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USF (2-2; 0-0 American) at Tulane (2-2; 0-0 American)
Saturday, Sept. 28 • 12:00 P.M. (ET) • Yulman Stadium (30,000) • New Orleans, La.
SURFACE: Helix Matrix Turf
TV: ESPNU: Matt Schumacker (P-by-P), Dustin Fox (analyst)
AUDIO: 102.5 FM, 102.5-HD2 The Strike; TuneIn (Bulls Unlimited)
SERIES: Tulane leads, 3-1
IN TAMPA: Tulane leads, 2-0
IN NEW ORLEANS: Tied, 1-1
LAST TIME: Tulane won, 45-31, in Tampa in 2022
CONFERENCE OPENERS: 11-10
CONFERENCE ROAD OPENERS: 4-3, last, L, 41-17, at SMU '21
AAC OPENERS: 6-5, last, W, 42-29 vs. Rice, 2023
USF GAME NOTES
NEW ORLEANS — The first USF buses traveling members of the equipment and training staffs, among others, will roll out before dawn. You might still be sleeping Saturday morning when Bulls coaches and players arrive at Yulman Stadium to begin pregame warm up.
At high noon on ESPNU (11 a.m. New Orleans time), the Bulls (2-2) will kick it off against the Tulane Green Wave (2-2) in the American Athletic Conference opener for both programs.
But even after four weeks of playing night games under the lights, the Bulls won't need a wake-up call. They are accustomed to morning practices, so they won't be fazed by the late morning/early afternoon schedule.
For the night games, the clock usually runs slow for eager-to-play USF team members. At the hotel, there's a mapped-out routine of meetings and game prep, but there's often an hours-long gap for napping or watching other college football contests. The wait can seem interminable. Game time can't come soon enough.
"When our kids found out about that (kickoff time), they were like, 'Man, this is awesome,' '' head coach Alex Golesh said. "They get to wake up and just play ball instead of sitting around all day and thinking about it.''
There's plenty for the Bulls to wonder about as a five-game September schedule comes to a close. They took care of business nicely — as expected — against Bethune-Cookman (48-3 victory) and Southern Miss (49-24 victory). Against big-time opponents — No. 4-ranked Alabama (42-16 defeat) and No. 8-ranked Miami (50-15 defeat) — there were encouraging signs, but also reminders that USF wasn't quite ready for a signature win.
"Our challenge is to wipe all of that clean,'' Golesh said. "Now it's conference play. It's time to go.''
The Bulls have an immediate formidable challenge with the Green Wave, who have won 10-consecutive AAC regular-season games, the fifth-longest conference winning streak in the nation, while going 25-7 in their last 32 contests overall.
Would it be especially sweet to travel home late Saturday afternoon with a victory against Tulane, a bye week ahead and a Friday night (Oct. 11) ESPN home showdown against Memphis looming in the distance?
For sure.
Here are the keys for USF in its AAC opener against Tulane:
Establish The Running Game
USF ranks 25th nationally in rushing offense (217-yard average), which sounds great. But things were decidedly not great against the Miami Hurricanes, who limited the Bulls to just 62 yards rushing on 32 attempts (for a 1.9-yard average).
It was the worst rushing total (and fewest rushing attempts) of Golesh's 17-game USF tenure and a drastic departure from the rushing totals of the season's first three games (268.7-yard average and 11 touchdowns). The non-production was even more pronounced on first-down runs — 10 attempts, 5 yards.
"Running the ball will always be a focal point for our offense,'' offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said. "Tulane is a good team, too, so we have got to really improve from where we were last Saturday to this Saturday. We've got to strap it up against their physical group because they have been a good program for a while now. We need to get back on track.''
Gordon acknowledged that Miami's front line made it difficult to run, but added that USF must do a better job in one-on-one matchups, while avoiding breakdowns.
"We've got to pick up the pieces and make sure that everybody is doing their job,'' Gordon said.
If the blocking is sound and mistakes are eliminated, the Bulls have a trio of runners who could set a winning tone — Kelley Joiner (251 yards overall, 7.0-yard average), Nay'Quan Wright (199, 5.1) and Ta'Ron Keith (106, 4.6) — along with the running threat provided by quarterback Byrum Brown (281, 4.7).
60 Minutes
With apologies to Mike Wallace, Morley Safer and Lesley Stahl — tick, tick, tick, tick — we're not talking about that award-winning Sunday night news-show staple on CBS.
The Bulls need to throw a complete game — and that means playing the full 60 minutes.
Against Alabama, USF pulled within 21-16 late in the second half, but the Crimson Tide answered with a three-touchdown blitz in the final six minutes.
Against Miami, USF led 15-14 late in the first half. Then a coverage bust helped the Hurricanes get a 76-yard touchdown pass. Coming out of halftime, the Bulls completed a 23-yard pass, but promptly got a delay penalty and never took advantage of great field position. Miami had a four-touchdown second half — and that was that.
"We've got to put a full, complete game together,'' Joiner said. "We've come out in the first half very good, looking good, looking like ourselves, and come out in the second half flat. Just putting two halves together and being a team, that's what we've got to work on.''
When you lose, it always seems like glass-half-empty.
Gordon said he remains encouraged. He believes that it's glass-half-full with just some adjustments needed.
"The big picture takeaway of the Miami game is a little bit of our story through the first month,'' Gordon said. "When we are doing our jobs and executing, we've proven that we can move the ball up and down the field. The thing that has happened in both (defeats) is we're on the wrong side of finishing in the red zone.
"We've got to be better down there. We've got to finish and get touchdowns against everybody, not field goals. When you don't punch it in or you short-circuit drives with mistakes and penalties, it stinks for the whole team and we cannot allow it to happen.''
Bother The Tulane QB
The Green Wave enjoyed two seasons of prosperity under quarterback Michael Pratt, who's now on the practice squad with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tulane has uncovered another productive quarterback in lightly recruited redshirt freshman Darian Mensah (60-percent completions, 796 yards, six touchdowns, two interceptions), who began as the third-teamer in fall training camp. He showed great poise — along with 342 yards passing — in a 34-27 defeat against Kansas State.
But how will Mensah hold up if USF brings the pressure? Against K-State and Oklahoma, Mensah was sacked eight times.
Last week, the Bulls did not sack Miami quarterback Cam Ward, but compiled nine sacks in their first three games.
It's imperative to make things difficult for Mensah, who already has displayed composure and poise beyond his years.
"For such a young guy, that quarterback (Mensah) has shown a complete command of their offense,'' defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said. "He has been super impressive to me. He's mobile and he's very accurate.
"Their running backs are extremely powerful and they set up play-action that way. You've got to commit to stopping something. Once you commit to stopping their running game, they're going to take big shots (in the passing game). We've got to find a way to both the quarterback, even though he doesn't appear to get rattled very easily. We've got to find a way to get to him and make things difficult.''
Take Some Shots
It doesn't happen all the time, but Brown and his receivers are capable of breathtaking big plays. Last season's AAC opener against Rice was a super-rare occurrence, but Brown delivered pass completions of 53, 51, 42, 49 and 52 yards (all to Naiem Simmons, who had a state of Florida FBS-record 272 receiving yards on eight catches).
The Bulls have come close to big plays in the passing game this season, but close doesn't count. It's time for some connections. We know that Sean Atkins (USF's leading receiver with 24 catches) will be his usual productive self. That's usually a given.
Some help from the receiving sidekicks would be welcomed. The angular Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen, a transfer from Purdue, is a prime candidate. We know Michael Brown-Stephens can get deep. Josh Hardeman, who produced at Houston and Wyoming, and freshman Joshua Porter have shown promise.
A couple of successful deep shots against Tulane could be the difference-makers.
–#GoBulls–
