Johnston's Keys To The Game: Bulls at UAB

USF (3-2; 2-0 American)at UAB (1-4; 0-1 American)
Saturday, Oct. 7 • 4:00 P.M. •  Protective Stadium (47,100) • Birmingham, Ala. 
SURFACE: FieldTurf
TV: ESPN2: Beth Mowins (PxP), Kirk Morrison (Analyst) & Stormy Buonantony (Sideline)
AUDIO: 102.5 FM & HD 2/TuneIn - Bulls Unlimited
SERIES: TIed, 1-1
IN TAMPA: UAB leads, 1-0
IN BIRMINGHAM: USF leads, 1-0
LAST TIME: USF won, 45-20, in 2004 at UAB
VS. AAC: 32-50, 11th season
AAC ROAD GAMES: 16-25
LAST 3-GAME WIN STREAK: 2018 (started 7-0)
USF GAME NOTES
BULLSEYE: USF COACHES SHOW (WATCH)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It's back on the road for the Bulls, who have a chance to make some more history in Saturday afternoon's American Athletic Conference game against the UAB Blazers at Protective Stadium.

Could it be road victories on consecutive weeks for USF? That quiniela has only occurred five times in the program's 27-season history.

After a spirited 44-30 victory at Navy, the Bulls (3-2, 2-0 AAC) are getting some national notice. Beating Coach Trent Dilfer's Blazers (1-4, 0-1 AAC) would keep USF at the top of the AAC standings and give the Bulls tremendous momentum heading into next weekend's homecoming game against the Florida Atlantic Owls.

First things first.

After breaking a 19-game road losing streak last week and compiling an array of impressive offensive and defensive statistics, these are suddenly very heady times for the Bulls, who are playing an entertaining brand of football on both sides of the ball.

Let's slow down that talk, Bulls coach says. S-l-o-w it down. In Golesh's world, only one thing matters — going 1-0 against UAB.

"We can't take a breath, man,'' Golesh said. "As coaches, we have to get better. As players, we have to get better. We've talked about everything situationally that we didn't coach well enough through these first five weeks, myself included. We're hard on our staff and hard on our kids. We're holding everyone accountable to the standard. And the standard is to go be elite in everything we're doing.''

Golesh said Dilfer is a coach he "respects dearly.'' When Dilfer coached at Nashville's Lipscomb Academy (2019-22) and Golesh was Tennessee's offensive coordinator, they established a good relationship while Golesh recruited some of Dilfer's players.

Golesh said the Blazers present challenges with a smart quarterback in Jacob Zeno and a physically imposing defense. "We've worked like crazy to fix a bunch of different things,'' Golesh said.

To achieve a three-game winning streak — which would be the program's longest since a 7-0 start in 2018 — here's what the Bulls must do right against UAB:

Apply Pressure

The Bulls face a formidable test in Zeno, a redshirt junior who began his college career at Baylor. Zeno has passed for 1,442 yards (288.4 per game), while ranking third nationally in completions per game (31.4) and fourth in completion percentage (75.5).

Zeno has been sacked just 11 times in five games, a statistic that looks even more impressive when considering that UAB features five new starters on the offensive line this season.

The Bulls must find ways to disrupt Zeno and get into the backfield. In recent weeks, that has been a USF strength. The Bulls have three games with four or more sacks and 14 total, which equals the team's total in 2022. Additionally, the Bulls are ranked No. 9 nationally in tackles for a loss (8.2 per game).

But if Zeno sets his feet and has time to throw, it's a problem.

"We have to (get pressure on Zeno),'' defensive coordinator said. "He's extremely accurate. He's sneaky fast and he can get out of the pocket and run. I'm super impressed with his decision-making. He knows exactly where to put the football. It seems like he has complete command of what they're doing offensively. It has been impressive.''

USF's defensive pressure has also been increasingly impressive. The Bulls have 11 different players who have been part of the 14 sacks. And remember, those 14 sacks have actually occurred in four games (USF had zero in the opener at Western Kentucky).

The Bulls could also use a few takeaways. Opposing quarterbacks have thrown 86 consecutive passes without a USF interception (the last was game-closing pick against Florida A&M on Sept. 9).

O-Line Must Step Up

USF's offensive line needs to play its best game of the season, whether it's protecting quarterback or opening holes for the running game.

So far, it has dealt with injuries, although veteran left tackle , who has missed the past two games, is expected back at his familiar position. In the mix-and-match early season, already has started at three different positions (right tackle, right guard, left tackle).

Brown has been sacked 23 times and his running ability (351 yards, leading all Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks) has helped to avoid maybe a half-dozen other potential stops behind the line.

When Brown has time to throw, the consequences are deadly for opposing defenses. He's completing 61-percent of his passes (76.2-percent in AAC games). He's coming off passing games of 435 (Rice) and 338 yards (Navy).

As for the running game, Brown has accounted for about 35-percent of USF's rushing yardage, a figure that could become more equally distributed with the continued emergence of (287 yards, 4.1 per carry), (158/4.1) and (125/4.8).

"We've played a bunch of different guys on the O-line and they've stepped up to the challenge every single week,'' offensive coordinator said. "The running backs have been grinding. It's a selfless group.

"Last week (at Navy), they did everything in their power to make it hard to run the ball in the box. Those were tough yards out there. But what we did is wear them out. By the end of the game, some of those first-quarter runs where we got nothing, now we're getting 3 yards. We were a different offense in the fourth quarter and that's a tribute to our offensive line and running backs.''

Safe Is Death

The Bulls are unapologetically aggressive at all times. USF is 11-for-19 on fourth-down conversions this season and they're batting 94-percent on fourth-and-1.

Sometimes, the swashbuckling approach causes football purists to cringe. On USF's first possession at Navy, the Bulls went for a fourth-and-1 on their 30-yard line — and got stopped. Four plays later, Navy scored and went up 14-0.

Here's the difference: The Bulls don't call time outs to consider their options and make decisions in angst. They simply go … for … it. And they don't look back. Could such decisions become costly in a tight game? Maybe. But so far, you can't accuse the Bulls of shriveling up in a conservative shell.

"When you need something to happen and you're going to preach being the most aggressive team in the country, you're going to do that,'' Golesh said. "So, I don't regret that in any way.''

Orlando has a similar philosophy.

"If you're a kid playing on the field and you're a little bit hesitant or a little bit scared, we try to eliminate that as much as possible,'' Orlando said. "We literally tell them, 'We'd be more disappointed if you didn't go really, really fast and cut it loose than if you made a mistake.

"You can't go into situations where everybody's just on their heels and they're afraid to make mistakes and it just looks really passive out there. We tell the kids that as long as it's aggressive, then we can deal with the mistake.''

The Bulls want to be aggressive. That's who they are.

Win The Fourth Quarter

The fourth-quarter statistics are becoming major victories for the Bulls.

In USF's three victories, the Bulls have outscored the opponent 36-22 in the fourth quarter. The Bulls have averaged 116.7 yards, while allowing 92.7.

In USF's two defeats, the Bulls were outscored 17-0 in the fourth quarter. The Bulls have averaged 70 yards, while allowing 98.5.

"We put a ton of stock in being really good in the fourth quarter,'' Gordon said. "We put an emphasis on that every single day. Up until the Rice game, we hadn't really done that. We weren't calling any different plays in the fourth quarter than the other three quarters, but the last two games it has really come together.

"The last two games, we were running it and we were throwing it. When we handed the football off, the O-line was playing hard. You want to have a mindset that you do your job and wear the opponent out. And man, one of the best players in football is to drive the football all the way down the field, then hit a knee and celebrate together as an offense.''

Against Rice, the Bulls recovered an onside kick and ran out the final 3:45, getting two first downs and kneeling on the Owls' 11-yard line. Against Navy, the Bulls ran out the final 7:28, getting four first downs (one of them a roughing of punter ) and kneeling on the Midshipmen's 18-yard line.