A week after being decimated by #13 FSU on national TV in a 55-35 embarrassment, the USF Bulls head to Cincinnati to try and rebound. The Bulls defeat by the Seminoles is the only blemish on their 3-1 record. Interestingly, the
Bearcats are also 3-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of #6 Houston. Both teams handled their lower tier opponents fairly easily, with Cincinnati coming off a 27-20 win over Miami Ohio.
Cincinnati Offense
Cincinnati is averaging just over 27 points per game, this season, which ranks their scoring offense at 80th in the country. They lean on the pass more than the run, averaging 265 passing yards to just 154 rushing yards per game. Sophomore quarterback, Hayden Moore, takes the snaps, racking up 785 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. His numbers rank him 35th in passing yards per game, individually.
Junior receiver, Devin Gray, leads the team in receiving yards with 331, but senior receiver, Nat Cole, has made the most of his 215 yards, ending four of them in touchdowns. Gray and two other receivers have one touchdown apiece, accounting for all seven receiving touchdowns this season.
Senior running back, Tion Green, and junior running back, Mike Boone, split the carries in the running game. Green leads in yardage with 247-216, but Boone has a pair of touchdowns to Green’s one. Moore also has a pair of rushing touchdowns.
USF Defense
The group trying to stop the Bearcat’s offense will be the currently 76th ranked scoring defense, which has allowed an average of 28 points per game, a number greatly skewed by the 55 points allowed last week. Bulls defenders are led junior linebacker, Auggie Sanchez, whose 40 total tackles ranks him 16th in the nation. Sanchez also leads the team in sacks, with three. Six other players have one sack each. Senior linebacker, Nigel Harris, is second on the team in total tackles with 25. He also has a sack and an interception. Junior defensive backs, Tajee Fullwood, and Deatrick Nichols also have picks this season.
USF Offense
Despite having a season low 35 points against FSU, last week, the Bulls are still ranked 9th in scoring offense, managing 46 points per game on average. The heart of USF’s offense is a strong running attack. Of the 25 touchdowns scored this year, 14 have been run in. That run attack is currently being led by junior quarterback, Quinton Flowers. Flowers has 309 yards rushing and two running touchdowns this season. In a bit of a surprise, it’s D’Ernest Johnson who leads running backs with 221 yards and three touchdowns. Sitting in the thirds spot is multi-record breaking junior running back, Marlon Mack. Mack has missed time in two games due to injury, which has slowed his numbers down.
As a passer, Flowers has amassed 876 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. His passing percentage is just a tick over 50%. Senior receiver, Rodney Adams, has been a favorite target, scoring three touchdowns on 237 receiving yards. Junior receivers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Ryeshene Bronson round out the top three with 186 and 133 yards receiving per game, respectively.
Cincinnati Defense
The Bearcats will attempt to corral the Bulls’ 45 points per game with their 40th ranked scoring defense, allowing just 22 points per game. Sitting two spots north of Sanchez on the tackle rankings is senior linebacker, Eric Wilson. Wilson has 42 total tackles, and, like Sanchez, also leads his team with three sacks. Cincinnati does have defenders who can catch the ball. In fact, their ten team picks ties them for first, nationally, with SMU and Troy. Senior defensive back, Mike Tyson, has three of those interceptions to lead his team. Sophomore defensive backs, Tyrell Gilbert, and Alex Thomas, each have a pair of their own.
Expectations
Cincinnati has a respectable defensive scoring allowance of 22 points per game against poor competition. USF scored more than thirty against FSU, which probably indicates that the Bearcats will allow more than their average points to the Bulls. USF boasts the #13 rushing offense in the country which will be tested by the #45th ranked Cincinnati rushing defense. Scoring and running the ball seem to favor USF, but those ten interceptions combined with accuracy challenges faced by the Bulls’ Flowers, might be a factor. Flowers threw two picks to FSU, last week, one of which lead to points.
The over / under on the game is 60 points and the game line makes the Bulls 7 point favorites in Cincinnati. The Bearcats lead the overall series, 8-5, with the winner averaging 29 points to the loser’s 26. While those average scores seem close, the games rarely have been, with the winner scoring an average of 14 points more than the loser, with the winner winning by more than ten points eight times. In the last game, it was USF humiliating the Bearcats, 65-27.
Kickoff is at 7PM, EDT, which can be viewed nationally on ESPNU.
