South Florida (7-3; 4-2 American) at UAB (3-7; 1-5 American)
Saturday, November 22 • 3:00 PM • Protective Stadium (42,354) • Birmingham, Ala.
SURFACE: Field Turf
TV: ESPN+:Pete Sousa (P-by-P) & Forrest Conoly (Analyst)
RADIO: Q105 FM & Bulls Unlimited (digital)
SERIES: 2-2, last, W, 35-25 in Tampa in 2024
IN TAMPA: 1-1, last, W, 35-25 in Tampa in 2024
IN BIRMINGHAM: 1-1, Last L, 56-35 in 2023
LAST TIME: USF won 35-25 in Tampa in 2024
VS AMERICAN: 42-60,
AMERICAN HOME GAMES: 23-26, last: W vs. UTSA, 55-23
AMERICAN ROAD GAMES: 18-31; last: Lost last two
SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES
After a costly 41-38 defeat at Navy, what's next for the USF Bulls?
"We turn the page,'' head coach Alex Golesh said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. "I think it took everybody getting back on the field Monday to snap out of it. And that's the challenge, responding to that feeling that you had leaving there (Navy) and getting past that disappointment.
"I'm really encouraged by the response and really encouraged by the fight. As a program, we're going to be in that situation again. We gave ourselves a chance to be in it twice in a year (at Memphis and Navy), in terms of playing really meaningful football. We didn't (perform well) and that's ultimately on me.''
The Bulls (7-3, 4-2 American Conference), who play at the UAB Blazers (3-7, 1-5) on Saturday afternoon, lost their national ranking and a clear path to the American Conference championship game.
Still on the table: Winning out for a 10-victory season and capturing three consecutive bowl triumphs for only the second time in program history.
Golesh said his players are rallying around that — along with an emphasis on their brotherhood.
"I've been pleased with it (response to the Navy defeat),'' safety Tavin Ward said. "You have to flip the page. We've been talking about this word 'love' a lot. I think it stems from Coach Amir (Abdur-Rahim, the late USF men's basketball coach), who he was and what he preached. Coach Golesh has been following that up.
"What really set in with me is that you have to love the game and love your team as well. It was disappointing, but at the end of the day, if you truly love this game, then no matter the outcome, you're going to respond like a winning team does.''
Easier said than done, obviously.
But part of USF's maturation is not allowing defeats to linger.
"I think it's important to feel the emotion and the disappointment of a tough loss like that, but it's important not to dwell on it,'' offensive tackle Derek Bowman said. "We talked about it as a team, just kind of like sitting in it for a second, feeling it, remembering what it feels like. Then you turn the page, wipe the slate, and ensure you do everything in your ability to never feel that again. And so that was the emphasis coming off the loss in these past couple days. Coming out to practice was a great opportunity to clean the slate and start working forward.''
UAB will be playing its fifth game under interim head coach Alex Mortensen, who was elevated after the firing of Trent Dilfer. The Blazers got an energy boost, upsetting No. 22-ranked Memphis 31-24 (one week before the Tigers upended USF), but have since lost three straight games.
As usual, Golesh said Saturday's bottom line will be about USF's preparation and intent, regardless of the opponent.
"As we continue to build and continue to set our own expectations of what this program is, those expectations are really high because of everything that we've done up until this point,'' Golesh said. "That's a credit to the kids, credit to our staff and certainly a credit to the commitment they've made to continue to fight like crazy.
"The great thing about football is you get to turn the page. You get to go play again on Saturday, back on the road against a UAB team that's obviously in a bunch of transition, but has fought like crazy. They are resilient and they are playing hard. I think our intent is right and our energy is right. It's a sign of a good culture when you've got guys who are beat up, but they're fighting through it.
"I think Tavin Ward said it best. He was like, 'I feel like our process has been so, so good, week in and week out. Our focus, our intent, the physicality, all of it. But (against Navy), it was obviously not good enough.' When a young guy who has played a ton of football for you says that, all right, then we're going somewhere. If he can own it, then as coaches, we've got to own it. And we've all got to get better.''
–#GoBulls–
