The South Florida Bulls (1-0, 0-0) travel to West Point for the earliest conference opener in program history against Army (1-0, 0-0) after beating FIU 19-9. Army will present an entirely different set of challenges for the Bulls, after posting 569 rushing yards and eight touchdowns against Bryant.
Here are the items destined to make or break Hartline’s first conference matchup.
5 Keys to Victory: USF at Army
1. Dominate on first down, delay the option attack
The game hinges right here. Army averaged 10 yards per carry and 28 first downs against Bryant last week. Quarterback Cale Hellums rushed for 87 yards and two TDs, while Zach Mundell dashed for 105 yards and two scores on just four carries. Assignment football is mandatory.
USF cannot allow Army to live in 2nd and short all game. The defensive front has to break through the seams, force the ball laterally and make Hellums as uncomfortable as physically possible. Time and comfort are the enemy.
2. Play assignment football for the full 60 minutes, nothing less
Against Army, one missed assignment can become the play that changes the game. The dive, quarterback and pitch responsibilities have to be handled with discipline on every single snap. Discipline is the name of the game.
USF’s run defense showed promise against FIU, holding the Panthers to just 80 rushing yards on 25 touches. But Army’s option attack stretches a defense horizontally, and more importantly, mentally in a completely different way than FIU.
The Bulls don’t need highlight reel type plays on every down. USF will need 11 defenders consistently doing their jobs without any hiccups.
3. Turn offensive possessions into points
Possessions can vanish quickly against a team like Army. If the Black Knights put together long, methodical drives marching down the field, USF may only get eight or nine meaningful opportunities to put points on the board.
After a lackluster performance against FIU where the Bulls only mustered 208 total offensive yards and 14 first downs, production will be paramount. In his first game as a Bull, quarterback Michael Van Buren only aired it out for 100 yards on 11 of 18 passing. Key drops by the wide receivers were an offensive stalwart, which simply cannot become a pattern. To boot, the running game only gained 108 yards on 38 carries (2.8 yds/car).
That level of offensive production won’t get a win over the Black Knights.
USF needs long sustained drives, efficiency on 1st and 2nd down, and more explosive plays downfield from Van Buren to the aforementioned receivers. Clutch catches will be crucial.
4. Go from field goals to touchdowns
Nico Gramatica was a rockstar in Week 1, hitting four field goals (37, 53, 30, and 29), which accounted for 13 of USF’s 19 points. Gramatica’s performance earned him the American Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.
That was enough against FIU, but against Army, repeatedly settling for three just won’t get it done.
Army was incredibly efficient in the red zone a week ago, scoring touchdowns on four of its six trips against Bryant, finishing the contest with eight rushing touchdowns.
USF must produce points in the red zone to stay in the game Saturday.
5. Front run and force Army to play from behind
This might be the biggest key of all.
Army’s offense becomes incredibly difficult to defend when the Black Knights have the lead and can patiently grind the clock down. Last week against Bryant, Army scored 21 points in the first quarter then proceeded to dictate the flow of the game. Bryant had no shot.
USF needs to quite literally flip that script.
An early touchdown, defensive stops, forcing turnovers or adding another score would force Army to accelerate the game plan. It would be advantageous if the Bulls can browbeat Army into passing more than they planned.
Army only attempted 13 passes against Bryant versus 57 rushing attempts. The Black Knights plan is pretty clear: pound on the ground.
The formula this week must be defensive domination on first down, disciplined assignment football, wide receivers making big plays, scoring touchdowns not field goals, and forcing Army to chase points.
This truly feels like a much tougher test than FIU for Hartline & Co. The Bulls’ defense was the backbone in the opener, but frankly the offense needs to make a significant leap from game one to game two. If the Bulls can keep Army’s ground attack mostly at bay, USF has a fighting chance at leaving West Point 2-0 and undefeated in conference play.