In Alex Golesh’s world, it’s about focusing on the task on hand and pushing forward — always pushing forward.
The USF head coach sees nothing but opportunity as the Bulls (3-4, 1-2 American Athletic Conference) prepare to face the Florida Atlantic Owls (2-5, 0-3) in Friday night’s ESPN2 showcase game.
But he’s only human. And any living, breathing green-and-gold-clad human being would have the same emotions when it comes to FAU.
Last season, on USF’s homecoming game, the Owls embarrassed the Bulls 56-14 at Raymond James Stadium. What’s more, with a 45-point lead, the Owls executed a successful onside kick late in the fourth quarter.
Does that send a clear enough message?
There’s a score to settle.
Appropriately, as the Bulls return to the field where they defeated the Syracuse Orange 45-0 last Dec. 21 at the Boca Raton Bowl, it’s FAU’s homecoming game.
“We’re really, really excited to go play this one on Friday night,” Golesh said. “We’re fully aware (of last season’s FAU game).
It won’t be hard to get up for this one. You shouldn’t need that to motivate you to go play a game on Friday night on national TV, right? And I don’t think we need it necessarily in that regard. But our players are fully well aware of what happened.”
The calendar has turned to November — a welcome change for the Bulls, who weathered a start-and-stop October with two hurricanes, two bye weeks and just two games (a 21-3 defeat against Memphis in Orlando and last week’s hopeful 35-25 comeback victory against UAB).
As the Bulls prepare for a five-game November and the chance to earn a second-straight bowl-game trip, look for the influx of fresh faces and young-guy enthusiasm on both sides of the ball. Against UAB, Golesh said the Bulls played 17 freshmen and he believes many of them will continue to assume key roles.
And speaking of keys …
Here are the keys to USF defeating FAU:
Rally Around The QB
If Bryce Archie makes his third consecutive start at quarterback, his supporting cast must continue to create an environment for the QB’s success.
Archie isn’t as prone to run from the pocket as Byrum Brown, who has been out since his Sept. 28 injury at Tulane, but he’s finding a nice rhythm in the passing game. Against UAB, Archie was 17-for-31 with 201 yards and two touchdown tosses, including a 67-yarder to redshirt freshman Keshaun Singleton. There was also a 77-yard score to redshirt freshman JeyQuan Smith, but it was negated due to penalty.
“Hopefully, Byrum continues to heal at a fast rate, but until he’s ready to roll, Byrum has got to keep improving and he has to keep building on the things that he has proven he can do,” offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said. “Just like anybody else, it’s about the growth and getting better one week at a time.
“Against UAB, we had two guys (Singleton and Smith) who were cruising down the field and the throws were awesome. Bryce was taking hits (after) the ball came out of his hand each time, but it was perfect protection. We had been waiting for it all to come together. We had opportunities and we executed. It was just huge for us.”
It was a marked improvement from the previous game against Memphis in Orlando (six dropped passes). If the receivers catch effectively and the blocking is there, Archie has shown he can operate at a high level. But he also needs another element, which leads us into the next key to Friday night’s game …
Run, Run, Run
USF finally got its running game going, rushing for 131 second-half yards against UAB, a needed turnaround from a month-long walkabout (62 yards rushing against Miami, 26 against Tulane, 24 against Memphis).
Bulls coaches have long maintained that a powerful running game is the key to USF’s fast-paced offense. So, when Kelley Joiner raced to 94 yards (77 in the second half) against the Blazers, the Bulls hit a rhythm they hadn’t seen since mid-September.
The Bulls also would welcome a return to form from Nay’Quan Wright, who rushed for 105 yards at Southern Miss on Sept. 14, but has managed just 72 rushing yards in the four games since then.
Here’s a huge opportunity: FAU has been horrendous against the run, ranking 121st nationally (out of 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams) by surrendering an average of 200.7 yards per game on the ground.
Opportunistic Defense
USF’s defense surrendered 485 yards against UAB, but the Blazers were mostly shut down in the game’s latter stages, when the Bulls closed with a 28-6 run.
There were four sacks of UAB quarterback Jalen Kitna. Coming on the heels of allowing just 345 yards against Memphis, there are encouraging signs for USF’s defense.
Against FAU, the mission is simple:
Stop the run. Get after the quarterback. Create some turnovers.
“We want to see consistency,” defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said. “We don’t want this to be a roller-coaster ride. It has to level off to the point where we’re playing really good football each week.
“FAU has an athletic quarterback (Cam Fancher) who can extend plays with his legs, a slot receiver (Omari Hayes) who is really dynamic and their running backs (CJ Campbell and Zuberi Mobley) run really, really hard.
But when we perform with consistency, our defense is up to the task. We have to keep working together. We can’t have people freelancing or going rogue to do something outside the scheme. Keep playing together and keep showing that improvement.”
Embrace The Stage
Friday night games are special. It’s a chance to perform before coaching and playing peers, who are a captive audience while being sequestered in their hotels around the country and awaiting the Saturday slate.
If successful, Golesh and his players can offer an infomercial on the USF program, while getting some potential attention for all-conference campaigns.
The Bulls have dropped nine straight Friday night games — dating to a dramatic 25-24 walk-off victory at Tulsa on Oct. 12, 2018 — but here’s an opportunity to show how far the program has come before a large group of ESPN2 viewers and neutral sports fans who are open to an entertaining show following a premature end to the World Series.
Beyond the obvious benefits of leveling USF’s overall record and establishing more momentum for November’s stretch run, the Bulls can show the nation they are ready for prime time.
