Tonight features a key matchup in the Big East with the South Florida Bulls traveling to Piscataway New Jersey, to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Both teams sit at 6-2, with the Bulls ranking 23rd in the nation and the Knights just outside the standings. South Florida enters tonight’s matchup with an impressive victory over West Virginia, which was ranked 20th at the time, as Rutgers is coming off a win against Connecticut. Rutgers is looking for its first conference home win of the season, after notching its first Big East victory last weekend against the Huskies. A win tonight would propel the Scarlet Knights into the Top-25 ranks, and they have traditionally played tough against the Bulls. They own a 3-1 series lead, including the last three straight.
The last three games for the South Florida Bulls have not been easy, as they have played three ranked teams in a row, all three being conference foes. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh pummeled the Bulls, but Jim Leavitt’s boys hit back and took down the West Virginia Mountaineers when they called last weekend in an impressive 30-19 win. Rookie quarterback BJ Daniels excelled against the Mountaineers, producing 336 yards of total offense along with three touchdowns. The versatile youngster replaced an injured Matt Grothe in the second game of the season and never looked back. Daniels leads is a real threat on the ground, leading the team on the ground, as West Virginia found out the hard way. On the season he rushed for 519 yards and four touchdowns while throwing for an additional 1,096 yards and ten touchdowns. Wideout Carlton Mitchell has become a primary target for him as he broke out against West Virginia catching just five passes but converting them for 132 yards and a touchdown. After being blown out by the conference giants for a combined 75 points in the previous two games, the Bulls’ defense shut down the explosive Mountaineer offense, producing a very respectable 323 yards total, with 118 rushing. Against a big-play machine like West Virginia, those numbers are stellar. It really shouldn’t be that surprising that the defense was so solid last weekend, because that unit has been by far the most consistent part of this team. South Florida is allowing 130.6 rushing yards and 185.0 receiving yards while forcing nineteen turnovers and racking up eighteen sacks. Limiting big plays is something they’ve been adept at for most of the season, and against Rutgers they expect more of the same. The Scarlets always present a tough matchup for the Bulls, but look for Leavitt’s defense to pressure the Knights’ rookie quarterback.
As stated above, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights have been outside the realm of the Top-25 this season, but at 6-2 they threaten to break into the standings. Like their opponent tonight, they’ve struggled against the teams at the top of the conference (ie Cincinnati and Pittsburgh), but have played well against everyone else.
Fortunately for Greg Schiano, his team has a chance to defeat a ranked team for the first time this season and earn its first home conference win in the process. After a two-game road trip that culminated in a dramatic 28-24 victory over Connecticut, the Knights had the final week off to prepare for tonight’s matchup with the Bulls. Like their opponent tonight, they had to hand over the reins to a rookie quarterback, Tom Savage, who has played well so far. Against the Huskies, the offense struggled practically all day, but snapped out of its discomfort with 38 seconds remaining and faced a three-point deficit. All Savage needed was one play, as he hit wide receiver Tim Brown with an 81-yard go-ahead touchdown pass with just 22 seconds left. The Knights’ numbers weren’t very inspiring as they only had twelve first downs all day and had to punt ten times, but the Savages’ late-game heroism more than made up for their ineptitude with the ball under their control. Savage has been a game manager on Schiano’s offense this season, shooting efficiently for eight touchdowns and just one pick, but has occasionally shown glimpses of the potential he possesses. Like their counterparts on the field, the Knights’ strength is their defense, which has limited their opposition to a solid 322.9 yards per game this season. Forcing turnovers has been his calling card, as they’ve taken the ball 25 times this season. His playmaking ability showed against Connecticut when they forced four turnovers, three of which were interceptions. They gave up more than 400 yards of total offense to the Huskies, but turnovers negated all of that yardage. They’re up against a rookie quarterback tonight, so he looks to Schiano to turn up the pressure in hopes of forcing the Bulls into some costly mistakes. Hmmm…sounds like the same game plan for South Florida too. Coincidence? Maybe.