shouldn't be preparing any differently this week than we will next week against Florida,'' Scott said. "If you do that, you're going to be a very inconsistent team for a long time. It's really not about who you play. It's about how you play. The best team doesn't always win. It's the team that plays the best that wins.''

USF homecoming for Howard coaches

Scott said he's looking forward to welcoming Howard because its coaching staff has a USF flavor. Head coach Larry Scott was an offensive lineman on USF's inaugural team and played from 1997-99. Assistant Lindsey Lamar was a wide receiver/running back from 2009-12 who was named 2010 Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year. Lamar was an analyst on Scott's first USF team (2020). Meanwhile, Howard assistants Vernon Hargreaves and Troy Douglas also were members of USF's coaching staff.

"I know those guys have a lot of pride in their USF roots,'' Jeff Scott said. "Larry Scott is a great guy and I've followed his career. He has done a great job at all of his stops. It's a special aspect to this week's game, for sure.''

BYU's tempo creates problems

Scott said USF had trouble lining up on defense — getting late calls from the press box and sideline — and that was caused by BYU's up-tempo offensive plan. The Cougars worked quickly and usually bunched around the middle of the field before sprinting into formation just before the snap.

"When you make critical mistakes against a good football team like BYU, it magnifies very quickly,'' Scott said. "There were 130 plays in that game. There were five of them that really stood out.''

Scott said USF's defense was not properly aligned on the game's first play, when receiver Puka Nacua went 75 yards untouched on a jet sweep. "Our safeties have to make the tackle and keep it to a gain of 12,'' Scott said.

Gerry Bohanon's attempted bubble-screen pass to running back Brian Battie became a pick-six for BYU's Max Tooley, who was unblocked by a wide receiver.

On BYU's next possession, Scott said the defense was late getting lined up and a cornerback "got a wrong signal or didn't get the signal,'' resulting in a Cougar touchdown pass.

Combining those plays with a center snap over the head of 6-foot-5 punter Andrew Stokes for a safety, and a late-game missed connection between Bohanon and Xavier Weaver on fourth-and-5 from BYU's 13-yard line, "that's 30 points,'' Scott said. "Of course, there are other mistakes and stuff to correct. But when you look at the tape, it shows you that the margin for error is very, very small. Ultimately, I don't feel like we did a great job as coaches.''

At the same time, Scott complimented BYU's plan of going up-tempo.

"BYU really had not been (much of) a tempo team in the past,'' Scott said. "Our plan was to let them line up and try to get the perfect call for that formation. They ran it quickly and our guys are looking over at the sideline and they hadn't gotten the call. So, we've got to improve on that part as coaches.''

Many happy returns

When Jimmy Horn opened the second half by scoring on an 89-yard kickoff return, it was USF's fourth kickoff-return touchdown in its past eight games. The other three were 100-yarders in 2021 by Brian Battie, who was named a consensus All-American.

Horn, who credited the blocking from his entire return unit for the electrifying score, said he anticipates many more opportunities.

"A lot of people will be scared to kick it to Bat (Battie),'' Horn said. "If they kick it to me, I know I'm going to take some more back.

"It all starts in the meeting room because when we get for a plan for how we're going to approach it and we get all the right blocks, it works.''