If USF football is as good as most people think, the Bulls must beat Southern Miss

USF should win the football game against Southern Mississippi.

Check that: If the Bulls are who most everyone believes they are – namely, a pretty darn good team – they have to win this game.

Of course, Notre Dame should have beaten Northern Illinois, so there are no guarantees. I was a little surprised when USF signed up for a road game in Hattiesburg, but the Bulls get a return visit from Southern Miss in 2028, so I guess it evens out.

As far as this game goes, it’s a good test to see if the Bulls can put last week's disappointment at Alabama behind them. It will also be interesting to see how the Bulls attack the Golden Eagles' defense.

Will they heavily depend on quarterback Byrum Brown’s legs, as they did at Alabama, or try to spread things around a little more?

It sounds like Southern Miss is expecting the former.

“For our fans, it’ll remind them maybe of Tim Tebow at Florida where everything runs through him,” Southern Miss coach Will Hall said in the Hattiesburg American newspaper.

“He’s a bigger guy, 230-plus pounds. He can make you miss, but he’s more of a downhill, thick, physical runner that if he gets out in the open, he can run away from you. I’ve got a lot of respect for him because of his toughness.”

Brown has 31 carries after two games, including 23 at Alabama. That is tops on the team. Running back Kelley Joiner is the next closest with 20 carries.

As good as Brown is, this is probably not what the Bulls want to do over the rest of the season. Joiner and fellow running back Nay`Quan Wright can be an effective one-two punch, take a little heat off Brown, and maybe open up the passing game.

I’ll be curious to see if the defense can continue the stellar play it demonstrated throughout much of the game at Alabama. The Bulls put all kinds of pressure on highly touted Alabama QB Jalen Milroe.

Cornerback De`Shawn Rucker has been a beast so far and the secondary overall is vastly improved compared to last year. Golden Eagles quarterback Tate Rodemaker, formerly of FSU, whom Bulls coach Alex Golesh praised as a really accurate passer, got really good command for being two games into the offense.”

That may be true, and no one suggests that USF won’t have to work for this win.

But if it isn’t a win ….

Let’s not think about that.