The numbers say South Florida has generally played well defensively this season. The Bulls are ranked 19th in the country in team defense, allowing 14.6 points per game. That will get you a lot of wins.
But a disquieting trend has taken hold. In every game they've played so far, the Bulls have surrendered either a long, time-consuming drive or a big splash play.
It started with the opening game against FIU, when the Panthers drove 87 yards in seven plays for a touchdown. That did happen when the game out of reach, so most USF fans probably just shrugged as the Bulls walked off with a 19-9 win.
The next week against Army, the Black Knights had touchdown drives 90 yards (11 plays) and 92 yards (19 plays over 9 minutes and 57 seconds). But that got in the jubilation of a last-gasp winning touchdown pass from Michael Van Buren, Jr. to Joshua Porter.
Sure, USF blew out its next opponent -- Delaware State. But the Hornets had a 9-play, 53-yard drive that ended in a missed field goal, and a 1-play, 90-yard touchdown strike. Hmmm.....
Bowling Green didn't score a touchdown against the Bulls, but the Falcons did have a 15-play, 66-yard drive before turning the ball over on downs.
It all came home to roost last Saturday when Temple knocked the Bulls from the unbeaten ranks. The Owls had four drives of 54 yards or longer, resulting two touchdowns and a field goal in their 17-13 win. The killer was a 10-play, 96-yard march with the Bulls holding a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Defensive lineman Major Dillard was asked why this keeps happening.
"Honestly, man, just details, you know? Like Coach (Brian) Hartline was talking about, just honing it on our details, controlling what we can control, and just really honing in to the little things. Little things (can become) big things just like that."
UTSA -- the Bulls opponent on Thursday night -- is 97th in total defense and surrenders 26.2 points per game. But you can bet that the Roadrunners' game play will include a lot of keepaway from USF's offense by trying to put together milk-the-clock drives.
In the aftermath of the Temple loss, Hartline pointed a finger at self-inflicted wounds. That opinion didn't change after he studied tape from the game. And with all the focus on USF's struggling offense -- especially in the last two games -- the defense needs to give that unit the ball as often as possible.
The condensed preparation time for a Thursday game adds an unpredictable element. UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor said this is his first time playing on a Thursday after a Saturday game. The Roadrunners are coming off a 16-14 win at Rice, capped by a 3-hour bus ride home from Houston to San Antonio.
"I was very transparent on my team, and this is my 285th game to have a coach in my life as a head coach. I've never had a turnaround of a Thursday. We played on Thursday many times. We always had a bye the week before or an open week the week before.," he said.
"So I just leaned on a lot of friends in the National Football League, my son (Jordan Traylor, an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings), just to give us what the NFL does. They do it quite a bit. But there was a Sunday to Thursday, so we actually pick up an extra day, but we also didn't get home to 3 a.m., you know, Sunday morning. So we're laying a lot on that. Well, I'll let you know about 10. p.m. Thursday night, how it went. I just don't know. I've never done it."
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