South Florida (6-2; 3-1 American) vs. UTSA (4-4; 2-2 American)
Thursday, November 6 • 7:30 PM • Raymond James Stadium (65,000) • Tampa, Fla.
SURFACE: Natural, Bermuda Turf Grass
TV: ESPN: Matt Barrie (P-by-P), Tom Luginbill (Analyst) & Harry Lyles Jr. (Sideline)
RADIO: Q105 FM & Bulls Unlimited Digital
SERIES: UTSA leads, 1-0
IN TAMPA: First meeting in Tampa
IN SAN ANTONIO: UTSA leads, 1-0
LAST TIME: UTSA 49, USF 21 in 2023 in San Antonio
VS AMERICAN: 41-59, won 7 of last 10
AMERICAN HOME GAMES: 22-26, won vs. FAU 48-13
GAMES ON ESPN: 13-32, won last vs. Boise State (34-7)
THURSDAY GAMES: 8-14, won last vs. Boise State (34-7)
LAST VS. RANKED: W, 18-16 at #13 Florida, 9/6/25d
SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES
HERD HERE FIRST
BULLSEYE COACHES SHOW
We've been grinding away at this college-football thing for a few months now.
But here's the reality: It's November. We're just getting started.
This is where the great stories emerge. This is when solid reputations are forged. And it's the cue for the championship teams to show up.
Every single important goal remains in front of the USF Bulls (6-2, 3-1 American Conference), who face the UTSA Roadrunners (4-4, 2-2) during ESPN's Thursday night showcase game at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bulls have four regular-season games remaining (UTSA, at Navy on Nov. 15, at UAB on Nov. 22, then back home for Rice on Nov. 29). Win all four and the Bulls almost certainly will quality for the American Conference Championship Game on Friday, Dec 5 (maybe even at Ray-Jay if the right things break).
With all due respect to other contenders such as San Diego State and James Madison, the American champion figures to have the inside track to a College Football Playoff berth.
It's a lot to consider, a lot to imagine. So, let's take the advice of head coach Alex Golesh. Don't imagine anything other than USF-UTSA. Because when you're stuck in the American's upper-division traffic jam — six teams with one league defeat — you can't afford any slip-ups. Not one.
The Roadrunners — Meep! Meep! — made Tulane look like out-of-breath coyotes in last Thursday's 48-26 upset of the Green Wave. Or was it really an upset? UTSA's dazzling offense will likely be as good as any unit encountered by USF this season.
Here are the keys for USF to defeat the Roadrunners:
1. Flush The Past
Coming off a bye week, the 34-31 defeat at Memphis seems like an eternity ago. But it still stings.
Learn from it.
Then forget it.
It's one of the oldest coaching axioms in the book: Don't let one loss become two. USF led 31-17 heading to the fourth quarter, then it all came apart. The defeat cost the Bulls their national ranking, their unbeaten record in league play and what probably would've been a very cool spot in the bracket of Tuesday's initial College Football Playoff rankings.
The loss against Memphis is done — and so is its fallout.
Now it's all about the game against UTSA, which, conveniently, is back on ESPN's national platform, giving the Bulls an opportunity to reshape everyone's opinion. As Golesh put it, your response to adversity can either be your "prison'' or your "testimony.'' Here's a chance to USF to continue writing a positive story about its season.
2. Establish The Run
This isn't really groundbreaking stuff because USF's offense always seeks to establish the run.
UTSA is middle-of-the-pack against the run (ranking 70th, allowing 148.2 rushing yards per game and 4.2 yards per carry).
USF's running game has emerged in the last month or so, averaging 303.8 yards over the last five games (with 16 rushing touchdowns). Much of the heavy lifting has been done by quarterback Byrum Brown (team-leading 596 rushing yards).
Golesh has jokingly (or maybe not so jokingly) said he hoped someone else would take over as the team's leading rusher. That might be a tall order because Brown has been so dynamic.
But after the season-ending injury to Cartevious Norton on Oct. 3 against Charlotte, the Bulls have slowly found other options. Sam Franklin (356 yards, 7.1-yard average) had a 73-yard scoring run against Memphis for USF's longest run in seven years. Nykahi Davenport (303, 6.2) produced a 60-yard gain. Alvon Isaac (236, 5.1) has battled injuries, but always stands as a factor in the running and passing games.
Establish the run, then look for explosive plays in the passing game. That's how USF usually gets it done. And the Bulls probably will find some fireworks to ignite because UTSA ranks just 110th in pass defense (allowing 253.4 yards per game).
3. Get After McCown
Does the name of UTSA's quarterback — Owen McCown — sound a bit familiar? It should.
His dad (Josh) and uncle (Luke) were NFL veteran quarterbacks. Both played at Ray-Jay for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Luke in 2005-08, Josh in 2014).
Owen McCown, a left-hander, looks like a quarterback's kid — or certainly a coach's kid (his dad is the Minnesota Vikings' quarterbacks coach). He's heady and well-versed in getting the ball to the right spots. Against Tulane, he was a ridiculous 31-for-33 passing with 470 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions (he has thrown just four picks all season).
"The biggest thing that stands out with McCown is he doesn't make mistakes,'' Golesh said "He won't put balls in places where they shouldn't go. He won't force things. He makes really good decisions in the run game and he has options on every play.
"For us, it's the ability to take away the easy decisions and make them hard, then be able to affect him. You've got to pressure him and force him to make bad decisions. Anytime you play a veteran quarterback, you've got to force the issue and we've been really good at it at times. Against Memphis in the fourth quarter, we were the opposite of good, which would be bad. So we have to make him (McCown) uncomfortable and take away the easy decisions.''
The Bulls have shown decent disruption in recent weeks, getting 10 of their 19 sacks (and 25 of their 53 tackles for a loss) in the past three games.
4. Make It A Special Night
Special teams has been a season-long highlight for the Bulls, but that wasn't the case at Memphis.
Golesh often says good teams know how to win in the margins. USF's special teams left a small margin for error with an out-of-bounds kickoff, a 32.8-yard punting average (including a 23-yarder that set up the go-ahead touchdown drive by Memphis) and a faulty field-goal operation on the final-play 52-yard attempt that could've put it into overtime.
It was a bad day for a very good USF special-teams unit, which did prevent any catastrophic returns.
If the Bulls can bring things back to normal, that could provide another winning edge against UTSA.
–#GoBulls–
