As USF football prepares for rematch with Alabama, the Tide has a score to settle

If a program could turn itself around positively by losing a game, USF did that last September when the Bulls fought mighty Alabama to the wire before falling 17-3.

Alabama strolled into Raymond James Stadium last September as a 34-point favorite to toy with the Bulls but wound up needing a touchdown with 33 seconds left to put the game away. The Bulls opened some eyes that day by playing the No. 10 team in the country that hard, and that was the springboard to a winning season capped by a 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl win over Syracuse.

The situation will differ on Saturday night when the Bulls travel to Tuscaloosa. The point spread is about the same – early lines have Alabama favored by as much as 31 points – but the theme for the game is far different.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread noted, “The old Nick Saban 24-hour rule, under which Alabama football's former coach implored players to forget about both wins and losses in 24 hours to turn their attention to the next opponent, never said anything about a 12-month rule.

“And 12 months after the 2023 Alabama team's disaster-averting, 17-3 win at South Florida, there can be little doubt that the team's returning veterans are looking to make a better showing this Saturday as they prepare to host the Bulls at Bryant-Denny Stadium.”

‘Bama has a new coach this season, with Kalen DeBoer taking over the storied program after Saban retired. It might be a new coach, but it looks like the same ol’ Crimson Tide if we are to judge by the 63-0 blowout win over Western Kentucky in DeBoer’s debut.

And let’s be honest: It’s hard to think Alabama took USF seriously in 2023. The Bulls had lost their opener – to, yes, Western Kentucky – before struggling to beat FAMU. New coach Alex Golesh had just begun to put his stamp on the Bulls following the disastrous Jeff Scott era.

Also, ‘Bama quarterback Jalen Milroe was benched that day after playing poorly the week before in a loss to Texas. The underlying message there was that Alabama could afford to send him a message because it didn’t need its best signal-caller to handle little ol’ USF.

That decision almost led to a seismic upset. Milroe returned the following week and now stands as one of the best quarterbacks in the country and an almost certain first-round NFL draft choice next year.

Playing at night before a sellout home crowd and national ESPN audience, Alabama will be highly motivated to prove last year was a fluke.

"I didn't experience that with them. So it's not like I'm really (focusing) on that. Reminding them that it was a closer game, that falls in line with what one of our pieces of our program is − to respect all and fear none. So the respect factor was there last week, it's going to be there again this week," Goodbread noted in his column that DeBoer said.

"I'm sure there are certain guys who went through that, (who) have a different type of determination on top of what we're trying to do with this 2024 team, but I think we're really trying to make it about this season, this team."

Oh, and that notion that last year’s loss turned around USF’s program?

Here’s what Golesh had to say about it after that game.

“There are no moral victories, you asked me on the radio. Man, valiant effort. Valiant efforts are for losers,” he said. “Moral victories are for losers. That’s what losers say. Winners win.”

He believed it then, and he no doubt believes it now.