USF prepares to close the regular season vs. Rice. Here are 3 keys for a Bulls win

Kelley Joiner has helped lead a dominant USF running game
Kelley Joiner has helped lead a dominant USF running game / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
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USF at RICE

Kickoff: 2 p.m.

TV: ESPN+ David Saltzman (play-by-play), LaDarrin McLane (analyst

RADIO: 102.5 FM and Bulls Unlimited

USF heads to Houston on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season against the Rice Owls.

A win would give the Bulls a 7-5 record and 5-3 in the American Athletic Conference. Most people would have gladly taken that after USF lost four of its first six games, including two in the conference.

Rice is 3-8, but that record is a little deceiving. The Owls beat Navy 24-10, and we remember how the Midshipmen throttled USF. They also played much closer games against Tulane (a 24-10 loss) and Memphis (27-20) than the Bulls did.

Rice ranks 31st among FBS teams in total defense, but the Bulls are feeling pretty feisty after scoring 59 and 63 points in their last two games.

Let’s take a look at what USF needs to do to close out the regular season in style.

Make Rice prove it can stop the run: Despite their lofty total defense ranking, the Owls are 94th in run defense. Given how the Bulls have been running, Kelley Joiner, Ta`Ron Keith, and Nay`Quan Wright should be busy. In their last two games, the Bulls have combined for 733 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

It’s not complicated.

Run. The. Ball.

Start fast again: Head coach Alex Golesh stressed the importance of a fast start last week, and, boy, did the Bulls came out blazing against Tulsa. Joiner ran for a 48-yard touchdown on USF’s third play from scrimmage and it was 28-0 by the end of the first quarter.

You have to wonder how excited Rice will be for this game. The Owls made a mid-season coaching change, and earlier this week they hired Davidson's Scott Abell as the new head coach for 2025. That means the current staff probably spent more time updating their resumes than preparing to face USF.

Get ‘em down early and maybe the fight will go out of the Owls.

Don’t let up on defense: Sure, Golesh was not happy with how his team closed out the fourth quarter against Tulsa by allowing 23 points. Then again, the Bulls used 80 players in that game and many of those in the game at the end probably hadn’t played much.

He made a point of emphasis in practice this week about cleaning up defensive breakdowns, which is sound coaching, of course.

If the numbers mean anything, the Bulls should make life tough when Rice has the ball. The Owls rank 111th in total offense.

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