South Florida @ Memphis preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 2, 2015 ) Memphis 24, South Florida 17

With Temple enjoying a well-deserved week off, USF can move back into a share of the top spot in the American Athletic Conference's East Division with a victory Saturday over host Memphis. The Bulls rebounded with emphasis following a difficult loss to the Owls last month, knocking off then-No. 22 Navy in a slugfest to position themselves well heading into an encounter with a Tigers team that crushed SMU last time out.

USF survived the Midshipmen's vaunted rush attack, outgaining them by nearly 100 yards on the ground while setting a school record with 190 first-quarter rushing yards and running in five touchdowns in the victory. "Great win for us," USF coach Willie Taggart said of the outcome, which came on the heels of a disappointing 46-30 setback at Temple. "I'm really excited the way our guys responded to how we performed last week." The Tigers kept their West Division hopes flickering with a 51-7 mauling of the Mustangs as Riley Ferguson led the way with 287 passing yards and four touchdown and Memphis halted a two-game losing skid. A win Saturday would go a long way to setting up a potential title-deciding game against visiting Houston on Nov. 25.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU. LINE: USF -3

ABOUT USF (7-2, 4-1 AAC): Give the Bulls credit for out-Navying the Midshipmen, racking up 412 yards on the ground; QB Quinton Flowers led the way with 176 rushing yards and a pair of scores, while Marlon Mack (125 yards, TD) and D'Ernest Johnson (106 yards, 2 TDs) thrived in complementary roles. Flowers comes into the game ranked third in the AAC in rushing yards, and is just 59 passing yards and 79 receiving yards shy of becoming the first player in USF history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. LB Auggie Sanchez ranks third in the conference with 81 total tackles - including eight for loss - and has six sacks to his credit.

ABOUT MEMPHIS (6-3, 3-2): The Tigers know they'll need Ferguson to remain the top quarterback in the conference if they have any chance at the West regular-season crown - and he has shown himself capable of doing so. He's averaging 326 passing yards with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions over his past three games, though the Memphis defense let him down in a major way by coughing up a combined 101 points in one-sided losses to Navy and Tulsa prior to last week's triumph. Doroland Dorceus leads the team with 559 rushing yards and six touchdowns, while Anthony Miller has been Ferguson's target of choice, ranking third in the AAC in receiving yards (924) and second in receiving TDs (seven)

EXTRA POINTS

1. Ferguson (151.9) and Flowers (150.7) rank first and second, respectively, in the conference in quarterback rating.

2. Flowers came within nine rushing yards of the 2,000/1,000 plateau last season.

3. USF has rushed for 200 or more yards in 16 of its last 18 games.

PREDICTION: USF 41, Memphis 35