#19 South Florida (5-1; 2-0 American) vs. Florida Atlantic (3-3; 2-1 American)
Saturday, October 18 • 7:30 PM • Raymond James Stadium (65,000) • Tampa, Fla.
SURFACE: Natural, Bermuda Turf Grass
TV: ESPNU: Jack Kizer (P-by-P) & Craig Haubert (Analyst)
RADIO: Q105 FM/ Bulls Unlimited digital
SERIES: USF leads 4-2
IN TAMPA: USF leads 2-2
IN BOCA RATON: USF leads 2-0
LAST TIME: USF 44, FAU 21, in Boca Raton, 11/1/2024
VS AMERICAN: 40-58, won 6 of last 8
AMERICAN HOME GAMES: 21-26, won last vs Charlotte (54-26)
HOMECOMING GAMES: 14-14, lost last vs Navy (28-7)
GAMES ON ESPNU: 30-19, lost last at Tulane (45-10)
SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES
HERD HERE FIRST
BULLSEYE COACHES SHOW
It's Homecoming and the No. 19-ranked USF Bulls are coming home to what promises to be a raucous environment at Raymond James Stadium with nearly 10,000 student tickets distributed.
The biggest goals are still ahead for the Bulls (5-1, 2-0 American Conference), who face the steadily improving Florida Atlantic Owls (3-3, 1-1) in Saturday night's game on ESPNU.
"We're in the middle of October and we're playing really, really meaningful football,'' head coach Alex Golesh said. "As a team, where we are right now, to be honest with you, it's a place that a majority of these guys haven't been. For us as coaches, it's important for us to make sure the standard stays as the standard. We continue to raise the standard in areas where we feel like we can … and then the stuff that's killing us, we've got to hammer that home or that's on us as coaches for failing to do so.''
On Oct. 10, USF defeated North Texas 63-36 on the road, despite three turnovers in the first quarter. One week earlier, the Bulls easily dispatched Charlotte 54-16, but were haunted by four turnovers.
"We have been doing some good things, but we also have a lot of things to clean up,'' Golesh said. "We spent probably 10 minutes talking about the word 'humility' on Monday. We did it after the (North Texas) game in the locker room.
"What it means is understanding that your preparation and your detail from week to week can't change. In our context, if you start to gauge opponents and you let your gloves down, that's when you get knocked out. You've seen it with teams getting too high or getting overconfident. That's why we're so big on being process-driven. You don't gauge opponents and you don't gauge situations. You just put your head down and you work.''
Here are the keys for USF to defeat FAU and register the program's first four-game winning streak since 2018:
1. Don't Look Ahead
It's oh so tempting. We're one week away from one of the juiciest conference matchups in USF's recent football history.
USF's Oct. 25 game at No. 22 Memphis will undoubtedly be mammoth, probably determining the trajectory of the American Conference title race, probably making the winner a solid favorite to grab a spot in the College Football Playoff.
But it's not time … yet.
A loss against FAU causes most of that to unravel.
A loss against FAU changes everything.
When you consider those ramifications, it's easy to get your mind right and realize that you can't assume anything beyond the next game on your schedule. Average teams, which often have a warped sense of how to handle prosperity, get tripped up by this concept. Elite teams simply take care of business — week by week — in businesslike fashion.
"There's always a fear when you get rolling and you win games like we have here that you won't be able to (continue to) do it the right way,'' offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said. "But I haven't seen that at all. We had one of our better Wednesday practices that we've had all year.
"Part of growing up and being a mature team is understanding that when you do good things, people are going to talk about you … and that's only bad if you take it the wrong way and think that you've made it. There's a lot of older guys on our football team that will not allow anybody to put their guard down. We're playing good football teams from here on out. It's a one-week season, a one-game season. That's always going to be our approach.''
2. Keep Those Turnovers Coming
We can't say it enough. USF has forced 16 turnovers and that leads the nation.
That, maybe more than anything, has told the tale of USF's 5-1 start.
Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando is pleased, but not completely satisfied. There's a higher level to reach.
"A lot of it is having really good players,'' Orlando said. "Last week in the first quarter, the interception (by linebacker Jhalyn Shuler in the red zone with North Texas leading 7-0) kind of stopped the bleeding. Later on, Freddie (Gaskin) makes a good play (setting up a third-quarter touchdown).
"Some of that is ballplayers making good plays. And some of it is the physicality, when Jarvis (Lee) made that hit (forcing a fumble that Shuler returned for a touchdown). And part of it is everybody just running to the football. People are looking for this magic potion, like, 'What are they doing?' I think it's mostly having really good players who like to hit people and we're definitely going to run to the ball. The ball pops out and you get confidence from that. We hope it continues.''
3. Put Pressure On The QB
FAU QB Caden Veltkamp (6-foot-6, 240 pounds), a transfer from Western Kentucky, has been wildly effective. He leads the nation in completions per game (27.3), while pacing the American Conference in completion percentage (65.1), passing yards (1,781) and touchdowns (14).
An eye-opening statistic: Veltkamp has gone three straight games — and 114 consecutive passing attempts overall — without being sacked.
Credit goes to the Owls' offensive line — left tackle Ja'Kavion Nonar (6-8, 315), left guard Scarlee Jean (6-4, 320), center Vincent Fiacable (6-4, 320), right guard Okino King (6-3, 305) and Daughtry Richardson (6-5, 320) — and USF coaches know it won't be easy to harass Veltkamp.
"That is a big offensive line for our league,'' Golesh said. "It's like real size, legitimate size. And the quarterback makes it all go.''
The Bulls can't allow Veltkamp to get comfortable and throw darts.
"He (Veltkamp) gets the ball out of his hands,'' Orlando said. "He's making some of the throws before receivers even get out of their breaks. The timing part has been impressive — two seconds or less. The system itself is really, really impressive. That kid (Veltkamp) can work concepts, he can see coverages and he puts them in the best route concepts based on the coverages. It's super impressive.''
That's why it's so important for Veltkamp to worry about some USF pressure.
4. Ride The Hot Hand
USF's offense has become wonderfully versatile in the last few weeks. It revolves around QB Byrum Brown, of course, and he's having a magnificent season (accounting for 14 touchdowns in the last three games, placing him No. 7 nationally by accounting for 18 points per game).
Brown — a weapon unto himself (64-percent passing with 1,439 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and a team-leading 364 rushing yards and five more scores) — has a fleet of skill-position players at his disposal.
Even with the absence of injured Cartevious Norton, USF's running game seems in good hands with Sam Franklin (237 yards, 7.0-yard average), Alvon Isaac (206, 5.9), Nykahi Davenport (165, 5.9) and emerging freshman Chase Garnett (81, 10.1).
At receiver, with season-long leader Chas Nimrod (23 catches, 20.3 average) suffering an injury at North Texas, the Bulls still have multiple options with Keshaun Singleton (17 catches, 17.3), Christian Neptune (17 catches, 6.5), Mudia Reuben (15 catches, 7.0), Josh Porter (eight catches, 9.8) and Jeremiah Koger (eight catches, 21.1).
Tight ends Wyatt Sullivan (11 catches, 8.9) and Jonathan Echols (five catches, 13.2) are also pass catching options.
There's no telling where the Bulls could turn for offense. It's not predictable. It's surely not revolving around just one or two people. And that's a great situation to have.
"You've got to have depth — and we have it,'' Gordon said. "We've had guys go down in every position group. I think it's a credit to our coaches for recruiting and developing these guys, then putting them in a position where it's 'next man up,' and they're ready to go.
"Guys are competing and earning their opportunities to play. It brings out the best in everybody. There were multiple drives last week (at North Texas) where there were three true freshmen playing receiver on a Friday night meaningful game in October. That's why we're winning as a football team. We've got lots of younger guys in our position rooms who understand what's going on and can handle (extended playing time).''
–#GoBulls–
