Miami (FL) @ South Florida preview
Raymond James Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 28, 2013 ) Miami (FL) 49, South Florida 21
The eighth-ranked Miami Hurricanes have already scored 159 points - a program record for the first three games of a season.
Miami (3-0) will now travel to Tampa to challenge the host South Florida Bulls (2-1) on Saturday. Miami is a 16.5-point favorite.
After all, the Hurricanes are coming off a 62-0 win over Ball State. That marked Miami's biggest shutout win ever over an FBS program. With the Ball State game essentially locked up, Miami quarterback Cam Ward was pulled three minutes into the third quarter. But even with such a short stint, Ward still passed for 346 yards and a career-high five touchdowns.
Ward, a transfer from Washington State who is completing 73 percent of his passes this season, is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, according to FanDuel. He has passed for 11 touchdowns, and he is averaging 345 passing yards per game. Even better, Ward has no fumbles and just one interception.
"He is laser-focused," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. "He has the right mentality."
Defensively, the Hurricanes are allowing just 8.7 points per game. Miami's best defensive player has been defensive end Tyler Baron, who tops the team in tackles for loss (seven) and sacks (4 1/2).
On the other side, South Florida's defense has impressed Cristobal.
"Their speed, their physicality, their intensity, their ability to tackle in space," Cristobal said. "There's a lot to (USF) that made them successful."
Outside linebacker Mac Harris leads USF in total tackles (19) and stops for loss (3 1/2).
Offensively, the stars are quarterback Byrum Brown, running backs Nay'Quan Wright and Kelley Joiner Jr., and wide receivers Sean Atkins and Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen.
Brown tops USF in passing yards (448) and rushing yards (254). He has two TD passes and two running TDs, as well as zero interceptions.
At running back, Wright - a Miami native - and Joiner are both sixth-year seniors.
Wright has rushed for 188 yards, a 5.7 average and two TDs. Joiner has rushed for 220 yards, a 7.3 average and four TDs.
Atkins, another sixth-year senior, arrived at USF as a walk-on in 2019. Yet he has played 50 games. Last year, he set USF season records for catches (92) and yards (1,054).
Yaseen, who arrived at USF this year as a Purdue transfer, has nine catches and a 13.0 average this season. He's a fifth-year player.
In its season opener, USF beat heavy underdog Bethune-Cookman 48-3. USF then lost 42-16 at Alabama, although the Bulls trailed just 21-16 with less than six minutes left in that game.
Last Saturday, USF trailed 14-0 midway through the first quarter before rallying for a 49-24 win over Southern Mississippi.
In that game, Joiner had TD runs of 43 and 50 yards, and Wright scored on a 33-yarder.
Joiner and Wright both rushed for over 100 yards.
"I really don't care about the stats," said Joiner, who is 26 years old. "I really care about the win."
This will be the first time Miami and USF have met since 2013, when the Hurricanes won 49-21 in Tampa.
USF coach Alex Golesh said Saturday's game will be one of the biggest in the 28-season history of Bulls football, and he's looking for a crowd in excess of 70,000.
"It's going to a huge night in Tampa," Golesh said. "We've got to get ourselves ready against a really good football team."
--Field Level Media