The South Florida Bulls (4-1, 1-1) head west to San Antonio looking to rebound from their first loss of the season, an ugly 17-13 setback against Temple. UTSA (4-1, 1-0) enters Thursday night fresh off a 16-14 grind it out victory over conference foe Rice, setting the stage for a pivotal American Conference clash at the Alamodome.
USF’s defense delivered another solid performance against Temple, but if the Bulls expect to contend for an American championship, significant improvement is needed on the other side of the ball. Tim Beck & Co. must find answers quickly as USF enters a critical stretch of conference play.
5 Keys to Victory: USF at UTSA
1. Tim Beck & Co. must get on track fast
This has become the most obvious issue for USF. It’s more than glaring. It’s the problem.
The defense has given the Bulls chances to win every week, but the offense must start carrying more of the load, immediately.
After exploding for 611 yards and 59 points against FCS Delaware State, Tim Beck’s offense mustered just 214 yards and 14 points at Bowling Green, followed by 319 yards and 13 points against Temple. Over those last two games, that’s only 533 total yards and 27 offensive points combined! The offensive production is nowhere near expectations.
The biggest concern has been consistency. USF produced only 83 first half yards at Bowling Green and followed that with just 108-yards in the first half against Temple. Slow starts are putting too much pressure on the defense and forcing the Bulls to chase games in the second half. The talent is there for the Bulls, so Hartline and Beck must get the offense cleaned up.
Against UTSA, Beck needs to get Michael Van Buren comfortable throwing early, reestablish D.J. Crowther and the ground game, and create more explosive opportunities through play-action. The Bulls have shown glimpses of what this offense can look like when everything clicks, but drops and ineffective play calling have hampered the Bulls in a major way. Now it’s time for the coaching staff to earn their paychecks.
2. Make Owen McCown anxious
UTSA quarterback Owen McCown is the cornerstone of the Roadrunners offense. McCown entered 2026 with 6,861 career passing yards at UTSA and spun it for 303 yards and three touchdowns in the 59-45 win over Colorado State.
USF cannot allow McCown to sit comfortably in the pocket and pick apart the secondary.
Josh Aldridge’s defense needs to create interior pressure, disguise pre-snap looks and force McCown to make hurried decisions.
3. Stop UTSA’s rushing rotation
McCown gets attention aplenty, but the Roadrunners can hurt teams just as badly on the ground.
Against Colorado State, the triple threat in Will Henderson III, Brandon High Jr. and A’Marion Peterson all rushed for 60-plus yards and a score. Against Rice, Henderson dashed for 90 yards on 18 carries (5.0 yds/car) and two touchdowns.
The Bulls have to tackle in space far better than they did last Saturday against Temple, particularly at the second level. If the Bulls consistently allow UTSA to create 2nd and short, McCown tends to become even more dangerous through play-action; and if that doesn’t move the chains Henderson certainly will.
4. Get D.J. Crowther and the run game back on track
USF needs more balance offensively and more offense overall.
Temple limited D.J. Crowther to 68 yards on 23 carries, while the Bulls averaged just 3.4 yards per carry. Michael Van Buren threw for 205 yards, but USF produced just 319 total offensive yards and one touchdown. Which, is flat out not good enough against a 1-3 Temple team, let alone the roster talent disparity.
Crowther, without question, has been USF’s most dependable offensive weapon this season. Getting the ground attack rolling will take pressure off Van Buren, quiet the road crowd and keep McCown seated on the sideline.
5. Escape the Alamodome and finish redzone drives
This will be the toughest road environment the Bulls have faced to date in 2026.
Under Jeff Traylor, the Roadrunners have transformed the Alamodome into one of the strongest home field advantages in the G6. Entering the 2026 season, UTSA has gone 25-1 in conference home games, which dates back to 2020.
USF cannot allow self inflicted wounds like false starts, other procedural penalties, misused timeouts, etc. to knock the Bulls out of the contest. The Bulls uncharacteristically had eight penalties for 60-yards against Temple, yet entering the week USF had only averaged four penalties over the previous four contests.
More importantly, the Bulls need touchdowns from redzone trips. Against Temple, USF reached scoring territory multiple times but finished with only one touchdown and two field goals. It simply won’t be enough.
Tim Beck needs to dial in play calling for Van Buren, pressure McCown in the pocket, bottle up Will Henderson III, feed Crowther with balance, and dominate the Alamodome.
This feels like one of the defining games of the first half of Brian Hartline’s tenure at USF. The Bulls need to show that the Temple loss was merely a setback, not the start of the season sliding away.
UTSA is experienced, well coached, physical and extremely difficult to beat at home…. But if the Bulls can get a resurgence from the rushing attack and avoid another dreadful sputtering start through the air, the defense should close out a conference win in San Antonio Thursday night.
The game kicks off October 8th at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Alamodome on ESPN.
As always, Go Bulls!