#25 South Florida (7-2; 4-1 American) at Navy (7-2; 5-1 American)
Saturday, November 15 • 12:00 PM • Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000) • Annapolis, Md.
SURFACE: Field Turf
TV: ESPN2: Roy Philpott (P-by-P), Sam Acho (Analyst) & Taylor Davis (Sideline)
RADIO: Q105 FM & Bulls Unlimited Digital
SERIES: Navy leads, 3-2
IN TAMPA: 1-1, last, L, 28-7 in 2024
IN ANNAPOLIS: 1-2; last, W, 44-30 in 2023
LAST TIME: Navy won 28-7 in Tampa in 2024
VS AMERICAN: 42-59, won 8 of last 11
AMERICAN HOME GAMES: 23-26, last: W vs. UTSA, 55-23
AMERICAN ROAD GAMES: 18-30; last: L at Memphis, 34-31
GAMES ON ESPN2: 20-26; last: L at Memphis, 34-31
SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES
In mid-November, USF football has entered uncharted territory.
* If the Bulls win out, they could be in line to host the American Conference championship game on Friday, Dec. 5 at Raymond James Stadium and compete for the first conference title in the program's 29-season history.
* USF is among five American Conference teams with just one league loss. Beyond head-to-head and being ranked in the College Football Playoff standings, the next tie-breaking criteria is a composite computer ranking (Connolly SP+, SportSource TR116 SOR, ESPN SOR and KPI).
USF (20.3 composite computer ranking) currently has an advantage over the league's other four teams with one conference defeat — North Texas (29.3), Tulane (39.0), East Carolina (43.5) and Navy (54.3).
* Quarterback Byrum Brown, the nation's only player with at least 2,000 passing yards and 700 rushing yards, is on pace to become only the 12th player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to have a season with 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. Four of those 11 previous players won the Heisman Trophy — and eight of them finished in the top three of Heisman voting.
That's a lot to absorb.
In the world of head coach Alex Golesh, who appreciates all of the excitement currently enjoyed by USF fans, those bells and whistles must be accompanied by a heavy dose of perspective.
"On any week, as we've continually seen throughout this season, anybody can beat anybody,'' Golesh said. "So, you better be focusing on your next game.''
No. 25-ranked USF (7-2, 4-1 American Conference) will travel Saturday to face the Navy Midshipmen (7-2, 5-1) at chilly, breezy Annapolis, Md., the latest test for a Bulls program that is coming off an impressive 55-23 home victory against the UTSA Roadrunners.
Against UTSA, everything clicked for the Bulls, who got a pair of defensive touchdowns while rolling up 417 yards on just 50 plays.
Navy, as usual, will pose a unique challenge.
Its traditional triple-option approach began featuring new twists last season when head coach Brian Newberry brought in offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, the former head coach of Football Championship Subdivision member Mercer.
Navy's offense has been described as a hybrid Wing-T system that incorporates elements of the triple-option, along with run-pass option concepts. There will be sleight of hand and deception.
"Half the time, the challenge is knowing where the ball is,'' Golesh said. "So, we will need the highest form of discipline, gap integrity and eye discipline on defense.''
Senior quarterback Blake Horvath, who didn't play in last Saturday's 49-10 defeat at Notre Dame due to injury, has rushed for 926 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he is far more than a pure runner. Horvath's 164.9 career pass efficiency rating is the highest of any quarterback in service academy history (150 or more attempts) and he's among just 34 quarterbacks in FBS history with a career passing efficiency rating of 164.0 or better.
"You have this stigma of what Navy does offensively, that they just run the ball up and down the field,'' Golesh said. "They've thrown it incredibly well. When they changed offenses a year ago, it has done wonders for them. They are top 10 in the country in third downs, red-zone offense, yards per attempt, yards per completion and explosive runs. You're not talking three games into the season. You're talking Week 10 here.
"Defensively, they are so disruptive up front. They are incredibly disruptive from a blitz package standpoint. On both sides of the ball, they are disciplined and sound. They don't make mistakes. I mean, these guys are soldiers. So, we've got to be ready for all of that.''
USF players said they are up for the challenge.
"That quarterback (Horvath) runs their system really well,'' linebacker Mac Harris said. "He's real confident. He's not too flashy with anything, but he's a really, really, really good player. Of course, you've got to stop the run. They're going to use the run to ramp up their play-action pass. But mostly, you just got to stop the run.''
USF's defense has done an admirable job of that lately, ranking 24th nationally against the run (allowing 110.1 yards per game). Against UTSA, the Roadrunners were limited to 72 yards rushing. Robert Henry, who came in averaging 124 yards per game, was held to 27.
Navy's rushing reputation is well-known (the Midshipmen lead the nation at 304.9 yards per game). But USF also has distinguished itself in rushing, ranking 10th nationally (226.9), while building a streak of six straight games with at least 235 yards on the ground.
"It's going to be a game of detail and playing harder than them,'' center Cole Best said. "They're a talented bunch on defense. The biggest thing that stands out is they play really hard. You can turn on any defensive play all year, no matter who they played, and at the end of the play there are 11 Navy jerseys swarming to the ball.''
In mid-November, USF can achieve its eighth win in a season for the first time since 2017. Even bigger things are very possible.
"Obviously, these guys know they're playing for something,'' Golesh said. "We talked about it after we had our sixth win. The feeling in the locker room was different (than previous seasons). There was no conversation of a sixth win. There were no 'Bowl Bound' T-shirts given out. That's not the standard. I think they know that they're playing meaningful football. Obviously, they know that the game is important, but it's all about us being the best version of us come Saturday.''
And that means a week of intense preparation.
"For us, there's an incredible focus on what Navy does and how they do it,'' Golesh said. "The guys who were here a year ago saw first-hand what level of preparation it takes (against Navy). The biggest message to our guys right now is elite teams find a way to improve in November. Elite teams find a way to stay focused. Elite teams continuously get better week to week to week as you go into a run here where every single play, every single series, every single thing that you're doing is critically important.
"The challenge to our team is finding a way to improve in all three phases, starting individually, by group into unit, and then working as a team to continuously get better. Easier said than done. We've gone through and emphasized with every single guy on this team what it is that they need to do to improve as we get ready for this Navy team.''
–#GoBulls–
