The South Florida Bulls will play their first road conference game on Friday night in Denton, Texas, against the North Texas Mean Green. This will also be the first game that USF has played outside of the state of Florida this season.
Both teams come into the game 1-0 in conference play. North Texas is unbeaten at 4-0, while the 24th-ranked Bulls enter the game at 4-1. This game could decide who advances to the AAC Championship game and, ultimately, an NCAA playoff berth.
North Texas does not play Memphis or Tulane this season, so this is the most challenging game remaining on their schedule.
Alex Golesh led off his weekly press conference with an update on running back Cartevious Norton, who was injured in the win over Charlotte. Norton took a goal-line hit and was on his back for 15 minutes before being carted off the field and taken to TGH. He was released on Tuesday.
Golesh said that Norton is ok and is working on his recovery. “The next step is getting him healthy and there’s a lot that goes into that,” he said. “We’re supporting him in every way imaginable. But he’s really, really fortunate to be here with us, walking around and hopefully on a quick road to recovery.”
Golesh said he expects to use a running back by committee with Sam Franklin, Alvon Isaac, and Nykahi Davenport getting the bulk of the work. There could also be opportunities for Chase Garnett and Tray Kinkle.
Golesh said he’d like to see a game in which quarterback Byrum Brown is not the leading rusher. “I’m not trying to get Byrum to run it less. I just want somebody else to be the leading rusher. All of our guys are capable. We do have a lot of weapons on offense and a lot of guys can step up and do some things.”
Offensively for the Mean Green, it starts with red-shirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who leads the AAC in passing. Mestemaker has thrown 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions this season. Freshman Caleb Hawkins is also having a breakout season, rushing for 239 yards and averaging 8.7 yards on the ground.
North Texas is favored by 1.5 to 2.5, depending on the sports bookie. USF has extensive experience playing in hostile environments and in front of much larger, noisier crowds.
Up to this point in the season, North Texas has one of the softest schedules in the nation, ranking 132 out of 136. Compare that to USF, which played the most challenging non-conference schedule in the country, leading up to conference play. The Bulls should not be intimidated by this environment.
For the Bulls to win, they have to have a start like they did against Charlotte.They probably won’t score 23 against North Texas in the first quarter, but they can’t put up a goose egg either. They must also play better defense than we saw against Charlotte, especially in the second half. The Bulls ‘mindset shifted to cruise control after building a 23-0 first-half lead. The results were not pretty as the Bulls racked up seven penalties for 60 yards, letting Charlotte close the gap to 15 points in the second half before pulling off the 59-23 win. This defensive play will not serve the Bulls well against their more formidable conference foes, such as North Texas this Friday.
The Bulls will win if they can start quickly, don’t take costly penalties, and play solid defense for four quarters. If the defensive play resembles anything close to the Charlotte game in the second half, it will be a long night for the Bulls.