The USF Bulls will get their only chance to play Friday Night Lights this week with the team traveling to Oklahoma to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes, who come into this game at 3-7.
This is the only Friday game USF will have on their schedule this season, with all of their other games scheduled to be played on Saturday slots.
Beyond the scheduling, the Bulls have their backs against the wall more than ever this week as they head into this game featuring Da Prato, who will coach his first and quite possibly only USF road game as head coach, and third string freshman QB Byrum Brown, who has had less than a quarter of total snaps so far this season in a total of two games.
Game Preview
All eyes are on Byrum Brown.
Brown, a finalist for 2021 North Carolina’s Mr. Football of the Year award, will start his first career game under center for the Bulls, coming with a minimal amount of college experience under his belt in his freshman season.
Although this game has no true implications for either team, the Bulls will definitely be looking to see where their future lies in terms of the quarterback position, having already gotten a chance to see both Marsh and Brown this year.
While Bohanon will almost 100% stay the starter for next season as he announced his return for 2023, the QB position is filled with potential, and Brown can try to make his case to be a front-runner as the heir apparent to the Bohanon job beyond 2023, assuming he is still with the program.
Marsh, while bringing experience, still needs to develop as a QB under center, which we will see from Brown beginning Friday. However, there is a lot of excitement surrounding Brown and the player he can be, which is why this game will be interesting to see how he responds with offense.
Expect a run-heavy type of game from the Bulls with a rookie QB, as we should see many carries by Battie throughout this late-night kick.
Beyond that, the key for the offense is to play smart with the football and try to be aggressive on offense to give this team a shot, especially late against a quiet defense that is Tulsa, which is something USF is known for, being last in total defense in the NCAA.
The defense looked off for most of the game last week, allowing many easy opportunities for SMU to score, something that can be corrected here versus Tulsa.
Tulsa has the ability to score, but they aren’t the most visually appealing team in the conference.
USF needs to tighten up on the front line and protect the pass from big chunk plays, and the Bulls may give themselves a chance to finally play a full game of complementary football.
Overall Thoughts
This is a game that the Bulls do have a chance going into; however, what’s more important is how Brown plays in his first start, and can the defense improve?
Those are the two true questions here heading into this week.
Although Tulsa isn’t a barnburner, they can be a team that can bite you if you’re not careful, which is something USF has been good at, even in the Temple game.
I expect this to be a wild, chilly Friday night finish with USF falling late, 26-21, but I do expect Brown to play under some adversity and maybe show us some flashes to start making the fans wonder if he could be the one to turn USF’s woes around in the not-so-distant future.