WKU Football: South Florida Q&A With Bay Area Examiner
Get the lowdown on WKU's first opponent of the year as Steeg from Bay Area Examiner stops by to dish on the Bulls.
We are inching ever so close to kicking off the 2023 Western Kentucky football season, as the Tops welcome in the South Florida Bulls.
It’s a matchup that features two teams on very different post-Willie Taggart paths. The Tops have established themselves as one of the preeminent G5 programs over the last decade or so while the Bulls have struggled to find such sustained success.
To help learn about the past trials and tribulations, and what 2023 might have in store, of USF, we reached out to Steeg, from the new Bay Area Examiner, a USF Substack newsletter that is just getting off the ground.
The Towel Rack: It's been a rough go for the Bulls over the last four or five years or so. What went so wrong in the Jeff Scott era of USF football?
Bay Area Examiner: I did a lot of thinking about this over the last few months, and I think you'll get a few different answers out of Bulls' fans, but to me it came down to his loyalty (weird answer, let me explain).
The man ended up being too loyal to his Clemson way of thinking and tried to build a Clemson 2.0 down here with the staff he picked, the way he was trying to build the team, and the support staff as well. These Clemson ways worked at Clemson but down here, it just fell flat. He was too loyal to his defensive coordinator for two seasons that clearly wasn't working, he tried to retain as much of the staff as possible when letting him go and brought in a new defensive coordinator who ended up putting us in a worse position. He was super great off the field and helped us build the indoor performance facility and get the legs moving on our on-campus stadium, but just could not get the proverbial car off the ground (coming in during COVID and whatnot).
TTR: What are the expectations for USF in Year 1 of Alex Golesh?
BAE: Trying to piece together a competent team filled with a bunch of newcomers. Golesh's offense comes very highly regarded from his time at Tennessee (and UCF), so for the most part, we are not too worried about that, but USF's biggest thorn over the last few years has been its defense. For Year 1, it's about getting better from Week 1 to Week 13, minimizing mistakes, and preparing for the future more than anything.Â
TTR: WKU fans are probably looking at this matchup on paper and think it's going to be a cakewalk for the Hilltoppers. What would you say to caution them against that line of thinking?
BAE: The Bulls still have an extremely talented team (despite the record), and some key holdover pieces from last year's team (i.e. QBs Gerry Bohanon and Byrum Brown, DB Aamaris Brown, LB DJ Gordon). They also increased their talent level despite losing production by adding pieces along the defensive front, WR room, and running back room.
They also completely overhauled their offensive line to tailor it to an up-tempo, speedy unit. The offense is going to get most of its production at first on the ground and can quickly wear out a defense, and since both offenses will rely on the offense getting up and moving, it might come down to who makes a mistake first.
TTR: Who are three players to know for USF?
BAE: First one is Nay'Quan Wright, a transfer RB from Florida, he is extremely versatile, running between the tackles and catching passes out of the backfield, should be a lot of fun to watch this year.
Secondly, on the defensive side it'll be EDGE/OLB Lloyd Summerall, who also transferred from Florida, he's a massive body who started plenty of games in the SEC and has hit the ground running here.
Third player is DJ Gordon IV, who will probably serve as the defensive captain for the Bulls, he's a hard hitting linebacker who is from nearby Plant City. He had some highlights last year and should take a massive step forward.
TTR: Finish the sentence: Western Kentucky will win if...
BAE: Western Kentucky will win if they continue to do what they do best. USF's pass defense was so unbelievably ass last year and guess what? They get to start the season with one of the more prolific passers in college football to start the year.
They couldn't get pressure, so if they give Austin Reed time in the pocket like they did with every other QB last year (opposing QBs had a 73% completion percentage last year against USF), then there's no way the Bulls will be able to keep up. On the opposite side, USF is installing a brand new offense while returning very few starters from last year at key positions along the offensive line and receiver room. WKU's defense, who has experience together, might have the upper hand with familiarity of each other's strengths and weaknesses.
TTR: South Florida will win if...
BAE: South Florida will win the game if they absolutely hit the ground running and do not play scared. There's a lot of uncertainty for USF (and WKU) fans as they enter this week, the depth chart will probably feature a lot of ORs for the Bulls, so you won't know exactly which personnel are going to take the first snaps on the field.
But Golesh has this aura of confidence around him, and while it's rather subdued right now, it seems like he knows what he's building and wants to get there as quickly as humanly possible. Defensively, DC Todd Orlando has familiarity with the WKU offense and how badly it exploited his FAU team last year, so can he correct those mistakes from last season using a brand new set of players? They have plenty of talent there but it's all about trust and will on that side of the ball.
TTR: Got a prediction?
BAE: I just can't see USF pulling off this upset, not in Year 1 of a brand new regime. Maybe if this game was happening in Year 2 then I would be more optimistic, but there's going to be growing pains for USF these first couple of weeks (first WKU, next FAMU, then Alabama, how fun).
So I'm going to go with a 45-28 victory for the Hilltoppers.
We would like to, once again, thank Steeg for taking time out to answer our questions. If you want to help support Bay Area Examiner, you can do so by visiting their site. Also, go give them a follow on whatever it is we’re calling Twitter these days so you can heckle them throughout Saturday afternoon.