GoUSFBulls.com Zebold: Bulls Gearing Up for Friday Home Game Against Navy

[Brad]

Bulls Gearing Up for Friday Home Game Against Navy

October 24, 2016

 

By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, OCT. 24, 2016 – Now tied for first in The American’s East Division, USF is anxious to bounce back on national television this Friday.

Willie Taggart’s Bulls look to get back on the winning path against No. 22 Navy at 7 p.m. Friday in Raymond James Stadium. Fans out of town can catch the game on ESPN2.

“We’ve got a challenge ahead of us that we’re excited about and look forward to taking it on,” said Taggart on The American’s weekly teleconference.

USF (6-2, 3-1) is now tied for first in the East Division with Temple (5-3; 3-1) after falling to the Owls, 46-30, in Philadelphia last Friday. Taggart broke some great news about the Bulls on Monday, when he said quarterback Quinton Flowers will be “good to go” against Navy. Flowers exited the Temple game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury after accounting for 277 total yards and three touchdowns.

Having Flowers back in action this week will help against red-hot Navy, which recently took sole possession of first place in the West Division. The Midshipmen (5-1, 4-0) put up 42 points in a win over Memphis last Saturday, two weeks after knocking off defending league champ Houston, 46-40.

“I think they have a system where there’s a great synergy between their offense and defense of playing together and how they want to play,” Taggart said. “They let you make a mistake, and you can’t make many mistakes because you don’t get many possessions against Navy. Every possession’s got to count.”

Learn more about USF’s tough test against Navy by checking out the Bulls’ weekly news conference Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for a link to watch the press conference in progress.

Weekly Radio Show set for Monday Night

Taggart’s weekly radio show takes place Monday from 7-8 p.m. at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s inside the Marshall Student Center on campus.

Fans can submit questions for Taggart on Twitter (@USFFootball) or on the USF Football Facebook page HERE. The radio show will air on 820-AM.

Gulf Coast Offense Still Among Nation’s Leaders

USF’s three nation-leading streaks were snapped at Temple, but the Bulls still rank highly in a number of offensive categories.

Taggart’s Gulf Coast Offense is 11^th in the FBS in scoring offense at 42.4 points per game. USF ranks 12^th in rushing offense (255.5 yards per game) and 21^st in total offense (487.1 yards per game).

USF still has the top scoring offense in The American, while Navy ranks fifth with 33.8 points per game. USF is second in The American in rushing offense, behind only Navy (293.2 yards per game).

Friday is USF’s Salute to Service Game

USF plans to honor past and present military members throughout Friday’s Salute to Service game at Raymond James Stadium.

Get to your seats by 6:30 p.m. to watch the Para-Commandos Parachute Team make a jump into the stadium. Grove Financial Hero of the Game, Captain Bob O’Neill, will conduct the pre-game coin toss. O’Neill is a Pearl Harbor survivor that served in World War II, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Fans also will get to see in-game video board presentations that include Jeff Sargent being recognized as USF’s 2016 Tillman Foundation Scholar. Learn more about the prestigious honor HERE.

[BullFan98]

Very worried about Navy's run offense and our lack of a run defense.  Navy plays at a much different tempo than Temple, so I think our offense will have a better TOP as against Temple.  IF we can limit the run offense we have a shot at winning this game.  Sadly, we have been inconsistent at best at stopping the run.  

Quote

 

 

[SANJAY]

If we could just get up 2 scores and have them chase us that would be our best defense against Navy.

[charsibb]

2 hours ago, SANJAY said:

If we could just get up 2 scores and have them chase us that would be our best defense against Navy.

Of course, this is exactly what we thought for Temple

I wonder if Coach takes the ball if we win the toss this time...

 

[NewEnglandBull]

50 minutes ago, charsibb said:

Of course, this is exactly what we thought for Temple

I wonder if Coach takes the ball if we win the toss this time...

 

I sure hope so. If we get up two scores at almost any point I like our chances considerably. Going to be tough to win this one (I predicted we lose for the first time this year) but I would not be shocked. I think there is a lot of pride on this team and they will fight hard in this one. 

[Boomer]

Starts with winning the coin toss and electing to take possession first.

[71GoatsDoRoam]

Navy will always defer if they can.  I have only seen Navy take the ball on a coin toss one time in 12 years; however, against USF, it might happen.  The coach may want to make a statement on offense.  USF's offense is fearsome to face.  Defense maybe the lesser of two evils (ok, so whether it is evil might depend on your perspective).

[Ionbull]

Hopefully it being a top 25 matchup in beautiful weather at home will help fire up this guys. And maybe they will surprise us and open up in a different scheme.

[Brad]

On 10/25/2016 at 7:08 AM, SANJAY said:

If we could just get up 2 scores and have them chase us that would be our best defense against Navy.

They'd still run it up the gut for 11 yards a clip though wouldn't they?

[Brad]

On 10/25/2016 at 9:45 AM, charsibb said:

I wonder if Coach takes the ball if we win the toss this time...

For the record, Temple was not the first time CWT chose to defer and lose the ball.