At Tuesday's press briefing, USF linebacker Mac Harris was asked what the Bulls need to on Saturday to stop Navy's offense.
He didn't hesitate.
"We've got to stop the run," he said.
And with that statement, the story line for the Bulls and Midshipmen was established.
Navy is first in the nation in rushing offense (304 yards per game), yards per carry (6.40), and touchdowns (31). The Midshipmen still primarily run a triple option offense, but it has variations like the spread that force defenses to make quick adjustments and maintain discipline.
In this case, however, it will be strength-vs.-strength. USF has the nation's 24th-ranked run defense, allowing just 3.21 yards per carry and 110 yards per game.
That doesn't mean USF can ignore Navy's passing game. Quarterback Blake Horvath burned the Bulls with a 38-yard touchdown pass last season in the Midshipmen's 28-7 win in Tampa, one of only 11 passes he threw in that game. Navy ran 59 times that day for 321 net yards and three touchdowns.
"Obviously, what they do is different. What they do is create. What they do creates a ton of matchups. Test your eye discipline. Test everything you have, integrity-wise, defensively, gap sound," USF coach Alex Golesh said.
"They've been as good as anybody in the country offensively this year. You have this stigma of what Navy does offensively. They just run the ball up and down the field. They've thrown it incredibly well."
Horvath's status for Saturday is uncertain. He missed Navy's game last Saturday at Notre Dame with what was described as an upper-body injury. Navy lost that game 49-10, its second straight loss after opening the season with seven wins before losing 31-17 at North Texas.
And for as much focus there is on Navy's running game, the Bulls are no slouches there, either.
In their last six games, USF has averaged 295.5 yards per outing with 19 rushing touchdowns.
The problem is getting the ball back from Navy. If its ground game is cooking, the Midshipmen can play keepaway with long, sustained drives. In last year's game, they held the ball for 38 minutes.
"I think the biggest thing is just understanding that the possessions are limited. You've got to take full advantage. You know, the time of possession piece is not going to go in our favor because they're going to be able to hold on to the ball. They're going to be able to extend drives they always have and always will," Golesh said.
"So you've got to make every possession count. More than anything else, it's going to be points per possession. You know, the way we play offense here, we're going to find every way that we can to play fast, to make people defend us. The execution piece is what separates us. We've got to take advantage of every possession. They force teams to have the least possessions in the country, teams have had 10 to 10 and a half possessions a game. You got to create some turnovers to try to get yourself to 11 and 12 and 13, which, again, our defense up until this point has done as good a job as anybody in the country,"