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USF (2-3; 0-1 American) vs Memphis (4-1; 0-1 American)
Saturday, Oct. 12 • 3:30 P.M. (ET) • Camping World Stadium • Orlando, Fla.
SURFACE: Natural, Bermuda
TV: ESPN+: Drew Fellios & Leger Douzable
AUDIO: 102.5 FM, 102.5-HD2 The Strike; TuneIn (Bulls Unlimited)
SERIES: Memphis Leads, 8-4
IN TAMPA: Memphis leads, 4-1
IN MEMPHIS: Memphis leads, 4-2
NEUTRAL: USF leads, 1-0, W, 41-14 in 2008 St. Pete Bowl
LAST TIME: Memphis won, 59-50, in Memphis in 2023
STREAK: Memphis has won last 3 dating to 2019
USF GAME NOTES
Ticket Holder Information
Are you ready for some football?
As the USF Bulls (2-3, 0-1 AAC) prepare to face the Memphis Tigers (4-1, 0-1 AAC) in an American Athletic Conference game that was shifted to Saturday afternoon at Orlando's Camping World Stadium in the wake of Hurricane Milton, it's a tricky question with lots of layers.
There's no doubt that the Bulls want to erase the disappointment of a 45-10 defeat at Tulane in the Sept. 28 AAC opener. They are eager to reset their season following a bye week that provided equal parts of energy and healing.
At the same time, there is conflict. Following Tuesday's practice, with Milton bearing down on the Tampa Bay area, the entire football program operation was shifted to Orlando, bringing with it support staffers, medical personnel and some family members.
Head coach Alex Golesh said he and his assistants have tried to be "super sensitive'' to the needs and emotions of USF players. Obvious questions were addressed. But sometimes, there were unexpected concerns.
Can I bring a case of water home to my family?
If we're going to Orlando, where do I keep my dog?
"We've tried to keep our guys safe, fed, housed and ready for whatever came our way,'' Golesh said. "We want to keep them ready mentally and physically. The realness of the situation is there are people who are going to be dealing with some crazy stuff.''
But the college-football show will go on — even with USF players seeing online photos and footage of an underwater Fowler Avenue, while trying to stay updated with the potential plights of family and friends from around Florida.
Golesh, as driven and prepared a coach as you'll find, said his emotions "are super, super mixed'' while he struggles to maintain the proper perspective.
"I understand the importance of every football game for us,'' Golesh said. "I understand the importance of us needing to bounce back and get back into a rhythm where we're playing really, really good football. But I'd be lying to you if I told you, man, this football game is going to be really important Saturday after what happened (Wednesday and Thursday, when the hurricane arrived).''
Are you ready for some football?
The Bulls are about to get a real-life lesson in "compartmentalizing'' — the ability to concentrate on the task at hand with being distracted, no matter what.
In a football vacuum, USF's stakes are obvious. By winning, the Bulls get back to .500 overall and in the AAC, while severely damaging the hopes of Memphis, the preseason conference favorite. A defeat would have the Bulls climbing uphill for the remainder of the season.
Here are the USF keys to defeating Memphis for the first time since 2016:
Focus
The Bulls must be ready to play. They must build on their strengths and withstand the inevitable adversity that occurs in every football game.
In a week where distractions peeked around every corner, the Bulls must flush out the negativity and spend 60 minutes playing for each other.
The best method isn't inventing a new plan.
One word: Simplify.
"In the bye week, we went back to fundamentals and the basics from each position across the board,'' offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said. "In the first five weeks — even though it doesn't seem like that long of a time — some of those detailed things get lost in the preparing for this team, then the next team, then the next team. So, you go back and figure out what you've done well, what needs to get fixed and changed, then you try to put your guys in a better situation.''
USF's early season has been rigorous — three road trips in five weeks, matchups against Alabama and Miami, plus an AAC opener against Tulane. The bye-week break came at an appropriate time. But now it's time to play.
And time to focus.
Start Fast
In USF's last three games, the opponent has scored touchdowns on each opening drive (in marches that spanned 87, 73 and 69 yards). Meanwhile, the Bulls' opening drives produced a failed fourth-down conversion, a 58-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica and a three-and-out.
How do the Bulls change their momentum?
How about an 80-yard touchdown drive, followed by forcing Memphis into a three-and-out?
"We have not started fast (on defense) in some of these games and it has kind of snowballed,'' defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said. "We've got to find ways to affect the game and get our offense in good position. And we've got to get that going right from the start.''
Resurrect The Running Game
Heading into the Sept. 21 game against Miami, the Bulls were ranked No. 8 in the Football Bowl Subdivision for rushing offense (268 yards per game).
But since then …
Against the Hurricanes, USF ran 32 times for 62 yards (1.9-yard average.
Against Tulane, USF ran 25 times for 26 yards (1.0-yard average).
With Kelley Joiner, Nay'Quan Wright and Ta'Ron Keith, the Bulls displayed a versatile backfield of speed and power in the first three games. But it has vanished.
Solutions?
"It's everything,'' Gordon said. "It's the mindset. It's being physical on the line of scrimmage. It's reducing our errors. We have to be better with our physicality and technique. That's where it starts.
"Running the football starts with attitude. Look, we have played against some good defenses that presented some challenges, but we have to find a way. And if that (running) isn't the best thing we have going, we have to throw it and take some of the heat off the guys up front. Ideally, we want complementary football, where those two phases work off each other. But the way we do it, it starts with running the ball. And we've got to get much better there.''
Pressure And Takeaways
In the past two weeks, the opposing quarterbacks (Miami's Cam Ward and Tulane's Darian Mensah) have carved up the USF defense (45 of 58, 77.6 percent, 730 yards, six touchdowns and one interception — on a seam pass directly into the arms of a wide-open Miami receiver that caromed to a USF defensive back).
Ward and Mensah were not sacked.
Pressure leads to takeaways. USF's defense has come up short in both areas. And the task doesn't get easier. Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,339 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions.
"Their running backs run extremely hard, but it starts with the quarterback (Henigan),'' Orlando said. "Just the experience he has, his recognition of looks and coverages, his obvious talent … it has all been super impressive.
"We have faced some great quarterbacks this season and he is certainly one of them. So, we've got to bring the pressure and turn the ball back over to our offense. That's a great formula and that's what we're looking to do.''
–#GoBulls–
