The long awaited game is almost here in exactly 24 hours USF and Miami will square off at Raymond James stadium, it’s time to break the game down and give predictions. Now if you remember the only other time these two teams played Miami won 27 – 7 at the beginning of the end for the Larry Coker era in Miami. That Miami team was not as good as this one, and USF had Pat Julmiste running the show at QB which would explain the 7 points the Bulls put up that day. We get to see how far USF has come Miami is markedly better than they were back in 2005, but we still don’t really know about USF. This game will be a good litmus test to see where the Bulls are currently.
The USF Bulls comes into this game off of a hard fought victory against Louisville, and I wouldn’t say they are playing their best football at the moment. Sure they looked good in the 2nd half against the Cardinals, but they jumped out to a 14 – 0 lead and allowed Louisville to come back and take the lead late in the 2nd Quarter. The Cardinals were never really out of the game as USF allowed them to hang around. The Bulls have been inconsistent all season, and coming into this game USF best weapons are B.J. Daniels and the deep pass. The Bulls running game is non existent outside of B.J. Daniels running and scrambling with the football, and the passing game thrives on deep passes that take a long time to develop. Sustaining a drive and putting together consecutive plays are not strong points of the USF offense, but this style may be a plus for the Bulls against the Miami Hurricanes defense. If Miami plays their traditional man coverage that will give Daniels the running lanes he needs to break off big running plays, and with the lack of a pass rush Miami has shown all season those deep passes may be available. The USF defense will face the fastet team they have seen all season, the Hurricanes have speedsters at every skill position and USF will have to get pressure on Jacory Harris to disrupt the Miami offense. It is very possible for USF to pressure Harris as the Hurricanes offensive line has struggled protecting him at times this season, the Bulls probably will not have an answer for the Miami running game as the Bulls have proven to be soft in the middle.
The Miami Hurrincanes are coming off of an unimpressive victory against the Duke Blue Devils, this is the third game in a row where Miami has lowered their play to the level of their opponent. This has been a recurring trend all season, and expect it to continue this week as this Miami team is young and has not yet developed a killer instict to finish opponents. The Miami offense matches up well against the USF defense in all areas except the offensive line vs. the USF defensive lines pass rush, with Chris Pierre Paul and George Selvie they Bulls provide a formidable pass rush duo. Miami will have to be patient and methodical and avoid their typical tendency of looking for the deep pass which takes forever to develop and allows the pass rush to get to Jacory Harris. USF will have a hard time stopping the trio of Damien Berry, Graig Cooper, and Javaris James if the Hurricanes decide to committ to the run. The Hurricane receivers should be able to get open against the USF secondary with the exception of Nate Allen. The Miami defense needs to play zone and keep B.J. Daniels in the pocket, if they committ to doing that the Bulls offense will have a tough time moving the ball. But Miami is stubborn they frequently play man coverage confident that their players can overcome the other team, this is not the case if they play man against USF B.J. Daniels will tuck it and run all over the field. Also, with their lack of a pass rush this season and refusal to blitz playing man would give USF everything they need to put up big numbers against this defense.
The way this game is going to play out is fairly predicatable in my opinion, Miami will underestimate USF and be surprised at how the Bulls come out pumped up. It will be a close game in the first half, and I am sure both teams will have several big plays. But I think in the second half Miami’s depth will start to take control and they will start to pull away from the Bulls. There is an X factor though, Miami has had several games this season where Jacory Harris has thrown 3 or more interceptions, if this is one of those days look for USF to take advantage. The Bulls thrive off of momentum swings and are a streaky team, if Miami puts the press to USF and takes the Bulls out of the game early they should win the game easily. But if they keep USF in the game and committ turnovers and give up big plays to the Bulls they can easily get upset just like the Seminoles were.
My Prediction: Miami wins 34 – 24
