As both teams come off a bye week and the Tampa area picks up the pieces after Hurricane Milton, the 4-1 Memphis Tigers will take on the South Florida Bulls in Orlando on Saturday.
In their last game, Memphis looked a little shaky at times but picked up the 24-7 win over MTSU. The Tigers are currently favored by a touchdown to win this weekend.
This game will be extremely important to Memphis as they need to keep pace in the AAC with the two undefeated teams in the conference, Army and Navy, to keep their dwindling College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Here are three keys to another Tigers victory:
Don’t underestimate USF: While the Bulls have a 2-3 record on the season, this doesn’t mean they’re a bad team. Their losses came at the hands of two top ten teams, Alabama and Miami, and Tulane, who currently sits at 3rd in the AAC behind Army and Navy. USF still has an offense capable of putting up big numbers if Memphis isn’t prepared.
Lockdown Defense: In their loss to Navy two weeks ago, Memphis gave up 56 points, the most points in a single game since 2018. The Tigers absolutely need to make a statement on defense vs USF. While the Bulls can put up great numbers, in practice they haven’t done anything spectacular, averaging 27.6 points per game. If Memphis can hold USF to under 21 points, their always potent offense should be enough to get the Tigers the win.
Let it Fly: As we approach the midway point of the season, the Tigers offense has proven to be no fluke. Seth Henigan and the Tigers average 270 yards per game, good for 33rd in FBS. Meanwhile, USF has given up 290 yards per game and 10 TDs through the air on defense, which is bottom 10 in FBS. Memphis would all but assuredly come out on top with a heavy dose of the passing attack with Mario Anderson’s continued dominance on the ground.
