The Bulls are back in business this week after a bye week as the team travels to Texas to take on the Houston Cougars (4-3).
The USF bye week, though, didn’t come without the bearer of bad news, as South Florida will be without Gerry Bohanon Jr., the junior Baylor-transfer, for the rest of the season, coming off an injury in the Week 7 game versus Tulane.
With that being said, all eyes will be on #12, the sophomore, Katravis Marsh, who played the remainder of the Tulane game after the Bohanon injury.
There will be many questions heading into a Week 7 matchup where Houston is favored over USF by -17.5 points.
Game Preview
Beyond this being the final in-conference meeting between both programs, as Houston departs for the Big 12 with UCF and Cincinnati, there is a big question mark around Marsh and the offense more than ever this season.
The one key that you lose with Bohanon is his leadership, something that Jeff Scott has been strong upon since Bohanon’s arrival.
Can Marsh step up to be the leader to run the offense without Bohanon under center?
It definitely creates an interesting story development to keep an eye upon throughout Saturday’s football game.
Beyond the QB position, though, Marsh will have his fair share of weapons around him that should ease him, with the combo of receivers Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr. on the outside, and Brian Battie coming out of the backfield.
If Marsh can get comfortable in the pocket early, it could set up for USF to have some success versus Houston.
Similarly, it goes for the defense.
In the Tulane performance, the defense stepped up in a big way. The Bulls played not only with more emotion than we have seen, but also the numbers were more promising, especially in the first half, with the team finishing with four sacks on the day.
However, Houston will be a problem offensively and may attack USF’s weak secondary with the combo of QB Clayton Tune and WR Nathaniel Dell, with Dell catching eight of Tune’s 17 passing TDs on the year, someone who the Bulls’ secondary must watch come Saturday.
Overall Thoughts
This is going to be a tough test for the Bulls as they prepare for their final stretch of the season.
It has definitely been a tough year for this team, and Houston is one of the many American Athletic Conference teams that the Bulls had coming into the season on their schedule that could cause problems.
If USF is able to surprise Houston on offense and play with some energy like in the Tulane game, maybe USF has a shot to get something special done, and that is beating Houston on the road.
While that said, I do see USF falling to Houston to start the second half of the year, as the team will then look towards Temple, the most winnable game on paper for the Bulls in their FBS play.