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PURCHASE TICKETS FOR USF-CINCINNATI
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, NOV. 17, 2015 – Last Saturday night turned out to be a surprise party like no other for the Bulls after they upended No. 21 Temple, 44-23, to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2010.
Fans stormed the field at Raymond James Stadium to congratulate Willie Taggart's squad that's made a powerful postseason push with five wins in the past six games.
“I remember shaking one of the Temple player's hand, I turn around and I see the goalpost coming down and a bunch of people on the field,” senior right tackle Mak Djulbegovic said. “I was like, 'Oh wait, what's going on? Then I was like, 'Yeah, the fans are rushing the field. It was unreal, it was crazy. It doesn't get any better than that.”
The winning feeling is definitely back for the Bulls, but they continue to handle success like seasoned veterans. Following the momentous victory over Temple, Taggart said he went home and went right to bed to prepare for what's ahead.
“We worked so hard throughout the week to get a big victory and bowl eligibility,” Taggart said. “You wake up the next day and it's back to work, onto the next opponent and you really haven't had a chance to celebrate.”
Taggart was impressed with how the Bulls practiced Monday and the trend continued Tuesday because of what's still at stake. USF (6-4, 4-2) continues to have its sights set on the main goal, which is to capture the program's first-ever conference title. The Bulls are second in The American's East Division and just one game behind Temple heading into the final home outing of the season against Cincinnati on Friday night.
“We're excited. We've got everything to play for,” senior linebacker Zack Bullock said. “The Temple deal was just something we had to do in order to reach our goal, just like this game.”
One more victory would help USF match the program record of five conference wins the 2003 team collected in Conference USA. The hungry Bulls know accomplishing the feat won't be easy against Cincinnati (6-4, 3-3). The Bearcats have won three of their past four games and lead the conference in total offense with 585.6 yards per game.
“Our guys are locked into what we're trying to get accomplished,” Taggart said. “That's been the beauty of this team. I said it before, I think we have a special group with these guys because of how determined they are and how focused they are on doing things right and getting what we all set out to get at the beginning.”
Kickoff for USF-Cincinnati is set for 8 p.m. and fans can reserve their seats at USFBullsTix.com. Prior to kickoff, the program will honor 19 seniors before the special group continues to chase greatness.
"I said back at the beginning of (last) week that it was going to take offense, defense, special teams and our fans to win that ballgame. I truly believe all four of those things played a part in our victory on Saturday,” Taggart said. “Once again, we're going to need all four phases this Friday against a very talented Cincinnati football team that's coming in here.”
Mack Attack Reels In the Honors
Marlon Mack was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week after racking up 230 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Temple.
The sophomore from Sarasota also was named National Performer of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards and American Offensive Player of the Week by College Sports Madness after scoring on 57-yard and 48-yard runs in addition to his 20-yard TD reception.
Taggart challenged Mack at the beginning of the year to not have a “sophomore slump,” and the star back has taken his game to another level in 2015.
With 1,065 rushing yards, Mack has surpassed his 2014 total and became just the second Bull to top 1,000 yards in two separate seasons. Heading into Friday, Mack needs 310 rushing yards to break the program's single-season record and he ranks 16th nationally with a conference-best 118 yards per game.
“He's determined to be better than he was and I think he is better than he was his freshman year,” Taggart said. “He's a heckuva talent, a good football player, a good person and we need him to have another good game on Friday.”
Here are more milestones and feats to keep in mind the next time you see Mack sprint past defenders for a big gain:
- Mack currently ranks fourth on USF's all-time rushing list (2,106 yards) and he's the program's fifth career 2,000-yard rusher.
- Mack needs 626 more rushing yards to pass Andre Hall as the program's all-time leader.
- Mack has 10 career 100-yard rushing games, the second-most at USF, and he's approaching the program record of 12.
- Mack has tied Andre Hall's program record with six 100-yard rushing games this season.
- Mack ranks 16th in the FBS with a conference-best 6.5 yards per carry this season.
Bulls Bits
- Taggart has created his own hybrid recipe on offense with a mix of up-tempo, spread, zone-read and power run ingredients. The coaches also came up with a catchy name for it all with a nod to Florida's region – Gulf Coast Offense. “We're doing some West Coast principles and some things, so we figured we'll just kind of add it together,” Taggart said. “We're on the Gulf, so we'll call it the Gulf Coast Offense.”
- USF ranks 15th in the FBS in rushing offense (227.9 ypg). USF's 2,279 rushing yards rank third in school history and the Bulls are just 157 yards shy of the single-season program record.
- Tom Allen's “Bull Sharks” defense is 12th in the FBS with 7.9 tackles for loss per game. Senior Jamie Byrd leads the team with 11.0 tackles for loss this season.
The USF Football program is in its 19th season overall and 16th at the FBS level. The Bulls have made six bowl appearances, including every season between 2005-10, and have four bowl game victories. USF has produced 14 All-America selections, 25 NFL Draft picks and reached the No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press Poll in 2007.
