University of South Florida
Temple
Keys To The Game: Bulls vs. Owls
October 03, 2026 | Football
GAME 5: Bulls vs. Templeย ย ย
Raymond James Stadium (65,000) โข Tampa, Fla. โข Saturday, Oct. 3 โข 7:30 PM
TV:ย ESPNU - Play-by-Play:ย Jason Ross Jr.; Analyst: Tyoka Jackson
RADIO: Q105FM &ย Bulls Unlimited (digital) - Play-by-Play: Jim Lighthall, Analyst: Sam Barrington, Sideline: Joey Johnston
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It's time for the South Florida Bulls (4-0, 1-0 American) to ramp it up as the American Conference schedule hits full speed with Saturday night's meeting against the Temple Owls (1-3, 0-1 American) at Raymond James Stadium.
South Florida is back home and under the lights. That is historically a very good thing. The Bulls are going for their 10th consecutive victory at Ray-Jay and own the program's second-longest home-field winning streak (behind 21 straight from 2000-03).
Bulls head coach Brian Hartline has been pleased with the Ray-Jay environment and hopes for another raucous crowd on Saturday night.ย
"I think we have a home-field advantage when we have the student section show up the way it has,'' Hartline said. "I think that Game One (against FIU) was incredible. Game Two (against Delaware State) was pretty darn good because with the rain and the storms, it made it hard for people to stick it out.
"I would love to get more and more fans outside the student section in Raymond James. I really look forward to having the opportunity to seeing the fans show up and seeing what we can do for a huge conference game against Temple.''ย
Wide receiver Mudia Reuben said South Florida players appreciate the fan support.
"They did a good job placing the students right there (in the north end zone), almost right next to our sideline and bench, because we can feel it,'' Reuben said. "We can feel them interacting with us as the momentum of the game goes up and down. That helps us a lot. Having that (noise) near us is like another teammate, like our 12th man.''
Here are the keys for South Florida to win its second straight conference game and improve to 5-0 overall:
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1. Win Up Front
You want your offensive line to provide consistency and stability. That hasn't been the case so far for the Bulls.
Four games, four different starting lineups. Injuries have forced some shuffling and QB Michael Van Buren Jr. mostly held up fine through the first three games. But at Bowling Green, it became a major problem. The Falcons had six sacks, including 4.5 by DE Myles Bradley (the most ever by a USF opponent and a BG record as well). Twice, Van Buren committed a pressure-induced turnover in the backfield, leading to a pair of field goals.
Hartline said he believes in South Florida's depth and expects other players to step up. He also refuses to overreact, choosing to fall back on the team's training and preparation.
"No one game is going to give you confidence and no one game is going to steal your confidence,'' Hartline said. "It's just the body of work. So now we have another opportunity to add to the body of work and the guys have responded well (in practice).
"Just seeing the way we practice and seeing the way we make corrections (is encouraging). The pendulum doesn't swing too far. You have a great game now, so we feel like we love ourselves (or) we don't have a great game and we've got to get things fixed. I like the teams that are steady and calm, just never getting too high or never getting too low. Those are the teams that become the best in the end. That's how I'd like to think we operate and we're still learning how to do that a little bit.''
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2. Start Fast
In South Florida's three games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, the Bulls have scored a combined 13 points (one touchdown, two field goals) in the first half. That's not nearly good enough.
The Bulls must play from ahead against Temple, starting fast, taking an early lead and dictating the game's tempo. South Florida has scored 37 second-half points against FBS opponents, twice coming from behind to defeat Army and Bowling Green. But at some point, the slow starts will catch up to South Florida.
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3. Ride The Hot Hand
Through four games, RB D.J. Crowther probably has established himself as the team's Most Valuable Player. Crowther had 72 of his game-high 143 rushing yards in the fourth quarter of last weekend's come-from-behind 14-6 victory at Bowling Green.
There are other offensive options, of course, but Crowther has proven to be the most reliable weapon. And he appears to be built for the challenge of a rugged Temple defense.ย
"Whatever they ask, I'm ready to do,'' Crowther said. "If they need me to carry it a lot, I'll carry it a lot.''
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4. Make The QB Uncomfortable
Temple began the season with Jaxon Smolik as the primary starter, but injuries forced a shift to 6-foot-2, 230-pound Washington State transfer Ajani Sheppard, who has been dynamic. He's a load. He'll fall forward as a runner. He'll stand tall in the pocket as a passer. Sheppard has five touchdown passes, while rushing for 147 yards (4.5-yard average) and two more scores.
The Bulls can't allow Sheppard to get comfortable.
"He has some wiggle, but I think the most underrated thing is he weighs 230 pounds,'' Bulls defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge said. "With that kind of size, there's (often) hidden yardage. When we make a tackle, if we stop him at second-and-8, it's got to stay second-and-8. We can't get second-and-4 (on second effort). If we stop him at third-and-4, it can't get third-and-2. That's where those big quarterbacks come into play. He's also got a really good arm and I'm sure he's developing more of a relationship with his receivers. It (passing game) is only going to get better.''
The Bulls had a season-high three sacks at Bowling Green, along with 11 tackles for a loss. Overall, Aldridge said he's pleased with the defense's progress.
"We didn't play perfect (at BGSU), but I was proud of how we performed in tough and adverse situations,'' Aldridge said. "I thought it was our best game tackling that we've had all season. We didn't do a ton of new things necessarily, but we just played before and that was very encouraging.''
โ#GoBullsโ
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Joey Johnston
Athletics Senior Writer
