We talked with Collin Sherwin of our SB Nation sister
site The Daily Stampede to get more insight on USF in advance of
tomorrow’s War on I-4.
1. How much do we collectively hate Temple this year? Seriously.
Well, you guys blew a lead late to them, which gave us
real joy. I believe that now qualifies as Schadenfreude since if you had
won that game all we'd need is a win on Saturday to go to the AAC
Championship.
Temple is doubly-annoying to us since even though we
destroyed them at Ray Jay last year, they had the far easier crossover
division schedule and thus the much easier path to the title game.
We've needed them to lose a game now five times to put in the drivers
seat late in the season, and they haven't done so yet.
I was at our game in Philly this year, and they still
don't have any fans. And they have absolutely danced through the
raindrops of luck since Bortles hit J.J. Worton. UCF got all the breaks and luck in 2013 and '14, and Temple in '15 and '16. Someday it'll be USF's turn I hope.
2. I still remember the brilliant haiku
at Voodoo Five about Willie Taggart’s bus being on fire and haunted.
But it turns out that Taggart’s records have trended up at USF (2-10,
4-8, 8-5, 9-2 and pending). Is he still the head coach at USF next
year? Beyond that?
It'll depend on forces outside of USF's control. If a big
P5 job wants him, with USF's budgetary restrictions it'll be basically
impossible to get him to stay. He was even thought of as a possible
replacement for Jimbo at FSU, but for now it appears he's staying in
Tallahassee.
USF just doesn't have the money to compete with even
marginal P5 jobs. And until Mike Aresco renegotiates those TV rights and
gets us all a bit more cash, this is going to be the situation.
3. Last week’s game against SMU seemed tighter than many would have expected for the Bulls. What do you attribute that to?
The Bulls’ inability to get a stop consistently (which
has been the problem all season), and the offense having some weird
things happen in the fourth quarter. The defense did get that big stop
on fourth and one to win the game, but overall that's been a struggle
all season. Teams have been running the ball pretty easily on USF all
season.
And I don't think you can begrudge the nation's
second-best offense (by S&P) a couple of small errors. They've been
just incredible this season, but sometimes unusual stuff just pops up at
the wrong time. Certainly not worried about it long-term.
4. From the USF perspective, what do you see as the key match-ups on Saturday?
Can the USF defense force McKenzie Milton into mistakes,
and can USF run the ball so effectively on UCF they won't need to worry
about throwing into that talented secondary. I think USF can put up some
big numbers, but a lot of it will be out of their zone read-style
packages, with some Rodney Adams jet sweep action in there too.
5. Obviously, the strength of this USF team is
the offense. The defense, uh, not so much. What might the Knights be
able to exploit when they have the ball?
Just run it. Run it left and run it right and run it up
the middle. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen brought this 4-2-5 system
to Tampa, but he left for Indiana this year where they've also had
success with it. Raymond Woodie has been the guy catching most of the
flack from the fan base for the oft-poor performances from the
previously-titled #Bullshark defense. No matter what happens to Taggart,
I think we'll all be stunned if he's the DC next season.
The Bulls are 104th in S&P defensively, 110th on 1st
downs, 119th in Havoc Rate... they've got serious problems on that side
of the ball. And they haven't put together a good half since the first
against Navy (where they were really good against one of the best
rushing teams in America, so go figure). You can run the ball on USF,
and you should do so a lot and often.
6. Unfortunately, I have little reason to
believe my Knights and their dysfunctional offense will win the War on
I-4 this year. Knowing your team as you do, what do you think has to
happen for UCF to upset USF?
Control the clock, keep USF's Gulf Coast Offense off the
field, and force Quinton Flowers to try and beat you from the pocket.
He's certainly capable of it, but that's your best chance. You'll also
need to spy him, as if you don't he'll just pull it down and run for
every first down available.
The USF offense is pure poetry and a joy to behold. The defense is pretty terrible however. Run the ball early and often.
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