GoUSFBulls.com Johnston's Keys To The Game: Bulls at Navy

[Brad]

Johnston's Keys To The Game: Bulls at Navy

September 30, 2023

 

Story Links

USF (2-2; 1-0 American) at Navy (1-2; 0-1 American)
Saturday, Sept. 30 • 3:30 P.M. •  Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000) • Annapolis, Md. 
SURFACE: FieldTurf
TV: CBSSN: Jordan Kent (PxP), Randy Cross (Analyst) & Sheehan Stanwick-Burch (Sideline)
AUDIO: 102.5 FM & HD 2/TuneIn - Bulls Unlimited
SERIES: Navy leads, 2-1
IN TAMPA: USF leads, 1-0
IN ANNAPOLIS: Navy leads, 2-0
LAST TIME: Navy won, 35-3, in 2019 in Annapolis
VS. AAC: 31-50, 11th season
AAC ROAD GAMES: 15-25, lost 13 straight
      Last Win: at ECU, 45-20, in 2019
USF GAME NOTES

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — After treatment and breakfast, Will Harbour, a senior middle linebacker at the U.S. Naval Academy, begins his academic day with Principles of Propulsion and concludes his four-course menu with American Literature (1607-1860).

Senior wide receiver Jayden Umbarger revolves his fall class schedule around Naval Weapons Systems, Civil-Military Relations and Russian Foreign Policy.

Harbour, Umbarger and every Navy football player undergoes a daily regimen of added military training, plus mandatory room and uniform inspection.

It's all in keeping with the academy's mission statement "to develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.''

What, you might be asking does any of this have to do with Saturday afternoon's game between the USF Bulls (2-2, 1-0 AAC) and the Navy Midshipmen (1-2, 0-1 AAC)?

Only everything.

Navy will undoubtedly be the most unusual opponent on USF's schedule, not only because of the challenge it presents with a triple-option offense, but also the crisp precision and discipline that's a hallmark of Midshipmen football.

"It's all rooted in discipline, as everyone knows,'' Bulls defensive tackle Rashad Cheney said. "That's what they do every day. They focus on being disciplined. They are trained to kill.''

Discipline is the key for Navy, as always, but it's also the key for USF.

Here's what the Bulls must do for success and a shot at their second AAC victory:

 

Cut Down On Penalties

USF penalties have been a problem. Through four games, the Bulls have been flagged 39 times for 343 yards. That's an average of 9.75 flags per game, which ranks 128th (out of 130) in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Navy, meanwhile, has nine penalties in three games to tie Army (naturally) for the fewest overall flags nationally. The Midshipmen are tied for second nationally in fewest penalties per game (3.0).

"I think we've gotten better every single week from a penalty standpoint, but the emphasis is to get better and better,'' head coach Alex Golesh said. "The frustrating part is the stuff you can actually control. A celebration penalty after a touchdown. A sideline penalty on one of our coaches, which was completely ridiculous.

"I believe we'll continue to grow because we're coaching it as hard as anything. We'll continue to do that because it's certainly not where it has to be.''

Offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said the Bulls have cut way down on "silly penalties'' from Week One, but playing smart must continue to be a primary goal.

"Some penalties are a discipline and focus issue and other penalties are just going to happen because it's a physical game,'' Gordon said. "These guys are blocking their butts off. When our quarterback leaves the pocket, it's a matter of us knowing the techniques have to change because he's scrambling.

"I think we've had some unique things happen with our holding penalties. But when things happen, we have to understand why it's happening and learn how to fix it.''

Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said it's inexcusable for USF to have penalties caused by lack of composure.

"Poor technique can cause penalties,'' Orlando said. "Losing your mind can cause penalties. This is a learning process for us, but we are doing some things you wouldn't do in a Pop Warner game. So, we have to all take responsibility.

"Don't be selfish. Make sure you're doing the stuff that technically you've been taught. If something else screws up that causes a penalty, that's on us as coaches. Sometimes, you have to literally explain to a kid, 'That's a first-down-and-a-half that you just gave them' and keep educating. If we're revved up and juiced up, that's great. But we have to be under control. Go as hard as you can, but don't do things that end up hurting us.''

 

Eye Control And Assignment Football

Who has the ball?

That's sometimes a question when facing a triple-option offense. Where is the ball? And if you're asking those questions, by the time you discover the answer, it's usually too late.

"We have to play physical and do our job because their offense's desire for us is to get us bored,'' Cheney said. "As soon as one of us gets bored and we think we know where the guy is going, we just have to be really disciplined.

"It's a slower pace than we're used to. Or it may seem slow between plays, but when they go, it's tough. You try to simulate it in practice with the scout team. It's going to take us a few plays to really get down and get adjusted to it, then we have to hunker down and do our jobs.''

The Midshipmen, under first-year head coach Brian Newberry (the former defensive coordinator) actually have added wrinkles to their traditional triple-option look, sometimes using shotgun, play-action passes and straight drop backs.

"They're not afraid to throw the football,'' Orlando said. "It's very unique and very challenging to defend. They've also had a bye week (and 16 days) to prepare for us. They challenge you and it's been a while since I've seen guys run as violently as they do.

"I hate to sound cliché on it, but it comes down to being disciplined and doing your job. We have to be great in our tackling and really good with our eyes. If they catch you in the wrong place, they can really hurt you with what they do.''

Possessions will be at a premium.

"Limited possessions possibly, so we have to make them count,'' Golesh said. "They don't make critical mistakes. They are very tough and hard-nosed. We have to stop them and get off the field (defensively).''

 

Offense/Defense Working Together

USF's defense was amazing in a 17-3 defeat against Alabama.

Its offense was amazing in a 42-29 victory against Rice.

In both cases, Golesh said the Bulls played "complementary football'' — no finger-pointing, supportive teammates, working together as an overall unit to find any advantage in the game.

Against Alabama, with the Bulls down 10-3, quarterback Byrum Brown threw a deep ball for an end-zone interception.

"It was a really critical time, but as he (Brown) was coming off the field with the rest of the offense, every single guy who took the field on defense was saying, 'We got you, bro! We got you, bro!'" Golesh said.

"For me, that was a monumental moment for us in the program, where it's now us as a team. This is how we take the next step and it's going to determine where we're going to go. That was the first time in nine months that I saw us actually together, having each other's backs, in a really critical moment in a really big game.''

Against Rice, with the Bulls poised to take a two-touchdown lead, running back Nay'Quan Wright lost a fumble into the end zone for a touchback. On the next play, Rice hit an 80-yard touchdown play and took the lead for a stunning turnabout.

"But as our defense was coming off the field, the entire offense is out there saying, 'Watch us respond!' '' Golesh said. "As the head coach, you stand there and watch that happen. It's everything that you build and everything that you preach. But when adversity hits, does it actually happen? Does it actually come to fruition? It's a huge positive moment to see a team actually come together like that.''

 

Next-Play Mentality

It's right from Golesh's coaching script.

What's the mentality when USF is rolling?

"Next play.''

What happens when something goes wrong?

"Next play.''

Against Navy, it's actually more of a "next-game'' mentality.

USF's win against the Rice Owls was a stunning display in many ways. Quarterback Byrum Brown passed for 435 yards (second all-time in USF history) and accounted for 517 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Naiem Simmons caught eight passes for 272 yards, setting receiving-yards records for the USF program and state of Florida FBS mark. The defense gave up big yardage, but it also swarmed to 11 tackles for a loss and four sacks. Overall, the Bulls ended an 18-game FBS losing streak and a 13-game AAC skid.

Saturday afternoon, those numbers mean … nothing. Last week doesn't guarantee the Bulls a winning season or a bowl-game appearance. They won a game. And now?

Next game.

Next play.

USF fans are feeling extremely encouraged about the program's progress, which Golesh loves, but he's also preaching perspective.

"Our job is to create excitement and to create energy back around the program,'' Golesh said. "Our players' jobs are to go play the next play as hard as they can and be as disciplined as they possibly can be. We've talked about the outside noise, but we've also spent a bunch of times with our players talking about the inner circle.

"When it looks really good, show that we're proud of them. When it looks really bad, coach them through what it looks like. The inner circle — the staff and their teammates — is here to be real with you. Obviously, the guys are on social media and out in the real world, but we have to make sure they focus on what's important. Make the important things the important things. That's really hard to do as grownups and certainly really hard to do as 18-to-22-year-olds. We've got to continue to lock in and trust that our inner circle is telling us the truth.''

–#GoBulls–

[Cat941]

USF's last road win was 13 games ago in 2019.  That's a streak to beat.  #GoBulls 

[Ten Toed Sloth]

With possessions being at a premium, I'm interested to see how aggressive CAG will be today on fourth downs.

[Bulls On Parade]

Key will be defense shutting run down and getting off field on third down. 

Offense I'd like to see it show a second game in a row it's clicking.

Do that I like our chance.

 

[Bullsaficianado]

After holding Rice to 1 yard rushing, I like our chances against the triple option today…navy throws more than they did in the past, but they’re still gonna spend the majority of the afternoon pounding the rock…

[Brad]

3 minutes ago, Bulls On Parade said:

Key will be defense shutting run down and getting off field on third down. 

Offense I'd like to see it show a second game in a row it's clicking.

Do that I like our chance.

 

I'm with you.  We can/have to stop them, they can't stop us.  Going to be a lot of carries on both sides.  I think we'll have some deep shots, but Navy also gave up just under 200 rushing yards to both ND and Memphis.  Intriguing..tempting... we average 205.